Fashion in Film

The right costumes can change peoples idea of a film in a much bigger way than we think.The beauty of older films is the way the women would wear long dresses made from layers of materials of all different types. My favourite films for the costumes have to be The Duchess, My Fair Lady and Red riding Hood (after listing films with such historical references, this film seems a little misplaced but watch the colours and fabrics used in this movie and you'll see what I mean.)

In The Duchess Keira Knightly plays Georgiana Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire. Aside from the fact that the film was based on the life of a real person, it was the idea that this woman's only creative outlet was her clothes that captivated me the most. It was the only thing that she had full control over in her life and she used them to her best ability to express her personality, especially at a time when the fashions of the people around her was so were so rigid.

Edwardian clothes were admittedly more subtle than those of the centuries before however in the scene where Eliza Doolittle of My Fair Lady goes to Ascot we see another side to these clothes. The ladies have tried to outdo each other by dressing as outrageously as possible, in spite of this they all seem to look perfect together in their monochrome costumes while still managing to hold their own sense of style.

If you've only seen the trailer then you may have thought that Amanda Seyfried in Red Riding Hood could never be compared to Audrey Hepburn however after seeing this movie you wont be able to resist the charm of her big green eyes that suck you into the story line as if you were there yourself. Her fairytale-ish features make her the perfect actress for playing Valerie, the young girl living in the small village of Daggerhorn. Out of all the clothes she wore in this movie, of course the red cape won hands-down but the best thing about the costumes was that although they were based on more old fashioned clothes there was also an element of modernity in them too.