Costume Design by: Anthony Powell ( notable efforts: The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969), Travels with My Aunt (1972), Papillon (1973), Sorcerer (1977), Tess (1979), Evil Under the Sun (1982), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Pirates (1986), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Hook (1991), 101 Dalmatians (1996), 102 Dalmatians (2000) )
A polished and extravagant adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel with an all-star cast (with Peter Ustinov delivering a great performance as the detective Poirot) and lavish production, which extended of course to the 1930s period costumes worn by the various wealhy holidaymakers, so much so that they won costume designer Anthony Powell his second Oscar for 'Best Costume Design'. A lot of the costumes in this film feel a bit more restrained compared to
Evil Under the Sun a few years later, but there are still moments of almost campy excess. One such over the top costume is this deal worn by doomed writer Mrs. Salome Otterbourne (Angela Lansbury) who wears this lovely and slightly 'Eastern' designed gown with dringed sleeves and worn with a beautifully shiny feathered turban-like headdress. In some scenes she instead wears a golden headscarf instead, with a crescent mood badge on one side.
In some scenes she opts out instead for this silvery dress, worn under an orange gown with furred cuffs as well as a turban.
Salome's third notable outfit, which is sadly not seen on-screen fully, happens to be a beige gown worn with a large sun hat and veil.
Another similarly light-coloured gown is worn when Salome visits the pyramids, wearing a round straw hat instead.
Another notable gown worn by Lansbury is this rather more muted brown one, worn with a colourful printed headband and turban as well.
Salome has a daughter, Rosalie (Olivia Hussey) who is dressed more plain than her mother! Her most striking dress is this dance sequence early in the film she wears this dress with a lovely golden lattice collar.
The character in the film that gets the most costume changes is the petty and mean Mrs Van Schuyler (Bette Davis) who is first introduced wearing a lace gown, the first of many she sports in the film. This dress also introduces Shuyler wearing a large choker, a constant feature in her attire throughout the film.
Next, she is seen wearing this lovely golden dress that sadly doesn't get much in the way of proper screentime.
Most of Schuyler's outfits though tend to be white with black headgear, such as this prim white suit worn with a wonderful tricorn hat with a silvery emblem emblazoned on the front.
Another outfit that follows on this colour scheme is this lace dress, once more worn with a wide-brimmed hat.
Schuyler wears a good few lace tops in her scenes too, with one notable example being this deal worn with white gloves and a black hat stitched with silver filigree on the front and sides.
Schuyler wears another lovely lace dress with with a jewelled choker as well, and again worn with the white gloves seen on the previous outfit.
During the finale where Poirot reveals the killer, Schuyler opts for a lilac blue dress with silver trim and a silver collar similar in design to the one worn on her previous dress - sadly this is only seen when she is sitting down, but the costume still exists and has been shown on display.
Schuyler's last outfit is a return to the style of most of her earlier outfits, this one being a beige coat worn with a feather-adorned black hat, which is definitely the most striking part of this particular outfit!
Her suffering and moody servant Bowers (Maggie Smith) is usually dressed in very stern and joyless suits, with one exception being this night dress and gown that is adorned with orange and white patterned lining.
Another suspect is the tormented lover Jacqueline De Bellefort (Mia Farrow) whose first notable outfit is this brown-hued dress, that has a short vest worn over it.
In her next appearance, she is lovely glittery golden dress that is fitted with gold and silver threaded straps and belt that are holding it up too!
After this, Farrow is seen wearing a white and teal shirt and tie, worn with teal trousers and belt as well, with wide-brimmed hat and of course, the infamous patterned vest - why is it infamous? Because its where one of the most amusing aspects of the film's costume design revolves around -
the patterned vest was originally a filthy tablecloth that Powell had to clean thoroughly to get the grime out of and despite all his efforts, it still smelt of garlic during filming!
Bellefort's second dress of note is this lovely silvery deal, worn during the scene where she shoots her lover - I love the pattern on the dress.
Bellefort's final dress is this greyish dress adorned with gems all over, another absolutely wonderful dress design!
The drama of the film centres on the murder of the unlucky Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles), who is first seen wearing this white suit worn with furs and a black veiled hat as well.
After this, during the dance sequence Ridgeway wears this silver dress with a very deep collar.
When getting on the ferry where she will meet her end, Ridgeway wears this white dress zig-zag patterned grey lines, with a panel around the chest as well.
Another notable dress worn by her is this silver lined translucent deal, that is sadly not seen fully on-screen.
She also sports this lovely black and white cocktail dress decorated with shiny beads over the front and back in asymmetrical fashion.
One of Ridgeway's last dresses is a fairly more simple and crisp look, being a cream dress with silvery fastenings around the collar and short sleeves.
