The costume vault

We hope you lovely people are all doing fine in these trying times! I’m currently quarantined in my own home, out of a job, and bored out of my mind. So I have been sharing on all my social media my favorite Period Movies (and shows, sometimes) so you can at least feast your eyes on gorgeous Costume Designs until all this finally blows over. Here I'll briefly expand on those recommendations so you'll be able to make a more informed decision when choosing your choice entertainment for the afternoon! Recommendation for MARCH 21st Sofia Coppola’s MARIE ANTOINETTE is an impressionistic take on the character that focuses on the personal, not on the historical. The movie revolves around her personal experience, her feelings. It’s not concerned with action, but with emotion. Precisely because of this, it’s a rather fragmented and episodic narrative that meanders through the runtime as much as the character meandered through her own life. Here, the lush and amazing...

The biopic as a cinematic genre goes a long way back. Long enough that certain tropes have started to stick around it.  Because of that, it's perceived by many people as formulaic and simply not-very-interesting cinema. And they are usually right. There are many biopics that are superficial stories that try to pass as inspirational. So, when the highly anticipated biopic of Jacqueline Kennedy released its first trailer, I feared for the worst. Thankfully, Jackie is not your average biopic. The movie, directed by Chilean director Pablo Larraín, is an insightful look at Jackie's life in the three days immediately following JFK's assassination framed by her famous Life magazine interview. It's a deep and profound analysis of Jackie both as an icon and a woman. An exciting and subtly emotional portrait of a woman in extraordinary circumstances. Above all, Jackie is a study of loss and legacy. A deep essay on myth-making and the strength that images have when m...

So the nominations for the 89th Academy Awards are finally out and... I am frustrated at how predictable they were. At least in the Costume Design category, which is the one that concerns us here. Here are the Nominations for Costume Design: ALLIED. Costume Design by Joanna Johnston This is a World War II Epic Romance-Drama very reminiscent of the Classic Hollywood Wartime dramas, even down to the excess of melodrama. This movie, though it didn't flop, it didn't impress either. Bland and predictable are terms as applicable to the plot as to the costumes. Don't understand why it's even here. FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM. Costume Design by Colleen Atwood I was doubting, back in my 2016 Favorite Costume Design's List (read here ) whether to include this or Miss Peregrine's , as both are designed by the splendid Colleen Atwood. In the end, I prefer Miss Peregrine's . I guess they don't. FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS. Costume Desig...

2016 has come and gone already, and it has left me with a wide array of movies to look at: some good, some bad and some simply mediocre. Here I will not be looking at the quality of the movies themselves but at the quality of their costume design. And in that regard, 2016 has unfortunately been generally bland. That doesn't mean that there haven't been good costume designs. It just means that there haven't been spectacular ones. For that same reason, this will not be a top 10 so it's just as a top 7 list. Also, the order is rather random. All of the designs mentioned below stand on their own and I don't think they can really be properly listed. And so, I begin. I- FASHIONABLE REVENGE: The Dressmaker designs by Marion Boyce and Margot Wilson This indie Australian movie broke box office numbers earlier this year and that was, in great part, because of its amazing Costume Design. The movie has a ton of narrative and tonal problems, but whe...