Fashion in Film

by Christopher Laverty

Fashion designers have been involved in movies since the early days of cinema. The result is some of the most eye-catching and influential costumes ever committed to film, from Ralph Lauren's trend-setting masculine style for Diane Keaton in Annie Hall to Audrey Hepburn's little black Givenchy dress in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Fashion in Film celebrates the contributions of fashion designers to cinema, exploring key garments, what they mean in context of the narrative, and why they are so memorable. Illustrated with beautiful film stills, fashion images and working sketches, this book will appeal to lovers of both fashion history and cinema.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction, Film, Art, History, Coffee Table Books

224 pages, Hardcover

Published October 25, 2016

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm writing this review with the caveat that I knew the author, who was a lovely guy. One of the good ones. This book is an extension on his blog Fashion in Film and very much achieves what it sets out to do, which is to be a relatively light coffee table settings review of couture fashion houses in film. It's not an academic work, and it's not intended to be in depth, but it has great photos and a lot of insight.

Its blog origins are betrayed by its occasional bittyness, but the writing is witty and knowledgeable and the choice of entries are thoughtful.

The paperback copy I read ought to have been reset - it seems to be the much bigger hardback version shrunk to fit the much smaller paperback size, which leaves the text hard to read for those of us with old people vision, but that's a publisher decision, not the author's.

Well worth your time.

[Yellowoasis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous, would have liked more photos of all the clothes mentioned in the text.

[Elizzy B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro es "pornografía visual" para los fans del mundo de la moda y del cine.
Así podríamos resumirlo. Formato A4, papel de calidad, fotos en gran tamaño y sobretodo, una cantidad de información apabullante sobre diseñadores "reales" que han colaborado en la industrial fílmica, aportando con sus trajes algo especial, algo de su propia magia.
Me ha encantado y lo recomiendo encarecidamente.
PD: Christopher Laverty también tiene un blog y un canal de Youtube para los adictos a la moda y el cine.

[Carina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The pictures are gorgeous, and the intro is informative. Unfortunately, the copy is dry, dry, dry. Despite being published in 2016, this feels more like a coffee table book (which is it) from the 80s or 90s (of which Young Me read far too many while bored at family functions). I presume this is useful for a survey of designers, but it's not for me.

[Willow Rankin · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book about fashion in film there were some omissions that frankly make this book more of a coffee table book that an informative view point on fashion in film.
After the informative introduction; every designer chapter/section reads the exact same way - and in some cases even the same outfits are referred too more than once. This is incredibly disappointing as its less about the creative approach and more to do with describing the outfits. Further, some of the examples used are spoilers for the films; and whilst (credit given) the number of movies included, the spoilers where annoying. Yes I know some of the films are 50ish years old, but still - some of the analysis, whilst being super basic - I could of done without the spoilers.
The photography included is fantastic and features some of the standout outfits shown on film; but their wasn't much included for films outside of a contemporary space (ie Cleopatra) and I wanted more from a book covering fashion in film. Film has long been regarded as both a tastemaker as well as following the trends - and this lack of analysis was disappointing.
Overall, a very pleasant coffee table book - but not enough analysis for any level of substance.

[Wsclai · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book to put on your coffee table.

[Christine Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book (that I purchased at the new Academy Museum in LA). Great photos, text and format, with an overview of fashion designers who branched out into films. I gave it four stars instead of five for two reasons: glaring typos (Donan for Donen, and a photo of Leslie Caron that isn't); and descriptions of specific clothes without photos. Aside from that, it's an entertaining and interesting look at film fashions from the thirties to today. Impressive!

[Lupita Villalobos · Rating 3 out of 5]

📚 ENTRETENIDO ⭐️⭐️⭐️:
Este libro combina dos cosas que amo mucho; el cine y la moda. La portada, el tamaño, la calidad de las hojas, las fotografías y el contenido son simplemente perfectos. El pero que yo le pongo, es que en la manera en que está redactado es muy monótono y puntualizado. Eso si, menciona los mejores trabajos de los diseñadores (casi todos en vida) en el séptimo arte. Sin duda, un libro digno de coleccionistas.

[Karina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and well-researched, just wish there were photos of some of the costumes described with each designer.

[Hailee Medaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this sporadically over the summer and just loved the insight into the specificities of stylization in film

[Raleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could've added more brands and more films

[Edie Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though the book begins with an explaination of why some designers were chosen and others weren’t, I was still confused by the who’s who. All the more so when they include “other artists influenced by” in the chapters named for specific costumers.

Sometimes the author went on tangents, such as discussing other designers which appeared in the same film. Stick to the point! I would also prefer that on a book, on fashion on film, stick to fashion on film as opposed outfits from a couture catwalk.

There are lots of pictures, which is nice, but not all of them are relevant. Especially when the text described some incredible costume which remained unseen.

There were head scratching errors (Dali was not an abstract artist), sloppy typos (Jane Crawford—give me a break!) and incorrect captions (a picture identifying Mary Tyler Moore as Carol Channing.).I also don’t recall Meredith in “George Girl” as a moneyed socialite. Coming across these mistakes seriously damaged the books’s credibility.

It’s not an in-depth study, it’s written to entertain, which it does. It just would have been nice if all the facts at least were checked.

[Kirsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely beautiful book that, whilst being a gorgeous addition to any coffee table, is so much more. Informative and elegant, I wish it had been longer.