Category Archives: Film Costuming
Sparsh (1980) deconstructed
Just 4 years separate Kadambari and Sparsh but the former is firmly rooted in 70s styles while Sparsh gives a glimpse of the styles of the early 80s with barely a hint of the 70s. So let’s look at what … Continue reading
80s/90s Redux 1
Mostly Rekha’s specracktular headgear. I feel like in the 80s/90s she ordered up all the headgear she could lay her hands on, luckily this has been documented for posterity. About 50% of the headgear seems to be Russian Czarina meets … Continue reading
The Art of Dressing
Screencaps from the colourised version of Piya Aiso Jiya Mein. Ostensibly about the piya but really an ode to the art of dressing up. Alternatively Meena is Queen of Everything. And has a few helpers. Another similar song – from … Continue reading
Bindi Queens
Not every decade has distinctive bindis. And when a decade does its usually easily seen as a trend on an actress. Here’s how the 50s, 70s and 90s looked! Shyama, the bindi queen of the 1950s. Decorative bindis were quite … Continue reading
Parasakthi style in brief
Besides, love between siblings, particularly between the elder brother and younger sister, has become a specific marker of Tamil culture, mainly due to the impact of canonical Tamil films like En Thangai (My Sister, dir. M.K.R. Nambiar and Ch. Narayanamurthy, … Continue reading
The 80s cinema post
Trikon ka Chautha Kon aka The Fourth Angle of a Triangle (1986) is kind of quasi arthouse 80s cinema and more than a little regressive when it comes to it’s women protagonists who dominate much of the film. The film … Continue reading
The costumes of Bazaar (1982)
80s arthouse aesthetic in Bazaar (1982). The movie deals with the poorer Muslim communities of Hyderabad and the financial compulsions that lay behind many an unequal and unwanted marriage contract. Some parts of the costuming reflect the milieu. With Shabnam … Continue reading
