Focusing on Christopher Tracy’s costumes, this talk explores sartorial representations of the torch singer, the gigolo and the saint, examining how each persona is constructed through a rich interplay of fabric, silhouette and cinematic reference. Drawing on Old Hollywood iconography, Tracy’s wardrobe evokes figures such as silent-screen lotharios and cabaret performers, while simultaneously subverting their conventions through camp exaggeration, postmodern bricolage, and gender-disruptive dress.

This inventive assemblage combines repurposed vintage textiles, recognisable historical style tropes, and the materiality of the mid-1980s. As a result, Tracy’s eclectic visual language resists fixed temporal or cultural placement, situating Under the Cherry Moon within a state of deliberate temporal ambiguity.

Underpinned by an interview with the film’s costume designer, Marie France, this paper demonstrates how costume operates as a narrative device, signalling the development of Christopher Tracy while mirroring Prince’s evolving approach to ‘unconventional tailoring’.

Dr. Casci Ritchie is a fashion and cultural historian, writer, and educator. She was recently awarded her doctorate for her thesis titled “(Un)dressing the Love Symbol: The Life, Death, and Legacy of Prince’s Wardrobe,” which explores the cultural influences, materiality, labor processes, afterlives, and affective legacies of the musician. She has published her research widely in journals including Critical Studies in Men’s Fashion and Queer Studies in Popular Culture. Her book, On His Royal Badness: The Life and Legacy of Prince’s Fashion, was published in 2021.

She is currently Research Assistant on the ‘Enclothed Knowledges – Practice-Based Fashion Research Network’ alongside Dr Ellen Sampson and Dr Ben Barry at Northumbria University and Parsons School of Design.

Alongside her research, Casci is a public speaker and workshop facilitator, working at a wide range of events and institutions including Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Paisley Book Festival, Glasgow Film Festival, Inverness Film Festival, Glasgow Youth Film Festival, University of Glasgow, Glasgow Heritage Trust and Johnstone Textile Space.