I recently watched the film Emma (2020) and immediately required fanning and a snifter of smelling salts for the immense visual explosion of luscious pop-tart candy-coloured Georgian draperies, costumes and patterned wallpapers. Delectable macaron maximalism. Emma probably needs a post all of her own but I was inspired to compile a short list of other films containing pattern designs that I love.
Incidentally, it is my absolute dream to have a pattern of mine used on a film set; whether it be costume, wallpaper, soft furnishings or a patterned bag carrying a murder weapon in an Agatha Christie TV dramatisation, I don’t mind. Any appearance would send me sky-high with joy.
So, feast your eyes on these five excellent films and their pattern designs. You might easily guess the ubiquitous pattern in the number one spot, it may have been forever imprinted on your retinas. Let me know your favourite pattern designs used in films and I’ll watch them – all in the name of research.
5 Taxi Driver (1976)
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese
COSTUME DESIGN: Ruth Morley
The ‘would you like to come have some coffee and pie with me?’ dress. In Taxi Driver, Betsy (Cybil Shepherd), appears mostly in white ‘like an angel’ but here she is in a dazzling abstract red swirl patterned dress, complimented by Travis’ deep burgundy velvet/velour jacket. The Biba-esque Art Nouveau pattern is strikingly red, which just so happens to be Scorsese’s signature film colour.
The classic wrap dress is by Belgian fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg. The dress was launched in 1974 after Diane von Fürstenberg saw her own line separates being worn together on television, inspiring her to combine the top and skirt into a single garment, and thus the iconic DVF dress was born.
4 In the Mood for Love (2000)
DIRECTOR: Wong Kar-wai
ART DIRECTOR & COSTUME DESIGN: William Chang
I’ve chosen this exquisite love story not for one particular pattern design but for all twenty-one of the beautiful qipaos, or cheongsams worn by Maggie Cheung.
The film cleverly uses the cheongsams to convey moods, themes, and the passing of time; just as the meals denote the changing seasons. They are all gorgeous but if pressured to pick a favourite, it would be the vertically striped pattern in dark inky tones of blues, reds and gold. This one is worn early in the story and appears on a few occasions. It’s no wonder that this visually stunning film has remained a huge design inspiration for over two decades.
3 I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
DIRECTOR: Charlie Kaufman
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Molly Hughes
A starring role for this well-loved wallpaper pattern; Compton wallpaper was produced by Morris & Co. and designed by John Henry Dearle in 1895 for Laurence Hodson’s Compton Hall in Wolverhampton. Originally, the design required two sets of wood blocks to print all twenty-eight colours owing to the large vertical repeating pattern but it has since been scaled down.
The film has the pattern filling a room in a remote snowy farmhouse in the indigo blue/russet colourway, beautifully setting off Lucy’s (Jessie Buckley) auburn hair. It’s an intricately layered and intertwining design, mirroring the film’s richly complex twists, turns and loops. Like the film, it’s a pattern to lose yourself in.
2 Saint Maud (2019)
DIRECTOR: Rose Glass
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Paulina Rzeszowska
The chillingly brilliant Saint Maud is where I instantly fell in love with the tones and shapes of this large-scale Art Deco wallpaper. The design is Conway by Zoffany Wallpapers and is absolutely stunning in Amanda’s (Jennifer Ehle) alluring and shadowy bedroom.
Possibly a bespoke colourway of the Conway design was produced for the film or colours adjusted with lighting. The four colourways available to buy include a green version named Poison, no doubt inspired by Scheele’s Green. My favourite is the bluey/brown combination used in the film. I’d love to have the whole bedroom – without ‘saviour’ Maud around though.
The wallpaper also appeared in Interior Design Masters - Series 2 where Siobhan Murphy used the design to great effect in a hair salon scheme.
1 The Shining (1980)
DIRECTOR: Stanley Kubrick
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Roy Walker
Surely the most iconic pattern in film history; a design with the unique ability to raise neck hairs and quicken pulses. Carpet pattern perfection for symmetry and the one-point perspective shots loved by Kubrick. The bold 60s-style hexagon ‘maze’ with its red warning lights is perhaps a foreshadowing of the hotel’s exterior maze.
The pattern is Hicks’ Hexagon and was designed by influential interior designer David Hicks (1929-1998). The excellent Film & Furniture.com offers up compelling theories on why Kubrick may have chosen this graphic pattern.
Finally, let’s not forget the Overlook Hotel’s other pattern; the carpet in Room 237… Some might say it’s the stuff of nightmares.
