Movie Costumes

[foxyepicurean]

Another red-waisted white dress favorite (why are so many of my favorite movie dresses white?)...Mary Poppins' "Jolly Holiday" dress. (Don't laugh.)

I think that dress is just absolutely lovely--I'm so glad you reminded me of it.

Gone With the Wind was my favorite movie as a grade schooler because of the dresses. I have heart palpatations thinking of the scene at the ball with all the beautiful dresses swirling behind Rhett & Scarlett (in her widow's weeds). My favorite dresses from that movie seem to be the ones that only have a few seconds of screen time:

1) the striped one she's wearing after marrying Rhett while walking to the carriage discussing paying the taxes/upkeep on Tara
2) the white one with the blue velvet jacket and darling little hat she's wearing at the mill when she gets "caught" hugging Ashley
3) the one she's wearing at Christmas in Atlanta when she watches Ashley and Melanie go off to bed together
4) the long-sleeved one she wears when she "buys" Ashley to get him to stay in Georgia.

(Guess I've seen this movie a few times, eh?)

Strangely enough, I don't particularly love the green picnic dress that seems to be a favorite with everyone else. But it's still lovely--there are no bad dresses in that film.

ETA: Christine's nightwear in Phantom of the Opera--What I wouldn't do for that outfit!

More recent movies with creat costuming: Mr. & Mrs. Smith--both Brad & Ang have some great clothes--I covet the coat she wore with the dominatrix outfit.

Chicago had some really great costumes, too--I loved Renee's blue trial dress and Lucy Liu's dress and satin undies.

Also, Catherine Zeta Jones had some really gorgeous outfits in Intolerable Cruelty. The Mask of Zorro had great dresses, too. Actually CZJ rarely ends up in a bad outfit, movie or no movie. I think she looks freaking amazing in those Zorro outfits--my brother says she should never wear anything BUT Zorro-type outfits. They just do something for her figure, which is the type I've always wished I had; they're perfect for her body-type.

[bastinado]

About 15-20 years ago, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in NYC did an exhibit of the costumes for GWTW, designed by the great Walter Plunkett. The thing I remember most about that exhibit is that they showed the actual cameo pin that Leigh wore at her neck for her last scene in GWTW and it is still the largest cameo pin I have ever seen in my life. There is no way that thing would have fit between my chin and collarbone.

[foxyepicurean]

I could have died happy if I'd been to that exhibit. I would have been in the 11 to 16 age range, and it would have been the best thing that ever happened to me. Well, no, the best thing would have been to actually wear the dresses (and have them fit).

I love Buttercup's wedding dress in The Princess Bride. The way the fabric looks when she's floating down into Fezzik's arms takes my breath away.

Is it silly to love a dress in a cartoon? Because I love Belle's golden ball dress in Beauty & the Beast.

[Deleted]

No, not at all! I love the yellow "dream waltz" gown Anya wears in Anastasia-when she's dancing with the ghosts in the palace?

[Door]

I simply adore the costuming in Bram Stoker's Dracula. I still covet the red "candle dance" dress, and the morning suit Dracula is wearing when he first meets Mina? Oh, swoon! Seriously, the costuming is the only thing that is flawless in that film.

I also love all the costumes in The Cell. Interesting fact: the bodysuits used in The Cell were inspired by Dracula's armor in BSD. Neat, huh?

Oh, and I can't leave without mentioning The Fifth Element and all Catherine McCormack's costumes in Dangerous Beauty.

[Daisy Pusher]

Call me a dork, but I loved the outfits in Heathers that were worn by Veronica and the Heathers. Little pleated skirts with blazers, coordinated tights, great little flat ankle boots, etc. This heavily influenced my dress sense my freshman year in college not long after the movie came out.

For sheer over-the-top spaced-out glitz, nothing touches Flash Gordon. The outfits worn by Princess Aura and Dale were fab.

[Auroranorth]

If you're interested in movie costuming, especially from the 20's through the 60's, then books by or on Edith Head would be of interest. I'd suggest The Dress Doctor, How to Dress For Success and Edith Head's Hollywood. HTDFS was more a how-to book, but the other two were very focused on the hows and whys of costume design.

[zivvie]

I loved the costumes in Dangerous Liaisons - all silk and heaving bosoms.

[GirlyGhoul]

I loved all the costumes in Interview With the Vampire male and female, but esp. the blue and green dresses that Claudia and Madeline wore at the end. Pity they got <<spoiler>>fried by the sun <<spoiler>>in those dresses!

[Deleted]

I agree with pretty much everything you guys have said, especially Moulin Rouge. So sparkley!

I also loved the costumes in Sleepy Hollow. My favorite was Katrina's cloak, with the flower embroidery.