The importance of costume colour for the colourblind casting of The Personal History of David Copperfield. MINOR SPOILERS Okja (2017) is the second film that costume designer Catherine George has worked on with director Bong Joon-ho. Their first together, Snowpiercer (2013), despite being lauded by critics (and featuring Chris Evans), only received a limited theatrcial run in the U.S. and no release at all in the UK. Unlike Okja, Snowpiercer is an out and out sci-fi fantasy set when most of the world’s population have been wiped out and those who remain live on perpetually moving train. Okja is still a fantasy, it revolves around a little girl Mija (An…

In a week of new and exciting trailers, the first for director Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby must surely be the most thrilling of all, certainly for aficionados of exotic period costume and lots of twinkly things. Based purely on tone this frenetic footage is likely to upset literary purists, but to those familiar with Luhrmann’s back catalogue (Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge!), the gaudy, flashy visuals and controversial choice of contemporary music (Jay-Z and Kayne West) will not come as a great surprise. Thankfully two time Academy Award winner Catherine Martin’s costumes are showcased in all their OTT glory. Deliberately impossible to miss; this is 1922, the…

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth Directed By: Gary Ross Set to ignite many a misconceived fashion editorial, The Hunger Games succeeds as pure costume delight because first and foremost it serves narrative. Judianna Makovsky has brought to life a new world, not created a magazine spread. The film is based on a trilogy of novels by Suzanne Collins and centres around Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), who volunteers to take her sister’s place for the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death contest in the wilderness between 24 ‘tributes’ aged 12-18 with only one winner gaining his/her freedom. Taking place in post-Apocalyptic North America presided over by a…

Building character with the costume design of Pacific Rim. The costume evolution of Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. The costume evolution of Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones. Goldie Hawn’s unforgettable debut in hot pants and mini skirts in Cactus Flower. Catherine Martin chats about The Great Gatsby costumes, design and a lack of nostalgia. Analysing the sometimes tense relationship between fashion and costume design. A look at late Margaret Thatcher’s colour specific wardrobe as represented in the film The Iron Lady. We analyse exactly what Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin need to get right for their costume design in The Great Gatsby. The colours and codes of the…

In addition to script, acting and direction, the most iconic moments in some of the best-loved films are defined in no small part by costume. This can most certainly be said of Dirty Dancing (1987) in that classic scene where “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” Johnny Castle’s (Patrick Swayze) half-unbuttoned black shirt and equally rebellious leather jacket with up-turned collar define him as the bad boy ‘your Daddy would never approve of’, whilst Baby (Jennifer Grey) wears a floaty, pale pink dress that gives her the grace of a ballerina and the elegance of a dove reflecting her much purer nature. But beyond these best known ensembles by costume…

The international trailer for The Wolverine was released this week. From a costume point of view the most interesting thing in it was Hugh Jackman wearing an awful lot of black. In the context of the story his character travels to Japan and falls in with a Yakuza clan. Black suits, shirts and ties are the unofficial uniform of the Yakuza, a look largely adopted from Hollywood gangster movies. The use of black in costume design denotes mystery, death and for want of a better word, ‘coolness’; it is as obviously symbolic as sexy red or cold blue. To honour The Wolverine and his tendency to layer black on black…

Although Tron (1982) is often cited as the first use of computer animation in mainstream film, there is far more to its significance than what we see on screen. As an artistic influence on everything from fashion to music, Tron has created a cultural cosmos we now term its ‘legacy’. All this thanks to a 29 year baby boomer who dared to dream idealistic… Creator and director of the original Tron, Steven Lisberger, freely admits that his film, the very idea in fact, was born out of hippie ideology; the creation of unity between the analogue and digital world: We were idealistic. The Gen-Xers are much more realistic, but at…

Joanna Johnston chats about her work on Lincoln and what we can we can expect from her latest project Jack the Giant Slayer. Costume in The Cabin in the Woods is not grand, but it is very clever. All the teenage characters subtly evolve from one horror stereotype to another. Clothes on Film had an exclusive conversation with costume designer Joanna Johnston about her work on War Horse. Clothes on Film were granted a private tour of world-renowned Angels the costumiers. Kathleen Kennedy chats exclusively to Clothes on Film about her experiences and understanding of costume design. The first trailer for Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of War Horse gallops online and…

Join Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty for a special Oscars Red Carpet Livestream. You better believe he’s wearing a custom made crown. Lord Christopher Laverty Comments Off on Oscars 2020: Red Carpet Livestream 10 Dec ’10 26 Feb ’10 5 Oct ’11

David Lynch has premiered his twelve minute commercial for Lady Dior and it is every bit as ‘Lynch’ as you might expect. Lord Christopher Laverty Comments Off on David Lynch & Marion Cotillard Get Blue For Dior 17 Jan ’11 3 Aug ’10 5 Sep ’13