Costumes: A place in the sun

One rainy night a few days ago I finally slipped in my 'A place in the sun' dvd and promptly fell in love with the costumes.

The costume designer was none other than Edith Head who dressed the beautiful Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters and Montgomery Clift.

The most memorable costume however is Elizabeth's tulle gown which set the tone for many ball dresses in the 1950's, with its tight bodice and full skirt.

Edith's costuming for this film won an Academy Award, she received eight Oscars in her lifetime for her work in film.

Turn of the century

I've been watching too much Downton Abbey lately, and can't get enough of the costumes.

Enjoy!

Double Indemnity

When it comes to my fashion design I can draw inspiration from any number of things but mostly they come from movies.

I'm a huge fan of film and in particular movies of the forties and fifties.

Double Indemnity was both the first film noir and the first film starring Barbara Stanwyck that I ever saw and I loved it so much that it inspired me to create a dress after it.

 While the dress may seem simple, it's actually what I wanted to achieve. It's about light, dark, contrast and drama being created through the strong feminine silhouette and the wearer making a strong visual impact.

Dress available here.

& only this

Titanic is one of those films that I've watched countless times and am still in awe of the costumes.

The year being portrayed was 1912 and the costume designer Deborah Lynn Scott won an Academy Award for her work on the film.

Memoirs of a Geisha

This film based off the novel by Arthur Golden is one of my absolute favorites.

The actors were also dressed by one of my favorite costume designers, Colleen Atwood.

Colleen has also worked on Chicago, Alice in Wonderland, Sleepy Hollow & Snow White and the Huntsman.

"Audiences who are perchance knowledgeable in kimonos will note that Atwood has taken liberties with her designs. In an interview with LA Times, Atwood noted “the subtlety of an actual geisha dress wouldn’t have the right impact on film...We were taking an art form that is a huge part of Japanese culture but it was important to remember that we were making a movie based on a book of fiction, written by a guy, about a geisha. It is not a documentary film.” Atwood’s decision to alter the costumes was also because she wanted to create a shape more palatable to modern audiences. “We wanted to see a shoulder, have the illusion of a waist and have a sense of breasts beneath the kimono. We are trying to honour the form but make it more accessible, so we made the obi fit tight against the body to sort of glam it up”.

Each character also had their own color pallette: "Kimonos that were resplendent in vibrant reds, striking blues and dazzling greens defined Gong’s Hatsumomo while Yeoh’s Mameha, who is the epitome of the perfect geisha, was attired in serene colours that match her cool demeanour. Sayuri’s, played by Zhang, transformation is depicted by the change in her kimonos from basic, modest cotton to rich, elegant silk." 

 This film is a beautiful look at 1930s/1940s Japan, with magnificent use of colour and light.