The Big Picture MagazineAda writes the blog Classiq, where she funnels her lifelong passion for cinema and her interest in fashion in film, of which she is a fervent proponent as one of cinema's most far-reaching influences. She is an optimistic by nature, but she hates forced happy endings. Maybe that’s why film noir is her favourite genre. She regards it as a prime contributor to restoring the balance disrupted by the traditional notion of a Hollywoodian happy ending.
Gloria loves clothes. She cares about them. They are perhaps about the only thing she cares about. She suddenly finds herself on the run, but she takes her clothes along. So she should. They are Emanuel Ungaro and they are a part of who she is. John Cassavetes was a director who liked to break […]
What do The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Great Gatsby, The Artist, Memoirs of A Geisha, Chicago and The Aviator all have in common? They are period movies which have all won the Oscar for costume design. In fact, over the last two decades, only two contemporary films have earned even a nomination: The Devil Wears […]
“Don’t shop anything – make everything!” Wes Anderson wanted designer Karen Patch to, as much as possible, design and build all the costumes exclusively for the movie The Royal Tenenbaums, which celebrates its fifteenth anniversary this year. The film-maker is known for placing a high importance on the visual aesthetic of his films, and costumes […]
The work of the costume designer is often overlooked, and as a consequence, books covering the connection between fashion and film are few and far between. But as Martin Scorsese says, “costume is character”. Film costume isn’t all about the dress. Great film costume grounds characters, advances the narrative, speaks more than words do, gives […]
Ali MacGraw in Love Story 1970s Ivy League campus… 1960s industrial Milan… 1950s Hollywood… Very different backdrops to very different different movie stories, united by a sartorial canon that advances the concept of style, regardless of character, story, or decade: the camel coat. The timing couldn’t be more perfect to look at this item, as […]
Sean Connery in Dr. No; Daniel Craig in Casino Royale Men are lucky. Not only does an innate sense of style seem to run amok among our male counterparts, but should they ever feel short of sartorial inspiration, then they have James Bond to emulate. It is Bond’s legendary style that has us talking today […]
Steve McQueen looking cool while keeping warm. Has anyone done it better? His favourite, unmistakeably shaped Persol 0714 sunglasses and the Benrus watch further enhance this classic modern look. “An American original” is how photographer William Claxton describes Steve McQueen in his book Steve McQueen: William Claxton Photographs. That he was, in terms of style, too. […]
Bold, bright colours were a 60s leitmotif, capturing the decade’s optimistic, independent spirit. The big white-framed Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses were an Audrey Hepburn trademark. This look is the perfect juxtaposition of the two, the feverish sixties and Audrey’s singular style – she knew how to lend an elegant spin even to the extravagant clothes that […]
When Marilyn Monroe leaves the screen, so does our interest. Toned down from its Broadway origins thanks to the Hollywood Production Code, The Seven Year Itch still manages to be a good comedy – largely due to Marilyn. And it’s not only thanks to her apotheosis-of-sex-appeal look and that particular iconic scene – Marilyn standing […]