One of my favorite movies from the last few months is Guy Ritchie's The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The film is fun and light James Bond-esque entertainment and one of its best assets is the amazing 60s aesthetic. Joanna Johnston, the movie's costume designer (whose previous work include Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, Forrest Gump, Lincoln, Love Actually and my personal favorite Death Becomes Her), has taken inspiration from fashion icons of the decade like Veruschka, Marisa Berenson and Jean Schrimpton to create the looks Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Debicki wear.
Vikander's character, Gaby, wears colourful mini-dresses and dramatic complements, including sunhats, art-deco jewellery and her trademark round sunglasses. Even at the beginning of the movie, when she's working on a garage, she remains fashionable with a patterned headband. Gaby is a modern and resolutive women, and her clothes, while feminine, show her independent and bold personality.
Debicki's Victoria, on the other hand, is the main antagonist of the film and her well-mannered but lethal nature is reflected with the use of only two colours: black and white. Her costumes are more formal than Gaby's, using long dresses, kaftans and statement jewellery. But her most distinctive characteristic is the use of headscarves and bold eye make-up.
Of course, even if the girls' clothing catches the eye more prominently, the men's attire is also important, specially the well-tailored suits Henry Cavill uses throughout the movie and the swan neck sweaters of Armie Hammer's russian spy Illya.
And I don't want to finish this post without including my absolute favourite scene from the movie, Gaby and Illya's dance-turned-fight. Pure chemistry!
