Clothes play an important role in daily life: socially, psychologically and physiologically. Clothes indicate not only personal worth and mental state but also indicate the phases of the times. We can learn about another culture from the clothes in a movie.
“Sweeny Todd” describes gloomy back streets of London. Therefore, the design of clothes was based in Victorian and Gothic. It could show a tendency of the loss of humanity from the Industrialized Revolution by using gloomy colors. Sweeny Todd’s clothes are based on work clothes and are designed like the skin of an insect. He is a poor gentleman in his only suit. However, Miss Lovet changed various clothes and also used various colors. The designer of clothes for the movie thought that Turphin lived in the past. Therefore, the designer made his clothes look pre-Victorian.
The war and romance movie “Atonement” expressed the traditional 30’s style. The heroine of the movie, Kieria Knightly, was wearing a green dress. In the 1930’s, the flapper style, which was a boyish trend, vanished and the feminine style recovered. The recovering feminine style had relevance to the Depression in the 20’s. During the Depression, people lost their jobs. For that reason, women didn’t have public affairs. The length of skirt slips and neck lines also slipped down. Clothes have the beauty of women’s curves. However, the feminine style was short-lived because the war drove women to the office. At the beginning of the 40’s, utilitarian clothes became popular, which emphasized practical use. Due to a lack of goods, lace or frill vanished and decorations were minimized.
Clothes have an effect on a movie’s quality to show the character and circumstances. The meaning and importance of clothes is changed by periods and cultures. Moreover, the part and purpose of wearing clothes is more departmentalized. We can expect that asserting individual identities of fashion will change to represent the period and culture.