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The New X-Men Costumes Are "Body" Suits You'll Want
The other night, when The Style Blog saw X-Men: First Class, the new superhero movie that takes the familiar characters back in time to the sixties, when the X-Men were more like X-Boys, we were impressed with how grown-up the clothes looked. So we called up Sammy Sheldon, the costume designer on the film, to find out how she made sixties clothing feel new in the time of Mad Men, plus learned suit secrets you can steal — even if you don't want clothes made of Kevlar.
Q: From the very beginning of the movie, these don't look like typical comic-book clothes. What was your goal here?
A: Given that it's set in the early sixties, we used that era as a background but we kept it slightly ambiguous because we weren't looking to make a period piece. Matthew [Vaughn, the director] wanted a Bond-esque vibe to the film, particularly with the male characters. So we looked at Dr. No and Goldfinger
Q: Sean Connery, not bad. So did you go all vintage to find those slim suits?
A: Every single item was made, actually, apart from some polo-neck jumpers. There's nothing we bought from any designer, either. With all the stunts, we needed four, six, or eight of each suit, and I had a team of 40 makers; it's bespoke, but I had my own tailors. There's nothing in the film I can say is a label. And if we'd gone to Savile Row, they'd take eight weeks to make one suit. We did buy some shoes. I'm not a control freak, but I do sound like one.
Q: Nice. So men can't really buy these clothes, but how can they pull off similar ones?
A: I'd say anything that Erik (Michael Fassbender, above) wore could look fantastic on a guy today. That was one of the intentions: don't make it look typically sixties. I stripped it all back a bit, it's not as mean. If you look at real sixties clothing, it's a bit skimpy. You've got a lot more man-made fabrics. We tried to use more expensive wools and mohairs and silks and up-market fabrics so you've got a crossover between sixties and modern.
Q: Do you have any suggestions where men can look for clothes like these, without hiring 40 seamstresses?
A: That slim, slightly shorter jacket and tight trouser is in right now. You can find it in Zara and Reiss. Ted Baker, they do great suits that look like the they're from that era.
Q: Speaking of suits, glad to see the superhero suits are a bit less leathery this time around.
A: Without question, the "X-Suits" are the most difficult thing. We took references from NASA and the military uniforms from the early sixties. And Matthew wanted me to be faithful to the blue and yellow in the first comic books. We researched it and found out they would have been made from Kevlar, created in 1962 by Dupont, but we couldn't use it because the material didn't do what we needed.
Q: With all the references to the sixties, my mind obviously goes to Mad Men. Did that show's costumes influence you?
A: Not particularly. Luckily, our film travels around the world, and has a bit of an English influence. England was more ahead of fashion, then, especially when it comes to the women: shorter skirts, slightly freer looks, a bit of the Twiggy, Edie Sedgwick, throwing the underwear away kind of thing.
Q: With Rose Byrne and January Jones in the cast, men definitely won't mind that.
A: They all get down to their underwear, too, don't they?
Original Source is here
