Director Brian De Palma has made movies heavily influenced by Alfred Hitchcock before, but Passion (2012) is the first one whose characters look like they stepped out of one of Hitchcock’s classic films. Karen Muller-Serreau’s bold and colourful costumes communicate the characters’ hidden desires and make watching Passion a sensory experience. This melodrama centres on two ad executives, Isabelle (Noomi Rapace) and her boss Christine (Rachel McAdams), who have a deadline to come up with an ad campaign for a new smartphone. In her sleep, Isabelle thinks of a great idea. Dirk (Paul Anderson) in typical pinstriped suit with Isabelle (Noomi Rapace) in even more typical black. The two other…

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Saoirse Ronan Director: Peter Jackson After directing one of the greatest multi-award winning trilogies ever and remaking his own favourite film in the world, King Kong (2005), Peter Jackson has decided to go back to basics with his interpretation of Alice Sebold’s ‘The Lovely Bones’. The result is reminiscent of Jackson’s earlier work Heavenly Creatures (1995). Both films flit between the imagination and reality of two young girls; The Lovely Bones deals with life, death and the nature of heaven and hell. Set in 1970s Pennsylvania, fourteen year-old Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is murdered by her neighbour Mr Harvey (Stanley Tucci). Susie then finds herself…

Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin Directed by: Edgar Wright There is a current trend for reviewers to place a much hyped new movie into one of two categories: masterpiece or rubbish. Proportionality seems to have disappeared. You must love a film or hate it. Middle ground is for wimps. So forgive this particular reviewer in taking precisely that stance, for while Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is imaginative and breathless; it is also frustrating and derivative. In other words it is good, not great. What frequently saves this film from drowning its audience in a wave of cool-speak and random segues (Seinfeld reference? In 2010?), is hero…

SPOILERS From a costume point of view, and therefore a character point of view, The Grand Budapest Hotel (directed by Wes Anderson) is all about uniforms; those worn by men and women in official capacities and those adopted as a life uniform by those trapped in the past. Eccentric La Belle Époque hangover Madame D (Tilda Swinton) is the latter, Moustafa Zero (Tony Revolori), a newly appointed lobby boy in the pinnacle of majestic 1930s hotels, The Grand Budapest, is the former. While Madame D goes nowhere, perhaps because she has already been everywhere, Zero undertakes a journey and evolution of character, which subsequently means his clothing does too. In…

Oscar nominated costume designer Anna B. Sheppard grants us exclusive insight into the unique period look of Inglourious Basterds (2009). It transpires that most of the film’s extraordinary costumes, including Diane Kruger’s brown suit and Julie Dreyfus’ ‘cat hat’, were constructed entirely from original designs by Anna Sheppard. Moreover all period jewellery was sourced from her own private collection, accumulated since working on Steven Spielberg’s holocaust drama Schindler’s List in 1993. Clothes on Film: Is it fair to say that the costumes in Inglourious Basterds are intended as ‘stylised’ as opposed to entirely historically accurate? Anna Sheppard: I wouldn’t call them stylised as such, simply they are maybe more flamboyant.…

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway Directed By: Tom Hooper Lingering death scenes, honourable gentlemen with puffed out chests, a little girl in rags sweeping the floor; to say Les Misérables takes itself very, very seriously is an understatement. Victor Hugo’s original novel is not known for its slapstick either (the clue is in the title), yet director Tom Hooper’s adaptation is so earnest as to verge on parody. This is Carol Reed’s Oliver! only with a good deal more rain and tears, and a lot less Oom-Pah-Pah. To Hooper’s credit, Les Misérables never strives to be something it is not. Dramatic musical theatre on a grand scale should…

The perfection of a rose-tinted past, Doris Day’s costumes in Pillow Talk (1959) are some of the most exquisite ever worn on screen. They personify her immaculate character and symbolise the remnants of a dying era; opulence, optimism and the changing face of urbanised fashion. Costume designer for Pillow Talk was Bill Thomas, although, as became standard with Doris Day pictures, he was not directly responsible for creating her outfits. That job fell to celebrated costume/fashion designer Jean Louis, earning him a ‘Gowns By’ credit on the film. Louis was known for his stylish and often deceptively simple garments, including most famously Rita Hayworth’s strapless black sheath in Gilda (1946).…

Catch up with the week’s costume links. Fashion Fall Trends From big screen and small, Nathalie Atkinson analyses – with typical and unrelenting brilliance – inspiration for the fall fashion season. Ken Van Duyne, Assistant Costume Designer Chats about his way into the business and working with Julie Weiss. Piero Tosi The Italian costume designer (Death in Venice, The Night Porter) has been given an honorary Oscar. Well done, sir. Costume designers as brands Cassy Salyer looks at the increasing (and potentially controversial) trend for costume designers to produce capsule versions for the high street. The Bling Ring Video: The Cut meet costume designer Stacey Battat. Sleepy Hollow Costume designer…

Exclusive to Clothes on Film, Leesa Evans explains the tricky art of dressing six very different comic characters in Bridesmaids, i.e not overselling the humour. Leaning primarily to comedy, Leesa Evans has been lead costume designer on over twenty films, including American Pie (1999) and Josie and the Pussycats (2001). She has also worked with producer Judd Apatow several times, e.g. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Get Him to the Greek (2010) and now Bridesmaids (2011, directed by Paul Feig). “I have a great working relationship with Judd Apatow,” Evans confirms “When he asked me to design the film I was thrilled to do it”. Crammed with about as much riotous…

The Girl Most Likely To (1973) is a little seen made-for-TV film for all those who have been laughed at, dumped on or felt in any way degraded because of their looks. Originally shown as the ABC Movie of the Week, this revengeful black comedy penned by Joan Rivers has rightfully garnered somewhat of a cult following due to its subject matter to which so many can relate. Stockard Channing plays Miriam Knight, “a beautiful person who had been kidnapped by an ugly body”. Even before physical features are taken into account, her clothes say it all. The whole concoction for her first day at her new university is like…