Secrets of the iconic big screen costumes
IT was the pivotal scene from James Bond movie Dr No Ursula Andress emerging from the sea in a bikini with a knife strapped to a belt.
Now a retired Naval officer has revealed that the belt was his – and he didn’t get a penny when the outfit sold at auction for more than £40,000.
Gordon Joslin, 83, says he came to the rescue in 1962 when Miss Andress thought her costume was needed something extra.
Film crew asked sailors from HMS Troubridge who were on the Jamaican beach to help out.
Gordon said: “The petty officer said, ‘Let’s have your webbing belt’. He grabbed it off me and it was wrapped around Ursula Andress’ hips. I didn’t get it back.”
But it isn’t the only iconic movie costume with a story of its own.
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Sloppy sweatshirt in Flashdance
Jennifer Beals created the trendsetting off-the-shoulder sweatshirt in the 1983 movie by accident after a laundry mishap.
She said: “In high school I had a favourite sweatshirt that had remained in the dryer for too long, so the hole for my head was too small. So I cut around the hole. I wore it to one of the auditions and they liked it.”
Liquorice boot in The Gold Rush
In the 1925 film, the Little Tramp character is so hungry he eats a shoe. Charlie Chaplin had 20 pairs of boots made out of liquorice. But it needed 63 takes over three days – and he ended up having to go to hospital with insulin shock.
The Night Watch Cloaks on Game of Thrones
Fans may be surprised to learn Jon Snow has been running around with an Ikea rug on his shoulders.
Costume designer Michele Clapton said: “We cut and we shaved them and then we added strong leather straps and then [distressed them] ...
“I want the audience to almost smell the costumes.”
Red jacket and thighhigh boots in Pretty Woman
Julia Roberts shot to fame in 1990 as a hooker with a heart. Her thigh-high PVC boots, cutout dress and outsize red jacket tied round her waist has sparked many a fancy dress costume. But the jacket was a last-minute addition, bought for £20 from a cinema usher by director Garry Marshall. Costume designer Marilyn Vance says: “Garry would get something in his head and just want it.”
She bought the boots from a punk shop on London’s King’s Road.
Michael Myers’ mask in Halloween
The mask murderous Myers wore in the 1978 movie was based on William Shatner’s face. Halloween 2 illustrator Rick Sternbach, found out by accident. He said: “We had one mask left from the original and no idea where to get any others for the sequel.
“But I noticed there was wording moulded into the neck. There was a number and ‘Don Post Studios’. I made a call, read off the number, and the word came back: ‘It’s our Captain Kirk mask’.” The crew removed the eyebrows and painted it white to make it more sinister.
Scarecrow mask in The Wizard of Oz
The crude stage mask left actor Ray Bolger with deep lines and marks on his face for a year after filming for the 1939 classic.
It was so hot Bolger had to take frequent breaks to stop him from fainting under studio lights. But he loved his role so much he kept the costume and his widow donated it to the National Museum of American History.
Maxi dresses in The Stepford Wives
In the 1975 movie about submissive robot wives, they were originally supposed to be in Playboy Bunny like tight clothes.
It is believed the change to floaty maxi-dresses came after director Bryan Forbes cast wife Nanette Newman, then in her 40s.
Screenplay writer William Goldman said: “The look had to alter. Forget the tennis costumes, the Bunnies in shorts on tanned legs. She can’t wear the clothes.”
Gold bikini in Return of the Jedi
Princess Leia might have been a warrior in the first two Star Wars movies but 1983’s Return of the Jedi showed fans a different side to her. Or, in fact, almost all of her.
The gold bikini in the Jabba the Hutt scene was made of metal, with a second version in rubber for stunts. Each was lined with leather.
“This was no bikini, it was metal,” Carrie Fisher said. “It didn’t go where you went. After the shots, the prop man would have to check me. He’d say, ‘OK t**s are fine. Let’s go’. So I started checking for any bounce or slip after takes.”