The parties are good, the clothes are better.
Adapted from Evelyn Waugh’s novel Vile Bodies, Bright Young Things depicts the debauched lifestyles of a group of British socialites in the era between the two World Wars, an era marked out in high society for its decadence. The characters mostly go to parties and the races, taking cocaine and drinking too much, then denying the whole thing when confronted about it by their seething families; much like socialites now, were Ascot a dive bar in Camden, not the stomping ground of Wags.
Of particular lust value is Emily Mortimer’s red party dress, accessorised with affected boredom, and Fenella Woolgar’s wardrobe, a depiction of early cross-dressing, which eventually sees her interred in a mental asylum.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebulwyxtCwU
Annie Hall
In which Diane Keaton drags a more gentle form of cross-dressing into the mainstream.
I’m not a fan of Keaton or her look per se, but it is referenced so often that I have undoubtedly worn it (probably to a job interview). Combining men’s slacks with smart shirts, waistcoats, and the odd floppy hat, to make not only Woody Allen but women across 70’s America fall in love with her, Diane Keaton waved in a look that allowed her to trade off not her looks, or sex appeal but her humour and itellect; it is a look that says “value me” though not as a trophy. Perfect for the sisterhood of the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBzHphcc2Jw
Almost Famous
I wrote my dissertation on groupies and the thing about them is that they rarely look that great. Sex appeal can be very stylish, and no-one would suggest that Carine Roitfeld or, say, Alexa Chung (who’s definitely a groupie, no matter how much she protests) don’t know how to dress, but the outright whorey-ness of a lot of so-called “band aids” always makes me feel a bit sick.
In Almost Famous Cameron Crowe depicted the most gorgeous groupie ever, Miss Penny Lane (her real name was Penny Trumble), whose attractiveness hinges not on her looking overtly slutty- though we know she is- but on her having some absolutely gorgeous, delicate seventies fashion at her disposal; the embroidered knee boots, for example, or the transparent ruffled blouse she wears. Band members can lust after her; I just want the outfits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk0XnyrENrE
Reservoir Dogs
I could never be a heterosexual male. The lack of clothing options would bore me to death but if I were I would always, always want to look like this:
The suits are not from anywhere special. The film’s costume designer Betsy Heimann bought them cheaply because she wanted to imitate the look of gangsters from old French films, such as those by Jean-Pierre Melville.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvoKT481EmU
Mad Love
To those of us who grew up under the shadow of grunge, this film, and Drew Barrymore’s look from that time, has set a high, if dubious, standard. Unlike Courtney Love, who was outright dirty, and Kate Moss, who was just really fucking thin, Barrymore accessible, a smiley older cousin figure, whose happy thrift store finds and daisy hair accessories made her appealing. Though it’s a harder look to pull off than it seems there was a definite sense that you too could look like that.
She looks scruffy throughout Mad Love, wearing slips of varying lengths as dresses, wide legged, and even combat trousers, cropped tees, woolly cardigans with holes in, and, I seem to recall, chunky jewellery. It’s a fine look for a student, and might even be helpful for a school girl but now that I’m in my late twenties, I realise it’s a look I should be shaking off, not least ‘cos Peaches Geldof is bound to adopt it soon.
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