About Time: the best love story the 2010s can offer (and the most average costumes)
By Kellie Murphy
First of all, I just want to say that I know that Paris fashion week ended recently. I know that you all possibly expected me to write an article on Paris fashion week. I know I was thinking of writing an article about Paris fashion week. I too have been thinking of Rihanna’s sheer black dress which she wore to Dior, and Zendaya’s pink outfit at Valentino. Her trousers with the flowers dancing across her legs are a need. But no, you’re not getting any of this, as you can tell by the title. Instead, you get an analysis of the modern classic About Time (2013) because I just watched it and I’m obsessed.
About Time is an amazing movie and even though it’s a safe assumption everyone has watched it, there will still be some readers who live under rocks. The movie follows a young man called Tim (played by Domhnall Gleeson) who finds out the men in his family can time travel. This time travel has restrictions though, which causes heartache in the film. Tim can only travel back in time, to a place he’s already been to and within his lifetime so this avoids any terrible moral dilemmas.Tim decides to use his newfound powers to find love and what ensues is a journey to find the perfect person and quite literally moving through time to keep them. The movie involves a cast of colourful characters who love Tim and help him on his path to true love while there are others (Jay) who hilariously get in the way and make Tim’s efforts almost come to nought. But Tim is a ginger with a mission so he pulls through. However, the characters have to deal with some of the most average costumes, it is something you could have seen on the street in the early 2010’s which is the whole point, but there are some brilliant outfits like Mary’s wedding dress and all of Uncle D’s suits. The costumes of the characters do a brilliant job at conveying the characters personalities, like Jimmy’s leather jacket that of course tells us he’s extremely sexy (I don’t really see it but I can see why Kit Kat did) but terrible news. The costumes also progress along with the story, letting the viewers know how the story is reaching its climax, and it’s a beautiful part of the story telling which I’m grateful to Richard Curtis for.
The costumes change as the movie develops, and it’s a clever way of dangling the plot in front of the viewers. As the movie begins, we see Tim as a young, inexperienced man, full of self-doubt. Yet, Tim is endearing. He’s wholly decent, awkward in a charming way and his humour is always present and at times dry. This is reflected in his clothes which are sensible and very safe. His main outfit of choice in the beginning of the movie is a button up shirt with horizontal stripes, which only appears to make him lankier, matched with an innovative pair of skinny jeans. He does however mix things up on special occasions, like his family’s New year’s party when he wears a button up shirt paired with a jacket. This outfit would both be seen on a mannequin in a charity shop and a middle-aged man’s outfit of choice for fancy bars. I think this outfit really shows how the plot of the movie is showing one of Tim’s low points. It looks about as awkward and formal as the new year’s kiss fiasco which is one of the first things Tim decides to fix when he discovers his magical power of time travel, to the relief of the audience and the delight of Polly. However, this changes when Tim grows in confidence and becomes surer of himself, and his determination to find love is found. Tim still stays true to himself and wears button up shirts but they’re now much more in touch with 2010’s fashion rather then something you could still wear to a job interview. In his move down to London we get a whole new Tim, Lawyer Tim. Tim who is hopeless and lonely and desperately looking for love while wearing suits. Tim finds love with Mary while wearing a smart jacket with a deep red shirt. It’s perfect for dinner and it seems to convey the plot development, gone is unsure Tim in his horrible striped shirts, we now have a new Tim who seems to have found a new confidence while living on his own in London, making a new friend and basically being an adult. It has moved his sense of fashion along. We have a new Tim, tasteful Tim who now looks like he’s not stuck behind his nana’s kitchen table eating bourbons but could easily find himself in a fancy blind restaurant. And meet the love of his life there. And he does! He meets Mary at this dark dinner, and they fall deeply in love over the course of a few hours. After he embarks on his relationship with Mary he feels so joyful and a sense of achievement with this great love so we see Tim’s joy through his clothes. They are a mix of cosy jumpers and colourful shirts in green, red and blue. As the viewers watch the movie, we can see Tim settle into a warm, loving and cosy life with Mary. This can be seen in his clothes which are warm, cosy and like him a bit awkward, but it does make you love this character more then you already do.
I also really enjoy the costumes in About Time because they reflect the characters' personalities in a very quiet way. The costumes themselves are nothing awe inspiring, they are terribly ordinary which is the whole point as the movie is about an ordinary person who has extraordinary abilities and uses them to achieve an ordinary life, but one filled with deep love. The characters' outfits reveal their personalities and show the audience any trouble or good fortune the character is experiencing. This is clearly utilised with Kit Kat, Tim’s sister. Kit Kat is a vibrant, cheerful woman who is childlike in her enjoyment in life. And her clothes are an indication of this. Kit Kat adores purple to the extreme, her clothes are always purple, always loud and bright and cheerful just like her. They’re whimsical and entirely individualistic, revealing how unconcerned Kit Kat is with the thoughts of others. And this is clearly shown in her New Year’s party outfit. It is a vibrant purple top with frills going down the shoulders with a purple fringe vest on top, and of course the finishing touch is a purple flower crown. Clearly it was current for the time its set in, but it still looks just as loud and vibrant as Zendaya’s pink ensemble in 2022, just maybe not as cool. This is Kit Kat at her most happy, her most optimistic and as her character experiences lows in the movie her outfits reveal her change in personality. As Kit Kat gets into a terrible relationship with Jimmy she begins to suffer from an eating disorder and becomes dependent on alcohol. However, this is told to us more then halfway through the movie. The viewers learn this through Kit Kat’s appearance. She appears in a pale grey top halfway through the movie, last having been seen waiting with Tim for his first meeting with Mary. Kit Kat’s top is dull and muted, it would be a stretch to say its decorated with purple swirls. It’s at this moment that we learn she was fired from her job. We can clearly see how the characters' clothes show their personality. Kit Kat’s radiant personality remains but it is muted by this deep sadness which is shown in her clothes.
About Time has unremarkable costumes but what is so interesting to me is that they reveal so much about the characters and the plot. It’s a great way to watch the movie, especially when you’ve watched it so many times.