Fashion & Film in Context

Elle Spain, September 2009

Visit the blog for my course Fashion & Film. We will be considering the intersection of the two media all semester long and it will host student posts.

8 time Oscar winner Edith Head, immersed in sketches

The power of color, A Clockwork Orange, 1971 by Milena Canonero

The challenge for a costume designer is expressing context. A film's context is influenced by three factors - when the film is set, when the original book or screenplay was written and when it is filmed. All three influence the values expressed by the film and styles of costumes.

The challenge of context also means understanding the variability of the real world, as in designing and sourcing time appropriate clothing for films like above The Last Days of Disco, 1998, costumes by Sarah Edwards. The film was intended to show the transition from the 70s into the 80s. Reality is a constant sliding context. Something from 1980 will not have only things from 1980 but also style factors from prior years while representing the emerging styles to come.