“Lavishly illustrated and tirelessly researched… an engrossing, intelligent study of the cultural waves made by cinema.” – Sight & Sound
"Intelligent and engrossing read about the merging of two creative industries" - LA Times
From the silver screen to the catwalk, The Fashion of Film (Mitchell Beazley, 2016) takes a journey through the last century of cinema style to investigate how the most iconic movies have inspired the world of high fashion. From Josephine Baker to Carmen Miranda, from early Westerns to German Expressionism and from Wong Kar Wai to John Waters, The Fashion of Film spans over 100 years, 45 films and seven genres, looking at the close relationship between the history of cinema and the history of style.
Crime: Dressed to Kill investigates the darker side of human nature that has provided us with style-obsessed archetypes, from the noir detective to the femme fatale. The Musical: Spectacular Fashion looks at the lavish excess of this mid-century favourite and how it continues to inspire designers, while Historical Epic: Dressed to Excess shows that the distant past still has the power to inspire the future, especially when mediated through the glamour of the film lens. Horror: Supernatural Chic centres on the aesthetics of the paranormal, and how blood and monsters can provide unlikely inspiration for dress. Romantic Drama: Seductive Style concentrates on the role of love and heartbreak in adorning the body, while Sci-Fi & Fantasy: Bionic Bodies explores how our obsession with the future, or alternative realities, can shape the styles of the present. Finally Art House & Independent: Style with Substance focuses on films that are made outside the mainstream, shaped by an auteur, whose particular vision can provide rich pickings for the world of style.
The Fashion of Film is available online from Foyles and Amazon, and is in all good bookshops
