Some might call the fashion of mob wives tacky, flashy, or nouveau riche. They would be mostly right. These guys and dolls got rich, like, yesterday, and it’s clearly evidenced in their choice of clothing. It’s usually all furs, sequins, animal prints, acrylic nails, big jewelry and even bigger hair. If you’re looking for sartorial subtlety, you’re in the wrong genre.

When I was making this supercut, I was especially impressed by The Godfather Part III. Widely regarded as the worst movie in the series, and maybe one of the worst movies ever, this cinematic mess had my favorite outfits. In her velvet blazers, Diane Keaton is essentially Annie Hall (if Annie Hall was married to a terrifying mobster). Talia Shire is a vision of Sicilian elegance in head to toe black, practically swaddled in gold jewelry.

Other favorites include everything worn by Sharon Stone in Casino, Drea de Matteo choosing her wedding dress, and Michelle Pfeiffer’s epic bitchface. All of these goomahs, molls, and wives featured are dressed to reflect the wealth and status of their beloved mobsters. As Henry Hill might say: “Fuck you, dress me.”

text by Daniel Reis

Eiko Ishioka, celebrated costume designer for film and theatre, passed away two weeks ago at the age of 73. Her success as a costume designer came toward the end of a long career including stints in graphic design and advertising. Ishioka won an Oscar for her costumes in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and became a frequent collaborator with film director Tarsem, designing for all four of his films: The Cell, The Fall, Immortals, and the upcoming Mirror Mirror.

Her surreal and elaborate designs added immeasurably to the look of the films she worked on, often taking place in fantasy worlds or the subconscious. She could create the stuff of nightmares or provide the perfect outfit for a daydream.

Her Oscar-winning work for Bram Stoker’s Dracula was also the only time she was nominated. Who can forget Gary Oldman’s double-bun?



Her clothes for The Cell appeared deliberately uncomfortable and drew influence from torture devices and fetish wear—fitting for a film that takes place almost entirely inside the mind of a serial killer.

In her next film with Tarsem, The Fall, Ishioka mixed international styles to vividly illustrate a child’s imagination.

A scene from Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

Ishioka excelled in creating fantastical designs, this time outfitting Greek gods for Tarsem’s Immortals.

Goodbye Eiko Ishioka. The world will be a little less surreal without you.

text by Daniel Reis

I’ve recently become addicted to the filmography of Alfred Hitchcock. Whenever something by the Master of Suspense is playing, you can’t not keep your eyes on the screen. Not only are they nail-bitingly intense, but you gotta love those classic and clean Edith Head costumes. These images are a few of my favourites from two of his most iconic films. How brilliant was it the way clothing was linked to mistaken identity in Vertigo?

North by Northwest is another great one. The menswear tailoring was very sharp, but my favourite scene to capture was with the shot of Bergdorf Goodman purse, showing a little gun tucked in the side. Nobody did classy badass better than Alfred Hitchcock and Edith Head.

text by Peghah Maleknejad

From the mid-1990s to early 2000s, there was a sort of moral panic associated with “hackers” and this crazy newfangled thing called the Internet. Movies like Hackers and The Matrix treated their characters like lawless individuals in a new Wild West—no rules, no moral compasses, just a bunch of hooligans speaking a lot of gibberish. And how did they use clothing to let people know they were scary? LEATHER. All leather, all the time. Pale skin from all that time indoors, facial piercings because they weren’t concerned with getting a good job, smudged eyeliner because they just didn’t give a fuck. Paired with some ridiculous sunglasses, outlandish hair, and huge jeans, they were dressed like every parent’s worst nightmare. Of course they all looked amazing.

Today, the stereotypical image of a person who works with computers is more likely to be a young female blogger or a clean shaven man in his mid-30s. But the American version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, released today, is set in 2002, and Lisbeth Salander is still intended to look as scary as possible. I’m personally finding her look unbelievably cool. Of course her tattoos are amazing, but I’m equally inspired by her bleached eyebrows, severely cut hair, and clothes that aren’t so much “disheveled” as “so torn up that they are actually hanging on by a thread.” I want to look just like her, but I’d probably cross the street if I saw her coming.

The difference today is that I think Lisbeth is supposed to look aspirational—H&M is even selling a line of clothes based on her costumes from the film. In retrospect, I think all the women look pretty amazing: Angelina’s motorcycle jacket from Hackers, Trinity in her head-to-toe skintight leather, even Ms. Calendar (R.I.P.) in her leather jacket. Maybe when we all get sick of the 1990s grunge look we can move on to 90s hackers?

I can’t defend what’s going on with Julia Stiles though. That console cowboy is whack.

text by Haley Mlotek
video by Daniel Reis