Clothes on film

Part two of a new Dual Analysis costume film review. Beetle Juice (1988) is one of the landmark films in my life. There is “Before Beetle Juice” and there is “After Beetle Juice”. The film is important to me because it was the first film to reflect a subculture that I recognized firsthand: goth. I was a teenager in 1988, and the gothic movement had started (on the West Coast of California, in any case) in about 1984 – 1985. It wasn’t called goth, or gothic, at that point. In fact, I don’t even remember hearing the term ‘goth’ to describe this look until the mid-nineties, when the movement had…

Alan Partridge the movie, now entitled ‘Alpha Papa’, has a teaser trailer. And it is a teaser so don’t expect to see much costume, yet what we do see is magnificent. Casual red shirt, biscuit varsity jacket, brown leather belt and pale blue denim jeans; the jeans of which perhaps we see too much. It cannot be overstated how vital costume design is to the character of Alan Partridge. We know Alan so well by what he wears, we recognise him in society. He is that guy in a salmon pink Gabacci polo shirt and maroon Greenwoods cords. It is a very specific style that may look thrown together but…

Perhaps the most mind-churning mainstream film of recent years, Inception is testament to the power of great costume design. Not only does it look sumptuous, thanks to all those 3 pc suits and silk ties, but because of costume designer Jeffrey Kurland and director Christopher Nolan’s commitment to clothing serving an implicit function, Inception is at least partially decipherable by what the characters wear. The screen is filled with costume clues to interpret. Jeffrey Kurland has been costume designer on thirty seven feature films, including Ocean’s Eleven (2001) and Collateral (2004), though Inception is his first collaboration with Chris Nolan. Here he explains exclusively to Clothes on Film his sartorial…

Despite being set in the present day, the world of Brigsby Bear (2017, directed by Dave McCary) is a cosy 1980s nostalgia affair. Most of what we see either comes from or belongs to another time. It is a very deliberate look that extends right across the production design and costumes. Separate from the overall costume design of Brigsby Bear (by Sarah Mae Burton), Stoopid Buddy Stoodios worked on the creation and execution of the actual Brigsby Bear suit. We chatted to David Brooks and Ben Bayouth from the studio to discover exactly how they arrived upon the distinctive finished article. Clothes on Film: What led Stoopid Buddy Stoodios to…

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The Academy Awards go one smarter than BAFTA by including the late Eiko Ishioka for Mirror, Mirror in their Best Costume Design nominees. Otherwise it is business as usual for all the big hitters. However one other costume designer on this list especially deserves her statuette (clue: amazingly she has never been nominated before)… Anna Karenina – Jacqueline Durran Les Misérables – Paco Delgado Lincoln – Joanna Johnston Mirror, Mirror – Eiko Ishioka Snow White and the Huntsman – Colleen Atwood Django Unchained: Where on earth is Sharen Davis..? We have already covered the issue of only big name, big budget period and fantasy films getting a look-in for Costume…

Love them or loathe them, every couple of years a new Harry Potter movie ambles along, its young cast gradually coming to resemble the most clean living group of teenagers ever to grace the screen. However all that fun is set to end with the release of final film in the series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in two parts (2010, 2011), and here, at last, is the trailer. Verdict? If you like Potter, you are going to like this. Cannot say fairer than that. Just as directors of the now seven strong collection have been varied, so too have costume designers. Probably the most important, particularly in relation…

The latest MCU smash-hit, Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), features one of the strangest villains in the wallcrawler’s rogues’ gallery. When it comes to movies based on comic books, the outfit a character like Mysterio wears is not supposed to work on-screen. On the printed pages of comics, the outfits can be impractical and outlandish, and nothing is more of those things than the villain’s fishbowl helmet, lavender cape fastened with giant eyes, and green, scaly tights. Still, costume designer for the film, Anna B. Sheppard, met the challenge of making a fantastic look for Jake Gyllenhaal’s villain. Instead of running away from the crazy roots of the character, she……

The arrival of Scarface (1983, directed by Brian De Palma) on Blu-ray grants ideal opportunity to indulge the film’s exemplary costumes by Patricia Norris. In its bogus world of clashing colours and mix fabrics, drug lord Tony Montana (Al Pacino) is the model of gangster symbolism, while steely dame Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer) has become a pin-up for the disco couture era; both characters are as psychologically screwed up as each other. Tony arrives in Miami, Florida, 1980 as a refugee from Cuba. His Caribbean heritage and lack of cash is demonstrated by a fondness for loose fitting, short sleeve island shirts. These are so gaudy that during the infamous chainsaw…

If you watch supernatural cop show Sleepy Hollow on Fox (Universal in the UK), you will definitely know who Kristin Burke is. Her sartorial contribution to the first season has ingrained the series with a handsome, consistent, yet oddly plausible look. We say ‘oddly’ because the show is, for want of a better term, completely batshit crazy; a mix of 18th century drama and modern day X-Files, involving headless horsemen, a tree monster, deadly black vein disease, and all manner of creepy mythology based beasties. It’s terrific fun. Kristin M. Burke is what we would politely call a veteran costume designer, over 50 films to her name, although not someone…