Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968)

Costume Design by Michael Southgate

A loose adaptation of a H. P. Lovecraft's 'The Dreams in the Witch House' that just keeps the 'dreams' and 'witch house' part and not much else!

I do not know if any of the principal cast members' costumes were custom-made or stock, though this PropstoreAuction listing of what is supposedly Christopher Lee's jacket from the film would have us believe it was made at the M. Berman Ltd costume house.

Perhaps that was the case, that the men's suits were made? But then again, the PropstoreAuction jacket could easily be a vintage jacket with a tag altered on after the fact; it's impossible to know without any costume sketches turning up for the film!

As for the costumes we know were made for the film, it's mostly on the evil cult, making this film aligned perfectly with the likes of Hammer's The Witches and The Devil Rides Out. All the extras in the dream sequences are just in reused period stock clothing - judge robes, monk habits - with custom-made masks.

However, the costumes that had to have definitely been made for the film are, ironically, not really much 'costumes' - as they are skimpy, kinky leather outfits! An unnamed female and make executioner both wear studded bracelets and vinyl skirts, with the male executioner wearing an ornate antler helmet. Perhaps a homage to deities such as Cernunnos and Pan?

The swirly nipple pasties are hysterical.

The witch Lavinia, played by Barbara Steele in the dream sequences, is the costume highlight though. Steel sports a brown dress with golden mesh sleeves and blue gems stuck on the chest, completed with a ram horn headpiece that is itself fitted with feathers. It is a tragedy that there isn't more information on this film's costume design, especially as this seems to be costume designer Michael Southgate only film credit!

Juliet of the Spirits (1965)

Costume Design by:

- Piero Gherardi ( notable efforts: La dolce vita (1960), Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963), Danger: Diabolik (1968) )

Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits (Italian: Giulietta degli spiriti) is a wonderfully dream-like tale centering on the medium Giulietta (Giulieta Masina) who is grappling both with her present and past in the form of a cheating husband and buried childhood memories respectively. The costume designer Piero Gherardi, who had previously worked with Fellini on La dolce vita and 8½, creates some of his most wacky and stylish work yet, that seek to help the off-kilter feeling of the film. Giulletta's first notable outfit is this white jacket and shorts worn with a domed hat, a simple but striking look.

Giulietta's second outfit of note is this beautiful jacket coated in stone-like pieces of different colours, worn with white tights.

Giulietta's third outfit, which is only briefly seen, is this white mandarin collar jacket worn with a black coned hat and black evening gloves.

Giulietta's final outfit of note is this red ruffled gown fitted with a clasp, and was apparently meant to be worn with a gorgeous tassled headdress that only made it to publicity photos, never seen in the film itself.

Giulietta's various neighbours are dressed even more outlandish, with Valentina (Valentina Cortese) in particular being seen wearing dresses that utilize a lot of flowersa and ruffles, the one getting the most screentime being this black and red design.

It should be worth noting that the different dresses worn by each of Giulietta's neighbours tend to be the same general design for each, only changing in colour and fabric, as Valentina's first dress is a black and yellow version of a similar design - also note the other neighbour wearing the purple top with a collar of curved black thread!

Another one of Giuletta's neighbours, Sylva (Sylva Koscina - the cast in this film tend to have their characters named after their actual first names) also wears dresses with a floral motif, her first one being this aquamrine and pink design worn adorned with flowers and worn with a large hat.

Sylva's other dresses also happent to be mostly slightly different variations on the same design, such as the white dress (notice also Valentina wearing a white version of her own dress), as well as the ruffled grey design only seen briefly towards the film's end.

One of the film's earlier scenes when Juliet is at the beach (and experiences one of her first visions) has Claudie Lange in a very minor role as a tourist, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and tassled veil both in yellow, worn over a bikini.

There are also several flashbacks into Giuletta's past, where she finds out her grandfather ran off with a ballerina named Fanny (Sandra Milo), who wears this tassled grey corset, ruff collar, and top hat under a veil.

Some of the film's most wild outfits are again worn by Sandra Milo (who plays multiple roles in this film) as the promiscuous Suzy, whose first outfit is this white dress and trailing furs worn on the front.

Suzy's next outfit is this grey veil lined with black tassles, and worn with a wide-brimmed black hat.

Suzy's last outfit is perhaps one of the film's wildest dress, which is a design almost out of a fairytale, being a black and yellow dress with large shoulders shaped like bat wings, with streaming yellow fabric from the waist, and worn with a red floral neckerchief as well