A bit of a hiatus and a shakeup

Hey anyone who's been checking out this blog still; life's been a little hectic these last few months, so I've not been updating this as much; combined with social media turning out to be even more of a crock thanks to Boer billionaires, even Blogger's starting to feel uncertain as a platform.

Though I'd hope that Google isn't run by quite as insane people, the net already feels like in such a bad state - NFTs, AI ''art'' (disgusting pictures), dead-end spammy directories, so on. It's hard to feel optimistic about how things are going.

I also decided to delete the 'costume designer retrospectives' and will no longer do these; partly, they make the project feel like a chore rather than a fun and free-wheeling hobby, and also so many costume designers, especially in the Golden Age of Hollywood, have such long careers! Never mind that costume design is a group effort as is, especially in later decades. I will just keep to the old method from now on, whenever I feel like doing more blog posts again, and I hope that will be soon.

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!

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

Note: There was no actual costume designer credited for the first film, having only a 'wardrobe' credit given to Elsa Fennell, whereas the sequel film had a Brian Cox credited as the for Vulnavia's costumes. Both Fennell and Cox seemed to work mostly in other costume department duties througout their career.

The cult classic starring Vincent Price as the titular antihero, The Abominable Dr. Phibes' most flashy costumes are worn by Phibes' faithful servant Vulnavia, portrayed by Virginia North in the first film. Many of Vulnavia's dresses are inspired of the glitz and glamour of 1920s fashion, with her first outfit being a white dress, worn under a translucent gown with golden jagged edges, completed with an ornate headpiece.

Vulnavia's second outfit, when luring one of Phibes' victims, is this all-white furred coat and hat.

Vulnavia's third outfit, that she wears for most of the film, this this baggy-sleeved grey shirt and black breeches, worn with a black furred hat and boots.

Sadly, a good deal of Vulnavia's dresses are barely seen in the film, such as this orange and red dress with a golden vest section, that is only seen at a distance, not letting us see the dress properly at all. Even the promotional photo has the dress at a distance!

Another barely-seen dress of Vulnavia's is this lilac and white design with flowing sleeves that is only seen in extreme close-ups or at a distance when sitting.

Yet again, another dress of Vulnavia's that is barely seen in the film, with even the publicity photo showing it better being in black and white! This dress is purple with glittery lining around the sleeves.

Vulnavia is next seen wearing this yellow dress with a large golden collar and jagged lining around the collar and waist, and once again this dress is barely seen in full, only from the waist-up behind lab equipment!

Vulnavia's last outfit thankfully gets seen very clearly, which could be why it's managed to be one of the film's most iconic looks - a red and golden robe, worn with a pink jewelled headdress with spines stuck on it, the spines also fitted with gemstones on each end. Completing this look is a golden collar with small snakes attached to it.

(Also, if you thought I forgot the infamous head-crushing frog mask, well I didn't! It's just that it is more a 'prop' than a full on costume in my eyes, albeit a really nicely designed one.)

The success of the first film of course warranted a sequel a year later, Dr. Phibes Rises Again with Vulnavia returning once again, though this time she was played by Valli Kemp. Not all of Vulnavia's outfits in this film are as eye-catching as the ones she sported in the first film, a lot of them being fairly bland dresses - her first notable outfit is this slight rehash of her black fur hat look from the first film, this time being worn with a silver buttoned black jacket.

Vulnavia's next outfit is another fairly simple design, this one being an all-white riff on the colonial explorer design (as per the setting of the film), with a trailing scarf around the pith helmet.

Vulnavia's next notable outfit is this lovely lilac dress with flowers around the collar and shoulders - notice also the metallic hairpiece she wears with it as well, like the filaments inside a flower.

Vulnavia also wears this yellow dress with golden leaves around the chest and shoulders, as well as some in her hair as well!

Lastly, is the slightly Ancient Egyptian-inspired dress that Vulnavia wears during the film's finale, which is a shiny blue dress and sleeves (that seem to be separate segments) with golden lining around the exposed shoulders and chest, and worn with a tiara as well.