© 2009 Chris Laverty. All rights reserved. 20 May ’09 Not so much Clothes on Film as Underwear on Film, but far from just an excuse to show off a girl in her smalls, classic Mod era film Quadrophenia (1979) illustrates an interesting point concerning female hosiery in the 1960s. The sixties was the decade for tights. They were an ideal accompaniment to the mini skirt and came in a wide variety of colours, normally as bright and garish as possible. Thanks to innovations in textile production, tights (or pantyhose in the U.S.) were straightforward to produce and even easier to wear. Plus with mini skirt hems rising all the…

© 2010, Clothes on Film 17 Jun ’10 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.…

© 2010, Clothes on Film 17 Jun ’10 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.…

© 2009, Clothes on Film 25 Dec ’09 Frankie Says Watch the HD trailer (redband too) HERE Surely worth a look for eighties fans, the trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine starring John Cusack recently arrived on the web. It’s Back to the Future, for drunk guys. The plot for Hot Tub Time Machine is completely mental and probably wouldn’t be attracting any internet attention were it not for the noteworthy cast involved (meaning Cusack and eighties survivor Chevy Chase). It does seem like an amusing idea however. A group of middle aged guys take leave of their boring lives for a wild night of drinking in a ski resort…

© 2010 Chris Laverty. All rights reserved. 12 May ’10 Last week Clothes on Film visited the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibition at London’s V&A museum. This is what we found out. Grace Kelly is mostly known for her ‘blossoming flower’, 50′s New Look dresses with tiny waists and huge, poufy skirts. Yet these only represent one period in her life, essentially the big movie star years 1954-56 and early marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco. There was far more to Grace Kelly’s enduring chic than silk organza, although two constants did remain throughout: clean, simple. She rarely deviated from this style. That the Victoria and Albert museum (that’s…

© 2012, Columbia Pictures 17 Jan ’13 Finally the CDG nominations have been announced, and while they right some of the wrongs made by Oscar and chiefly BAFTA, ample opportunity to reward some really creative and effective costume design has once again been overlooked. We have indicated at length our views on the Academy and BAFTA’s nominations (HERE and HERE) so in the interests of not sounding like a broken record we shall stick to the facts. Well, perhaps just the odd observation… Nominations below: Excellence in Contemporary Film Beasts of the Southern Wild – Stephani Lewis The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – Louise Stjernsward Silver Linings Playbook – Mark…

© 2012, Columbia Pictures 17 Jan ’13 Finally the CDG nominations have been announced, and while they right some of the wrongs made by Oscar and chiefly BAFTA, ample opportunity to reward some really creative and effective costume design has once again been overlooked. We have indicated at length our views on the Academy and BAFTA’s nominations (HERE and HERE) so in the interests of not sounding like a broken record we shall stick to the facts. Well, perhaps just the odd observation… Nominations below: Excellence in Contemporary Film Beasts of the Southern Wild – Stephani Lewis The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – Louise Stjernsward Silver Linings Playbook – Mark…

© 2010 Chris Laverty. All rights reserved. 23 Apr ’10 Want to know exactly what a costume designer does? Let Ellen Mirojnick, BAFTA nominated costume designer on films such as Wall Street, Chaplin, and Cloverfield explain it to you. Here she talks exclusively to Clothes on Film. Clothes on Film, Chris: Can you tell us, as simply as possible, what the role of a movie costume designer is? Ellen Mirojnick: The costume designer is responsible for creating each character’s look that will be the visual translation of the directors’ vision of the film. COF: Do all costume designers make costumes themselves? EM: I don’t sew or stitch myself. I am…

© 2012, Columbia Pictures 17 Jan ’13 Finally the CDG nominations have been announced, and while they right some of the wrongs made by Oscar and chiefly BAFTA, ample opportunity to reward some really creative and effective costume design has once again been overlooked. We have indicated at length our views on the Academy and BAFTA’s nominations (HERE and HERE) so in the interests of not sounding like a broken record we shall stick to the facts. Well, perhaps just the odd observation… Nominations below: Excellence in Contemporary Film Beasts of the Southern Wild – Stephani Lewis The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – Louise Stjernsward Silver Linings Playbook – Mark…

The Phantom of the Opera (2004, directed by Joel Schumacher) is a lavish depiction of its world, examining the nature of facade – the un-reality of the stage, the masked Phantom of the title, and the duality of “costume” within costume (the majority of clothes on screen are designed as costumes for use in performances in the narrative). Costume designer Alexandra Byrne makes use of symbolic colour palettes and silhouettes to bring this heightened world to life. We are first taken into the world of the Opera Populaire, 1870, with the dress rehearsal of “Hannibal”. It is interesting to note that not all are wearing full “costume” – corsets and…