Original costume design

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Availability: Discontinued

Elise Clifton-Ward in The Tourist, 2010 — as worn by Angelina Jolie

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Plate I — The Tourist, 2010paris breakfasts · Image may be subject to copyright

The scene

Elise Clifton-Ward’s cream dress appears during her grand Venice arrival sequence, as the film shifts from the flirtation on the Paris-to-Venice train to the staged glamour of the lagoon. After meeting Frank Tupelo on the journey, she reconnects with him at the waterfront and brings him by water taxi to the Hotel Danieli. Stepping from the boat onto the landing and moving toward the hotel’s ceremonial entrance, she is framed against the polished spectacle of the canals, stone quays, and gilded interiors, her presence immediately commanding attention.

As she proceeds with Frank into the Danieli, the dress underscores her composed, enigmatic control. Its pale cream silk, fluid movement, and formal styling project refinement while keeping her emotionally unreadable, even as she draws Frank deeper into her plan. The look is less about intimacy than presentation: a deliberate display of wealth, poise, and strategy in one of Venice’s most storied luxury settings.

On screen, the costume is showcased in motion as she disembarks, crosses the pier, and passes through the hotel’s grand lobby. The soft cream fabric catches the Venetian light, while the mocha wrap and opera-length gloves sharpen the impression of old-world polish and classic Hollywood glamour. In this extended hotel-arrival passage, the ensemble establishes Elise as a woman of significant mystery, elegance, and calculation.

Elise Clifton-Ward’s cream dress appears during her grand Venice arrival sequence, as the film shifts from the flirtation on the Paris-to-Venice train to the staged glamour of the lagoon.

The object

Dress

The full The Tourist file →

This dress was created for The Tourist as an original custom costume under the supervision of acclaimed costume designer Colleen Atwood, rather than as a commercially retailed branded fashion piece. Atwood’s work for Elise Clifton-Ward emphasized polished, couture-inflected European elegance, and this garment is best understood as a production-made silk gown designed specifically for the film’s Venice arrival sequence.

On screen, the dress appears to be cut from pale cream silk or silk-satin with a fluid drape, fitted bodice, and softly elongated skirt line that moves cleanly as Elise steps from the water taxi and enters the Hotel Danieli. Its construction favors clean lines and a timeless silhouette, allowing the sheen and motion of the fabric to convey understated luxury. The ensemble is completed by a mocha-toned wrap and matching opera-length gloves, accessories that push the look toward mid-century eveningwear and classic Hollywood codes rather than contemporary resort wear.

This specific costume is the cream hotel-arrival dress worn by Elise Clifton-Ward when she arrives at the Hotel Danieli with Frank Tupelo after their train encounter and reunion at the Venetian waterfront. The pale monochrome palette was chosen to photograph elegantly against Venice’s water, stone, and richly ornamented interiors, reinforcing the character’s aura of glamour, distance, and control.

Production Notes

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