Hats are one of the standout trends from this season’s Fall/Winter Collections. They add elegance and glamour to any outfit for both men and women. Costume Designer Theadora Van Runkle’s Oscar nominated work for Bonnie and Clyde (1967), directed by Arthur Penn and starring Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow and Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker, is a great example of how the simple addition of a hat can say a lot about a character. The function of hats and other forms of headwear are not simply to cover the head and protect it from the elements. Their use has defined social and cultural identity throughout mankind’s history, and they go…

By no means intended as an exhaustive list, Clothes on Film ponder an overview of 2011 in costume. Concentrating on mainstream fare that those outside of big cities are likely to have seen, we consider which costumes delighted, surprised and best of all, enlightened us. Expect to spot Drive, Melancholia and Hugo on this list somewhere. Costume encompasses every item of clothing worn on film. By strict definition costume is not ‘wardrobe’; wardrobe is what Oprah Winfrey wore on her talk show. While at Clothes on Film we embrace all forms of costume, we do have a slight bias for contemporary, although only because it is often underrepresented in the…

By no means intended as an exhaustive list, Clothes on Film ponder an overview of 2011 in costume. Concentrating on mainstream fare that those outside of big cities are likely to have seen, we consider which costumes delighted, surprised and best of all, enlightened us. Expect to spot Drive, Melancholia and Hugo on this list somewhere. Costume encompasses every item of clothing worn on film. By strict definition costume is not ‘wardrobe’; wardrobe is what Oprah Winfrey wore on her talk show. While at Clothes on Film we embrace all forms of costume, we do have a slight bias for contemporary, although only because it is often underrepresented in the…

Playing computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, Noomi Rapace embodies the character in such a exhaustive way that picturing anyone else in the role was, until recently, impossible. Defined by copious piercings, a ragged biker leather jacket and skinny jeans, Lisbeth is a blatant symbol of unconformity. From author Stieg Larsson’s creation to costume designer Cilla Rörby’s interpretation for the screen, Lisbeth harks back to the mid-1970s; the early days of punk and a desire to skew superficial expectations. Lisbeth’s costume changes for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009, directed by Niels Arden Oplev) are faithful, certainly in spirit, to Larsson’s Millennium novels. The overall shock factor has been toned down…

© 2010 Chris Laverty. All rights reserved. 3 Aug ’10 Paddy Considine plays The Guardian journalist Simon Ross in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). And thanks to costume designer Shay Cunliffe, he wears a Belstaff man bag. Nothing unusual about him carrying a bag, he is a reporter after all. Except that, somehow, there is; even in this day and age when gender blending style has never been more prominent, it still looks ‘wrong’. But why? Male journalists tend to fall into two categories: those that shave on a regular basis, and those that don’t. Ross is the former, a squeaky clean type in inoffensive brown fine stripe moleskin jacket, white…

Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland Directed By: Lars von Trier The most exquisite fashion promo ever made. Only a demeaning statement if you consider fashion a frivolous construct of self-expression; Lars von Trier does not. Kirsten Dunst plays Justine, a despondent soul who cannot face the enforced happiness of her bourgeois wedding day yet can passively accept the annihilation of earth due to its collision with the planet ‘Melancholia’. Obviously the destruction of all mankind is a situation beyond her control, so she all but welcomes it. As someone who spends every single day trying to think of a reason to live, Justine is thankful the decision has…

Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench Directed By: Cary Fukunaga Clothes on Film were lucky enough to be invited to a special screening by Volkswagen See Film Differently of Jane Eyre (2011) at Haddon Hall, where much of the movie was shot doubling for Thornfield Hall in the novel. It is an extraordinary location framing a contently methodical love story. This is the beauty of Jane Eyre; conflict lies foremost with the central characters; the complex emotions which drive them. Costume design by Michael O’Connor, Oscar winner for The Duchess in 2008 provides an impeccable gloss on the film. Characteristic of gothic Victorian dress circa 1840, no longer romantic…

Part two of a new Dual Analysis with Maggie from The Costumer’s Guide. The Young Victoria was a costume flick I’d been looking forward to ever since the first promo pics came out. This is for several reasons – one is that I’d read some great historical fiction about the young Victoria by Jean Plaidy. (She’s got a great reputation as a writer and I think she really captures Victoria and her life. If you’re interested, they are The Captive of Kensington Palace, The Queen and Lord M, The Queen’s Husband, and The Widow of Windsor). But we’re talking costumes. A second reason I was looking forward to this movie…

Part two of a new Dual Analysis with Maggie from The Costumer’s Guide. The Young Victoria was a costume flick I’d been looking forward to ever since the first promo pics came out. This is for several reasons – one is that I’d read some great historical fiction about the young Victoria by Jean Plaidy. (She’s got a great reputation as a writer and I think she really captures Victoria and her life. If you’re interested, they are The Captive of Kensington Palace, The Queen and Lord M, The Queen’s Husband, and The Widow of Windsor). But we’re talking costumes. A second reason I was looking forward to this movie…

Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland Directed By: Lars von Trier The most exquisite fashion promo ever made. Only a demeaning statement if you consider fashion a frivolous construct of self-expression; Lars von Trier does not. Kirsten Dunst plays Justine, a despondent soul who cannot face the enforced happiness of her bourgeois wedding day yet can passively accept the annihilation of earth due to its collision with the planet ‘Melancholia’. Obviously the destruction of all mankind is a situation beyond her control, so she all but welcomes it. As someone who spends every single day trying to think of a reason to live, Justine is thankful the decision has…