There is a problem with the costumes in The Wolf of Wall Street, and it has nothing to do with the film itself but the coverage they have received. Namely, that this coverage is incorrect. Articles such as this one for Vogue France, or this for The Hollywood Reporter, or a ‘suit guide’ by Esquire, concentrate almost solely on Giorgio Armani’s contribution to the project with barely a mention of costume designer Sandy Powell. And this is the Sandy Powell by the way: 10 Oscar nominations and so well respected she has an OBE for services to the industry. It was Powell who costumed The Wolf of Wall Street, not…

Author Caroline Young has just released a fascinating new book entitled Hitchcock’s Heroines (published by Insight Editions). It celebrates and studies the women in Hitchcock movies; their influence, semblance and iconography. What’s more, Young also examines the role costume design plays with these women, both the characters and the actresses who played them, and how they can be interpreted as far more than just ‘icy blondes’. Here we have an extract of the book exclusively for Clothes on Film: Kim Novak’s grey suit the colour of San Francisco fog in Vertigo, Grace Kelly as the too-perfect woman in Rear Window, and Janet Leigh’s black and white sets of underwear to……

Two weeks of juicy costume links. Sandy Powell A costumer who needs no introduction. This Sunday at the J. Paul Getty Museum she discusses the use of period photographs in her process. Puttin’ on the Glitz Tyranny of Style contributor Sophia Shillito recaps the British Library’s night of jazz, costume, gangsters, fashion and cocktails. Costume Test Photographs Costume tests for famous movies! Vera Miles as Madeleine! Vikings Joan Bergin talks Vikings season 2 addressing why the show hasn’t received any costume noms. It’s not very good, which may be factor, though that has nothing to do with the costumes. Saddle Shoes Lots and lots of saddle shoes, from Twin Peaks…

While science-fiction and period costume can sell to collectors at auction for tens of thousands of dollars, the future of contemporary costume from the contemporary drama, comedy and thriller genres is unclear. Costumes from films set in the modern age are not valued as highly. Sourced from costume houses, high-street stores, and even actor’s own wardrobes, these pieces could be lost for good for future generations of collectors and fans if current mentality doesn’t change. Contemporary costume, even from popular movies, is surprisingly hard to trace. What has happened to George Clooney’s Aloha shirts from The Descendants? The film’s costume designer Wendy Chuck isn’t sure. “I have no idea where…

Les Misérables is drenched in costume symbolism, specifically revolutionary red, white and blue. Subtle was never its intention. In Malèna, Monica Bellucci plays an impossible vision of beauty; a woman so striking she is immediately sexualised by all who lay eyes on her. Jack Sparrow has finally become the irritating wiseass who just won’t leave the party. The trailer for The Three Musketeers affords the briefest peek at those 17th century costumes. Our first Dual Analysis with Costumer’s Guide. To kick off, here is what Chris from Clothes on Film had to say. Milla Jovovich has released three pics of herself on Twitter wearing costumes from The Three Musketeers.

Forgive the self-promotion as we draw your attention to Clothes on Film’s essay in the book Hollywood Costume edited by Deborah Nadoolman Landis, published to accompany her exhibition at the V&A. Even without the involvement of Clothes on Film editor Chris Laverty, we would still be recommending this publication wholeheartedly. Firstly, it is absolutely beautiful; the kind of text that university students will actually want to pore over for their coursework. That is not to say it is purely educational, but emphasis is strongly on the nitty-gritty use and conservation of costume. What gives the book a novel twist is Landis recruiting actual Hollywood costume designers to discuss their work,…

The highly anticipated season five premiere of Game of Thrones aired across the globe this week, giving us tantalising glimpses of where our favorite characters are now. We saw two brief scenes of Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), who had a major makeover at the end of Season Four. With this new direction in her character, where will she end up in Season Five? In this little addendum to our previous analysis of her wardrobe, we explore the character clues in Sansa’s striking new look (costume design by Michele Clapton). Sansa has not had it easy so far. During the last few seasons she has been trapped in King’s Landing, tortured……

When glass-eyed Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) tells Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) that all the excess and splendour he drowns in is “from your perfect, irresistible imagination”, it’s hard not to see this entire film in this same light. Director, producer Baz Luhrmann and his wife, costume designer, production designer and co-producer Catherine Martin have concocted a vision of the early 1920s that did not exist yet somehow feels entirely natural. Their Great Gatsby is a twenties parallel universe; the twenties reloaded if you will. This is a flavour of the 1920s, those details that cinemagoers with just a passing knowledge of the era can recognise: cloche hats, bobbed hair, short…

Okay, so this really is just a brief clip, but totally worth watching. The main draw is Boardwalk Empire’s main stars commenting on their costumes (“You don’t need to tell me how to rock a suit!” – Michael Kenneth Williams) along with a couple of great close-ups of the sewing team. Executive producer Martin Scorsese also provides background, plus valuable insight from the show’s amazing costume design duo, John Dunn and Lisa Padovani. Clothes on Film has plenty more posts about Boardwalk Empire (primarily Season 1 as we haven’t caught up with 2 yet). Try HERE and scroll down. Also, watch us talking about the show in a video for…

From what is a hopefully legit rendering published by ComicBookMovie, we have our first clear look at Chris Evans’ new costume for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Big changes are afoot for Steve Rogers, aka the Captain. First we had costume designer Anna B. Sheppard’s well received paratrooper style uniform for The First Avenger (2011). Then we had Alexandra Byrne’s slightly less well received, vivid red and blue streamlined version for Avengers Assemble (2012). And now we have this, Judianna Makovsky’s own interpretation for The Winter Solider: The Winter soldier costume by Judianna Makovsky. This new suit has more in common with The First Avenger than Avengers Assemble. Gone are…