Top 20 Greatest Costumed Films

I first became interested in costume design when I was twelve years old. I have always loved history and I have always loved films. Over the years I have watched many films that have great costumes. They are not great because they are beautiful but because they also make you feel as if you are traveling to a different time period.  Costume designers are storytellers. The clothes the actors wear must say something about the character and also within reason be faithful to the period in which the character lives. I am a sucker for beautiful dresses and love the beauty of the past. I sometimes feel as if I was born in the wrong decade or century. So here is my list of twenty films that really are the cream of the crop of costume design.

01. Marie Antoinette (2006)  Costumes by Milena Canonero

(Photo Credit: Costumersguide.com)

Milena Canonero's  designs for the film are some of the best to have ever graced the film screen. The 18th Century is one of my favorite  periods of fashion. The costumes are like candy. They are mostly in pastels and  very stylized."

 

02. Velvet Goldmine (1998) Costumes by Sandy Powell

(Photo Credit: Dvdbeaver.com)

"The 1970's is one of my favorite periods in fashion. Yes it is over the top but so fun. Sandy Powell's Designs in Velvet Goldmine highlight the ridiculousness and fun of decade."

 

03. The Slipper and The Rose (1975) Costumes by Julie Harris

 

(Photo Credit: milliesmoviestowatch.blogspot.com)

"Beautifully costumed and brightly as well. The costumes are very fairytale like with a rococo twist. I love the color palette and the over the top opulence."

 

04. Frida (2002) Costumes by Julie Weiss



"Julie Weiss captures effortlessly the fashions of the 1920's -1950's. The costumes are character driven and accurate to the time periods. Love seeing clothes from the past with a Mexican flair."

 

05. Mirror Mirror (2012) Costumes by Eiko Ishioka

(Photo Credit: Costumersguide.com)

"Eiko Ishioda is one of the greatest costume designers who ever lived. This is her finest work. It is fantasy with period influences. Colorful storytelling."

 

06. Bugsy (1991) Costumes by Albert Wolsky

(Photo Credit: Sonymoviechannel.com)

"Albert Wolsky captures the 1940's to perfection. The costumes are glamours but also very well picked for the characters. The clothes make you feel as if you are actually in the 1940's"

 

07. The Great Gatsby (1974) Costumes by Theoni V. Aldredge

(Photo Credit: imdb.com)

"Chic and Elegant. Some of the best of in the best costume design in a film set in The Jazz Age"

 

08. A Handful of Dust (1988) Costumes by Jane Robinson

(Photo Credit: Vanityfair.com)

"Extremely elegant and accurate look at the 1930's in England. Very stylish too."

 

09. The Duchess (2008) Costumes by Michael O'Connor

(Photo Credit: Costumersguide.com)

"Not only very sumptuous but also from what I heard very historically accurate. The costumes show the transition from the early 18th Century to the late with such ease."

 

10. The Age Of Innocence (1993) Costumes by  Gabriella Pescucci

(Photo Credit: Costumersguide.com)

"Some of the most beautiful Victorian costumes I have ever seen. Really captures New York in the 1870's perfectly."

 

11. Gigi (1958) Costumes by Cecil Beaton

(Photo Credit: Dvdbeaver.com)

"Cecil Beaton is one of the greatest costume designers who ever lived. His designs for Gigi capture the beauty of Paris in the the turn of the century."

 

12. Dangerous Liaisons (1988) Costumes by James Acheson

(Photo Credit: Costumecaptures.com)

"Captures the Rococo Period to perfection. It is costumed so beautifully."

 

13. Death on The Nile (1978) Costumes by Anthony Powell

(Photo Credit: thefancarpet.com)

"The costumes are not only lovely but they are character driven. Different social classes are covered and personalities are covered."

 

14. Ludwig (1972) Costumes by Piero Tosi

(Photo Credit: emmanuel.denis.free.fr)

"Beautiful and historically accurate. The costumes are so perfect."

 

15. Little Women (1994) Costumes by Colleen Atwood

(Photo Credit: Costumecaptures.com)

"Colleen Atwood Designs are perfect. She captures the late 19th Century in America with perfection. Little Women features costumes from diffrent social classes and types of characters young and old."

 

16.  Titanic (1997) Costumes by Deborah Lynn Scott

(Photo Credit: Costumecaptures.com)

"The costumes are iconic and very beautiful. The costumes are a great look at the Edwardian Period."

 

17. The Color Purple (1985) Costumes by Aggie Guerard Rodgers

(Photo Credit: bigmediavandal.blogspot.com)

"Some of the best costume design in a film ever. Rodgers captures many decades of fashion in the south. It is rare to see a costume drama with a large African American cast."

 

18. Australia (2008) Costumes by Catherine Martin

(Photo Credit: Nicolesmagic.com)

"Beautiful and over the top. The costumes say a lot about the characters and are the best 1930's era costumes I have ever seen."

 

19. Gone With The Wind (1939)  Costumes by Walter Plunkett

(Photo Credit: Costumersguide.com)

"Iconic and very beautiful. The costumes are part of film history."

 

20. The Portrait of a Lady (1996) Costumes by Janet Patterson

(Photo Credit:Costumersguide.com)

"A beautiful look at the 1870's. The costumes are just so perfect and speak volumes about the characters who wear them."