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Miss Julie (1890)

Jessica Chastain plays the eponymous Irish aristocrat bent on seducing daddy’s valet (Colin Farrell) in this remake of August Strindberg’s classic play, which takes place over the course of one night. Chastain is suitably irresistible in a turquoise princess frock – the style had taken the women’s fashion world by storm in the late 19th century. Costume designer Consolata Boyle knows something about outfitting regal ladies, having clothed Helen Mirren as the Queen in The Queen and Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

The Theory of Everything (1965)

Bow ties, cardigans, tweed: Who knew the smartest man in the world once had a pretty natty fashion sense? Costume designer Steven Noble referenced personal photographs to recreate the wardrobes of the famous physicist Stephen Hawking and his first wife Jane Wilde (played by Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones). The movie – a love story about the couple’s relationship, which began shortly before Hawking’s diagnosis – is already being tapped as a likely contender for the Best Costume Design Academy Award.

Love and Mercy (1961)

This biopic of the tormented musical genius Brian Wilson looks back on the Beach Boys before they started dressing like a gang of Hawaiian tourists. Costume designer Danny Glicker has done the sixties and seventies before in Milk, which earned him a 2009 Oscar nod. In this movie, he nails the endless-summer aesthetic, proving that the only thing that was more essential than having a surfboard was a pair of supershort swim trunks to ride it in.

A Little Chaos (set in 1690)

Putting Kate Winslet in a corset isn’t exactly breaking new ground. But when a movie is set in the court of the Sun King, a certain level of sartorial splendour can be expected. Winslet plays a free-spirited (and finely attired) gardener hired to help transform the gardens of Versailles. The film’s costume designer is Joan Bergin, who has won three Emmys for her work on The Tudors and also dresses the First Lady of Ireland, Sabina Higgins.

Eden (1990)

French auteur Mia Hansen-Love chronicles the rise of electronic dance music and rave culture in Paris in this portrait of the recent past with costume design by Judy Shrewsbury. Characters include Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, better known now as Daft Punk. This means robo masks are likely to make an appearance, along with many other questionable fashion trends born of beats culture.