What did you miss in costume design this week? Well… Doctor Who John Hurt’s character identity revealed by costume designer Howard Burden? Oh dear. The Sound of Music Bid on the second most famous pinafore in Hollywood history. A Field in England Get the big buckle, big boots, big everything look by Emma Fryer. Pacific Rim Kate Hawley on tackling ‘hard sci-fi’. Bonhams Lot 1793, Tetsuro Tanba’s traditional Japanese costume for You Only Live Twice (1967) and others went under the hammer this week at Bonhams. The Lone Ranger Unsurprisingly, Johnny Depp was very involved with his costume. …and there are Lone Ranger ‘leather goods’ if you fancy them, too.…

By the mid 1970s, denim had been accepted as day wear for everyone and yet still remained intrinsically associated with adolescent ‘drop out’ culture. Warren Beatty was 37 at the time of shooting The Parallax View (1974) so could hardly be described as young; he looks a touch too old for his sky-blue western Levi ‘Trucker’ denim jacket and brown twill hip-hugger pants. Nonetheless the casual denim jacket remains a potent symbol of seventies action hero. Mainstream acceptable yet scruffy, Beatty’s attire resists his character Joe Fredy’s profession as a serious, determined journalist, but not his wayward personality. A denim jacket seen in this era subliminally plants the seed of…

As predicted, a new Tron Legacy trailer has debuted at San Diego Comic Con, along with eight minutes of finished footage (which we’ll admit we haven’t seen). It’s all go for the MCP. The design of the black Tron Legacy light suit is frankly wicked, a prefect modern update from Jeff Bridges’ stretchy number in the original, both functional looking and sexy (co-star Garrett Hedlund describes it as “the wardrobe of a lifetime”). These new suits appear to be made from Lycra, mesh and leather, possibly in two or three pieces, housing various sized illuminated sections wired with electricity. Just by the by, THIS company have some officially licensed replicas…

Watch the trailer HERE The latest in a queue of trailers for Ridley Scott’s version of Robin Hood has arrived. This one shows us more than pain; we get some basic plot too. As based on the 12th century legend, spurred on by the death of his father, Robin of the Hood ( Russell Crowe) is fighting the rampant taxation and oppression of England’s green and pleasant land. This third Scott preview confirms that simple premise, now with more intense dialogue and even intenser stares. Also several clips of Mark Strong on typically ferocious form as Sir Godfrey. He receives a well-aimed arrow in the neck by Hood (guessing this…

This week’s big fat costume design stories from around the web. The Great Gatsby No controversy apparently: Catherine Martin discusses working with Prada on The Great Gatsby. Revenge Multi-Emmy winning costume designer Jill M. Ohanneson talks about dressing The Hamptons in Revenge, “I recently made Nolan a lobster jacket, as a nod to Ryan Gosling in Drive.” Do the Right Thing Brilliant new supercut video from Daniel Reis the man behind Every Outfit Cher Wears in Clueless. This one features the vivid colours and patterns worn in shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and films such as White Men Can’t Jump and Do the Right Thing. The Great Gatsby…

Tales from the costume crypt. The Talented Mr Ripley Remembering the stellar work of Ann Roth and Gary Jones. Blue Jasmine Costume designer Suzy Benzinger on budgets, Fendi and Cate Blanchett. The Butler Transformations…Ruth Carter discusses mimicking classic fashion designers such as Bill Blass to recreate Nancy Reagan (played by Jane Fonda). Jenn Rogien The Girls’ costume designer is now Gap’s official ‘styled by’ expert. Orange is the New Black More Miss Rogien, this time talking authenticity and maxi-pad shoes. Roman Holiday Just brilliant costume analysis of the film by DTSFT. Elysium A brief chat with costume designer April Ferry. Unsurprisingly, it was Jodie Foster who brought Armani on board.…

After some not especially revealing, though still rather tantalising costume wise, X-Men: First Class images released three weeks ago, comes a far more revealing trailer. It is unexpectedly classy too. X-Men: First Class is helmed by Kick Ass (2010) and Stardust (2007) director Mathew Vaughn and co-scripted by both of those films’ screenwriter Jane Goldman. This is worth mentioning because she clearly has a knack for adapting comic books/graphic novels, unless First Class is an exception, which we hope not. Anyway, check out the trailer below. Costumes by Sammy Sheldon – also a Vaughn regular: It is now apparent that both Vaughn and Sheldon have toned down the ‘sixtiesness’ of…

Well, new ish, as there are about a hundred different clips of Paranormal Activity 2 on the internet at the moment. This does look interesting though; not least costume wise. In a very ordinary way. Despite this clip being only seven seconds long it does shed potentially enormous light on the new story. It is also a bit spoilery if you have not seen the first film, so bear that in mind before you watch: Hmm, that’s possible prequel territory – although probably not worth speculating over too deeply as we will find out for definite in a few days. What is interesting, however, even in this mini-clip, is the…

The Victoria and Albert Museum, London is hosting an exhibition of dresses and accessories once belonging to Grace Kelly. You have from now until 26th September to get there and gaze. There are a multitude of Kelly’s finest and most memorable outfits on display. Some will look less than pristine as Princess Grace of Monaco was not averse to wearing garments and handbags until long past their best. A classier contrast to modern celebrities who sport an item once before consigning it to the bin marked ‘Seen’ and splashing out on another. Author and all round society man Ian Fleming was the same in this respect. He apparently used to…

Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick has rightly been praised for her work on Behind the Candelabra. Her intricate research and attention to detail helped create a believable world for Liberace (Michael Douglas) and his lover Scott Thorson (Matt Damon), both on stage and off. Here, exclusively for Clothes on Film, she describes five of her recreated stage ensembles alongside official illustrations (some with with fabric swatches) by Christian Cordella. Click on the images to enlarge. Liberace’s White Iconic Fur Coat with 16 ft Train Faux white fox lined completely with silver sequins. The skins are separated by triple rows of rhinestone bands that are mitred into a chevron design at centre…