Clothes on film

How Richard Burton’s character in Villain (1971) dresses to impress and intimidate. A fortnight ago to the day, Clothes on Film creator and editor Christopher Laverty joined fashion historian Amber Jane Butchart to give one of two talks and a Q&A chat at The British Library in London. The subjects under discussion were, respectively, the unexpectedly colourful clothing of Prohibition era gangsters as portrayed in the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire, and the influence of movies and movie star style on fashion during The Jazz Age. After Christopher and Amber finished their talks to a delighted audience (they clapped), everyone reconvened to the elegant backdrop of the main library grounds…

Empire recently spoke to Chris Evans about his Captain America: The First Avenger get-up. He was quite forthright, particularly in comparisons to his earlier skin-tight Fantastic Four (2005) costume and how heavy the shield is. Though we are sure Evans is really strong and would never dream of suggesting otherwise. You can read the full interview at Empire, but scan below for the gist (accompanying images are early concept art): It’s an amazing costume. Given the fact that his costume is red, white and blue, and it’s tight, and it could be kind of flash and over the top – and given the fact that the movie takes place in…

The leggy lure of Bombshell. Lord Christopher Laverty Comments Off on Bombshell: Below the Belt 12 Oct ’18 24 Sep ’11 16 Apr ’10

The leggy lure of Bombshell. Lord Christopher Laverty Comments Off on Bombshell: Below the Belt 15 Dec ’09 10 Jun ’13 27 Nov ’09

Outfits worn specifically by female actors on television For HBO Sessions part 2, Clothes on Film editor Chris Laverty was invited to discuss the costume design of Boardwalk Empire. By no means intended as an exhaustive list, Clothes on Film ponder an overview of 2011 in costume. Playing computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander, Noomi Rapace embodies the character in such a way that picturing anyone else in the role is nearly impossible. The displaced sex appeal of uniforms in Mildred Pierce. Clothes on Film editor, Chris Laverty discusses the costumes of Mildred Pierce for filmed HBO Sessions. Costume wise, This is Jinsy is deliberately bizarre and mismatched. Yet everything makes sense…

Outfits worn specifically by female actors on television The costume evolution of Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. Lucinda Wright talks costume in The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: The Murder in Angel Lane. The week in costume design. The costume evolution of Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones. Costume colours in House of Cards are symbolic of vulnerability and power. Analysing the sometimes tense relationship between fashion and costume design. Our thoughts on the costume design in the season 6 premiere of Mad Men. Now the major award ceremonies are over we have a summary of the big costume design winners. Or should that be big winner? Anna Karenina. Clothes…

The first image from Thor showcasing characters other than the hammer man himself has been released. No, the film is not a musical. We are not saying that we dislike the costumes by Alexandra Byrne, it is just that the overly bright lighting, oddly Doctor Who circa 1970s set and Anthony Hopkins wearing some chocolate foil over his eye is hardly projecting the image of a $150 million film. With Oscar winner Byrne involved especially, but considering Kenneth Branagh directing and quality co-stars such as Stellan Skarsgård and Natalie Portman appearing alongside Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Hopkins himself, this rather campy look has to be intentional. To be fair…

Costume colours in House of Cards are symbolic of vulnerability and power. Alongside costume illustrations with fabric swatch, Ellen Mirojnick explains the stage wear worn by Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. First in our two part retrospective of neo-noir classic The Grifters with exclusive insight from the film’s assistant costume designer Mark Bridges. A 13 minute Man of Steel featurette has just been released discussing the suit. Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick brings Liberace back to life on stage and off. Goldie Hawn’s unforgettable debut in hot pants and mini skirts in Cactus Flower. Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin bring us the twenties reloaded. Some photographs from the recent So Dior…

Author Matt Zoller Seitz has published a continuation of his superb book The Wes Anderson Collection (2013), entitled (deep breath) The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel. The former is a detailed look at Anderson’s output so far, influences, meaning and interpretation of his work; the latter covers exclusively Anderson’s latest, The Grand Budapest Hotel. This is far more than a bolted on sequel, however, and one of the reasons we know this is because Clothes on Film editor Christopher Laverty was asked to contribute a chapter. More than that, it has recently joined The New York Times bestseller list. A pretty, candy-coloured slab of hardback, Seitz’s follow up……

Outfits worn specifically by female actors on television SPOILERS THROUGHOUT Having recently finished a six week, six episode run on the BBC, John le Carré adapted spy drama The Little Drummer Girl was divisive in terms of audience reaction. Some found the plot impossible to follow, others revelled in the cloak and dagger shenanigans of twenty-something Charmain ‘Charlie’ Ross (Florence Pugh), a low level actress drawn into a high stakes mission of infiltrating a Palestinian revolutionary group in 1979. The show’s costume design by Sheena Napier and Stephen Noble inspired equal division. While most enjoyed the eye-popping period ensembles and how they exemplified character, just as many were left confounded…