Clothes on film

From stills of this film alone you could easily be forgiven in thinking that I am Love (Io sono l’amore, 2009) was set during the 1960s. The designer clothes draped worn by lead members of the Recchi family, as selected by costumer Antonella Cannarozzi, are generally minimalist, in plain colours with little embellishment. I am Love is actually set in Europe around 2000, but its central characters are trapped as the well-heeled repressed of the sixties. Just as sexual, artistic and cultural expression was blossoming, the old guard struggled to make sense of this new world so regressed even more vehemently into their old one. The Recchi’s seem to live……

This week’s costume biggies. The Great Race Karen Noske analyses the exceptional work of Edith Head for Natalie Wood. Breaking Bad Emma Fraser looks at Lydia’s blue coat (and her influence on Todd’s clothing) in recent episodes. Downton Abbey Caroline McCall keeps the Downton ladies covered up. Kristin M. Burke The veteran costume designer tackles the increasing problem of internet haters critiquing work they do not understand. Cinema and Clothes By Dal Chodha, with a teeny contribution by yours truly. Rush Much better interview with costume designer Julian Day than the last one we linked to. Masters of Sex Ane Crabtree on her late 1950s designs for the Showtime drama.…

MILD SPOILERS The hoodie has as much to say about it’s wearer as, say, the white t-shirt does. By which I mean that, depending on context, it can say anything. The white t-shirt can imply clean, erotic, the worker – or a combination of all three. In the eyes of contemporary media, the hoodie largely suggests youth. Shady youth, someone not keen to reveal their identity because they are planning on robbing you or worse. Put the hoodie on a black man and it is pretty much akin to walking down the street in a striped jumper with a sack marked ‘swag’. Luke Cage is not set to change that…

This week’s costume biggies. The Great Race Karen Noske analyses the exceptional work of Edith Head for Natalie Wood. Breaking Bad Emma Fraser looks at Lydia’s blue coat (and her influence on Todd’s clothing) in recent episodes. Downton Abbey Caroline McCall keeps the Downton ladies covered up. Kristin M. Burke The veteran costume designer tackles the increasing problem of internet haters critiquing work they do not understand. Cinema and Clothes By Dal Chodha, with a teeny contribution by yours truly. Rush Much better interview with costume designer Julian Day than the last one we linked to. Masters of Sex Ane Crabtree on her late 1950s designs for the Showtime drama.……

The 1930s was the couture decade that introduced the evening dress in its now familiar form. Lord Christopher Laverty Comments Off on King Kong: Naomi Watts’ White Evening Dress 1 Dec ’11 11 Aug ’10 28 Jan ’13

Analysis of Shawna Trpcic’s subtle costume signifiers with input from the designer herself. Costume in The Cabin in the Woods is not grand, but it is very clever. All the teenage characters subtly evolve from one horror stereotype to another.

Our first look at Chris Evans’ costume for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Lord Christopher Laverty Comments Off on First Look at Captain America: The Winter Soldier Costume 16 Jul ’13 15 Aug ’11 4 May ’18 Clothes on Film chats exclusively to Anna B. Sheppard about her work on Captain America: The First Avenger. Lord Christopher Laverty 7 Comments 9 Dec ’14 27 Feb ’15 9 Nov ’15 Some of the finest superhero costume design ever committed to film. Lord Christopher Laverty Comments Off on Review: Captain America: The First Avenger 6 Jun ’18 2 Mar ’11 21 Sep ’10 The first trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger…

The scruffy gumshoe style of Mickey Rourke in Angel Heart (1987). With very special trousers. Fred Williamson as Tommy Gibbs adopts the gangster codes of 1930s cinema in blaxploitation classic Black Caesar. Crazy, Stupid Love is every inch the ‘fashion film’, both in terms of narrative and costume designer Dayna Pink’s elegant menswear styling.

Costume designer Michael Kaplan took time away from Star Trek 2 to chat exclusively to Clothes on Film about Ghost Protocol. Enjoyably daft fare with enough fast cars and desirable clobber to keep you cooing until the credits. Once you cotton onto the fact you’re watching ‘Carry on Bourne’, you might even enjoy it.

Costume designer Michael Kaplan took time away from Star Trek 2 to chat exclusively to Clothes on Film about Ghost Protocol. Lord Christopher Laverty 32 Comments 18 Jul ’09 16 Apr ’10 22 Jul ’19 Enjoyably daft fare with enough fast cars and desirable clobber to keep you cooing until the credits. Lord Christopher Laverty 10 Comments 4 Nov ’09 27 Jun ’13 9 Dec ’10