Pirates (1986)

Costume Design by: - Anthony Powell ( notable efforts: The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969), Travels with My Aunt (1972), Papillon (1973), Sorcerer (1977), Death on the Nile (1978), Tess (1979), Evil Under the Sun (1982), Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Hook (1991), 101 Dalmatians (1996), 102 Dalmatians (2000) )

The most visually interesting aspect of this pirate adventure flop are the costumes, some of which are so detailed and pretty they stand out amidst the grodiness of the film's general design sense - just look at how much golden material is adorning the various seafarers jackets, with even some of the less important characters having colourful patterns on their vests. I actually wonder if Powell didn't get hired as costume designer for Hook a few years later thanks to his work on this film, as seen in the lovely red coat with golden trim, worn by Captain Red (Walter Matthau) - the various pirates under his command wear a variety of colourful patterned vests, though the grimy and claustrophobic style of the film doesn't let the viewer see them properly.

The Spanish navy forces are led by the devious Don Alfonso de Salamanca de la Torre (Damien Thomas), whose uniform is similar to Captain Red's, but black with silver trim, until his official captain's uniform which has beautiful golden trim instead.

Of course, the royal ship is carrying members of the Spanish royalty, one passenger being the aristocrat María-Dolores de la Jenya de la Calde (Charlotte Lewis), who sports some of the most pretty dresses in the film (probably sticking out better thanks to just how mucky the film looks). She is first seen wearing this white and black dress, with a rose-shaped crest over the front.

María-Dolores also has a personal maid, whose dress is then worn by the pirate Boomako (Olu Jacobs), the dress being a frilly black design with jewels worn over the collar.

Charlotte Lewis' next dress in the film is this red and black striped deal, worn with a shiny hooded cloak and again with the flower crest on the chest, though of a slightly different design.

The most spectacular dresses are however barely seen in the film itself, and only at the end anyway! Just look at this golden coloured dress with striped sleeves and lace around the collar. Again, apologies for the stock photos with ugly watermarks.

Other women's dresses in the film follow this design, such as some of the prostitutes in the ship, such as the black dress worn by the queen, which also looks to be a very eye-catching design, but doesn't even get the dignity of publicity photos to show it off better.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Costume Design by:

- Anthony Powell ( notable efforts: The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969), Travels with My Aunt (1972), Papillon (1973), Sorcerer (1977), Death on the Nile (1978), Tess (1979), Evil Under the Sun (1982), Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom (1984), Pirates (1986), Hook (1991), 101 Dalmatians (1996), 102 Dalmatians (2000) )

- Joanna Johnston ( notable efforts: Hellraiser (1987), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Back to the Future Part III (1990), Far and Away (1992), Death Becomes Her (1992), Love Actually (2003), The Boat That Rocked (2009) )

The third entry of the Indiana Jones series is a bit less lavish (and also, less racist) than Temple of Doom before it, though once again had Powell designing - he shared the credit with then-new costume designer Joanna Johnston. Certainly, interviews with the cast mostly bring up Powell, and it was thanks to him that co-star Sean Connery didn't sweat tons in the heat, as his supposedly tweed jacket was actually an imitation print!

In the script there was no point at which he could change clothes, but the suit was made of a rather thick Harris tweed, and Sean has a thing about heat and he sweats like a pig. Steven came up and said “I’ve just rewritten the script and after Venice we’re going to be shooting in Petra.” Incredibly hot. And Sean said, “There’s no way I’m going to wear this Harris tweed suit in Petra.” So what we had to do was photograph a length of the Harris tweed and then screen-print it onto a thin cotton voile. It cost a king’s ransom!

Most of the standout costumes of the film are worn by the film's Nazi villainess Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody), though she is first seen wearing a formal grey suit over a striped shirt with grey gloves and worn with a grey skirt - honestly, a lot of the outfits worn by Elsa are a bit on the masculine side, as she wears figure-concealing crisp suits and very little in the way of traditional dresses. Then following this is this bishop sleeved silvery shirt and zip-up green waistcoat deal, the large collars of the shirt going over the waistcoat - briefly seen worn with a beret and overcoat (mostly worn by Harrison Ford when his caricature does a ludicrous impression of a Scottish lord), she then wears it with Indiana's fedora which honestly is a look on its own.

Worn next is this black suit and hat worn over a striped shirt, and under a black leather jacket - again one of her looks giving her a slightly butch look, as well as that old cliche of Nazi villains in leather trenchcoats.

Perhaps her most classy outfit in the picture is this white buttoned jacket with triangular dark blue strips on each side, as well as blue strips around the collar, worn with a brimmed hat.

Doody's last notable dress is this vaguely militaristic outfit consisting of a buttoned white jacket with a deep collar and bishop sleeves, worn with high-waisted black trousers a dn boots - the militaristic (and thus, kind of butch) vibe is heightened by being worn with a ski cap, which was part of the uniform of the German military during the Nazi regime.