The Wiz (1978)

Costume Design by: Tony Walton ( notable efforts: Fahrenheit 451 (1966), Petulia (1968), Murder on the Orient Express (1974) - it should be worth noting Walton was also a production designer, a role he fulfilled on The Wiz as well)

A sort of contemporary update on Frank L. Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that swapped the rural setting with a more urban one, as well as having an all-black cast (like the original Broadway musical the film was adapted from), The Wiz in some ways feels like a precursor to the later Return to Oz, with a slightly more uncanny tone and a visual style that went against the design sense establiahed by 1939's The Wizard of Oz. As noted above, Tony Walton was both production designer and costume designer on this film, and as such had to adapt the New York filming locations to turn into their twisted fantasy counterparts - all of Walton's design artwork can be seen on his personal website, and it should be also worth noting that he even made physical models to give his costume makers a better idea of what the costumes should look like! Almost all of Walton's costumes for The Wiz's version of Oz are tattered and made of rather odd-looking materials, making the film look almost like a fantastical post-apocalyptic wasteland. When Dorothy (Diana Ross) ends up in the film's more urbane and desolate version of Oz, she meets the Munchkins who this time are teenagers dressed in wonderfully colourful outfits, that have been adorned with silver lining and metallic segments, as well having been spraypainted all over (the reasoning being that they had all been transformed into graffiti before Dorothy arrived). Another notable thing about their outfits is how large panels of fabric have been cut into the shape of various numbers (1 to 8) and stitched onto the main outfit - this only applies to the 8 main Munchkins that have speaking roles, as the various extras do not have these number panels.

As per the usual Oz story, Dorothy is visited by the Good Witch of the North, Miss One (Thelma Carpenter) in this segment, who is dressed in a powder blue and pink dyed dress that itself has been covered in glittery material as well, with a square piece stitched to the front - and can you also notice that silver hat worn on her back?

During Dorothy's journey, she meets the usual figures of the Oz story such as the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion (admittedly, I have not covered them as I feel they weren't meant to be 'costumes' in the strict sense, even if it was Walton's duty as costume designer to realize them as well), and ends up in the Emerald City whose residents all wear a variety of shiny costumes in either green, gold or red - this film has the rather creative choice of having the city's colours change like a traffic light! A crying shame that these outfits aren't seen properly thanks to being shot for dance sequences, as I especially like the glittery jumpsuit and shiny suits.

Of course, one of the film's most striking outfits is worn by the film's main villain, the Wicked Witch of the West named Evillene (Mabel King), whose outfit is so monstrously over the top and garish, fitting the character's outrageous nature! A frilly pink deal (rather a contrast to the traditional garb of the Wicked Witch being all-black) covered in so much bits and bobs, and worn with a very slapdash version of a crown!

In this film, the 'Flying Monkeys' are reimagined as basically hulking bikers, wearing all-leather uniforms with large padded shoulders - the Flying Monkeys were designed by Walton, but had to be partly realized by special effects technicians (hence the image being from the Stan Winston School) being needed for the grotesque prosthetic heads.

Lastly, is the dress worn by the Good Witch of the North, Glinda (Lena Horne), whose dress is a tattered but still glittery blue deal, with silvery metallic material around the cuffs and headdress, with a shiny tiara worn with it as well.

Message from Space (1978)

The Japanese attempt to get in on the Star Wars craze, Message from Space unfortunately did not have any costume designer credit at all, so I can't give any name to the various costumes of the film.. The bulk of the human characters in the film just wear off-the-rack contemporary clothing, but it can be safe to assume the main cast all had most of their costumes bespoke made, rather than bought. The two main leads Aaron (Phillip Casnoff) and Shiro (Hiroyuki Sanada) both wear white racing jumpsuits of different designs; Aaron's is buttoned up and has chevrons of yellow, red and dark blue, while Shiro's consists of a biker-style jacket and flares with brown stripes and panels.

Meia's (Peggy Lee Brennan) wears two lovely dresses that are similar in design, and thus designed for the picture; the first one she wears is black with silver trim, and worn over an orange shirt, that noticeably has asymmetrical sleeves with one being shorter than the other.

Meia's second outfit is a glittery green top with a downwards pointing black triangular panel, worn with a headscarf of a similar material, and worn over dark green leggings.

Jack (Masazumi Okabe), being a sleazy huckster, dresses in an overcompensating fashion, wearing a jacket and straw hat of silvery patterning; his flat cap and windbreaker jacket are made of the same material, indicating the jackets and hats were bespoke made for Okabe.

Jack is introduced in a bar, whose patrons are entertained by dancers wearing these golden headdresses and chest pieces.

Slightly More restrained are the various uniforms worn by Garuda (Vic Morrow), who is introduced wearing a light blue uniform with large white lapels and buckles instead of buttons; considering the other military characters' uniforms are all rented or bought from uniform suppliers, this must have been bespoke made for Morrow to wear.

Garuda's dress uniform is again bespoke-made and is much more archaic in design, being a double-breasted red jacket with golden trim all over, worn with white trousers.

When going into combat, Garuda wears a silver zip-up jackets and trousers that slightly resembles racing gear, but I feel was also specially made for Morrow in the film.

The film's plot involves the leader of the people of Jillucia, Emeralida (Etsuko Shihomi), trying to enlist warriors to help her fight off the aggressive 'Gavanas Empire' - and Emeralida is always dressed in a white gown, worn with silver necklaces, and the gown itself adorned with shiny dotted pieces all over. It's more striking than Leia's plain dress in the original Star Wars, honestly.

Of course, the design highlight of the film are the Gavanas themselves, in particular their leader Rockseia (Mikio Narita) who is clad in an orante armored suit, covered in golden trim - in particular it is the helmet that is the most striking aspect, sculpted with three pairs of horns and a skull motif over the forehead. The rest of the Gavanas' outfits follow the same general design, except having dark green vinyl vests (with what look like ammo rounds attached) over their armor, and only one pair of horns. Some of the Gavanas soldiers wear gas masks designed to look like they are glaring, in a manner similar to the skull-like helmets of the Star Wars films. Rockseia and his officers wear patterned capes.

Hans (Sonny Chiba), the rightful heir of the Gavanas throne, is dressed in a less obviously 'evil' armor design, this one being more grey in colour but still with detailing around the chest and waist - his helmet also is slightly different, having a crest on its top in addition to the horns.

Lastly is Rocksia's mother, played by Hideyo Amamoto, who wears a plain red gown but with a ornately designed crown.