Some Stylish Films, Part 4

My Fair Lady Included at the suggestion of my mother, Black Alice (we love us some Victoriana in this family), My Fair Lady is easily one of the most gorgeous films of the last century. The monochromatic racecourse scene and particularly the black and white dress Hepburn wears in it, are particular favourites but what girl doesn’t love a rags to riches make-over movie?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkKTuUo4ExY

Volver I lived in the Canary Islands for three years as child and have never gotten over the Spanish use of colour. The hotter the country, the more orange (and other brights) a girl can justify. This, to my mind, is an excellent thing.

In Volver, and many other Pedro Almodovar films, the female leads wear clashing colours and mismatched patterns on clothing that is, in other ways, entirely appropriate if a little sexed-up, a juxtaposition that is used to especially dazzling effect by the film’s leading lady, Penelope Cruz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABSvppyQGdE

Gone with the Wind

Ashley, Ashley, Ashley! Any girl who does not at some point wish to be Scarlet O’Hara, or any other kind of Southern Belle, is either not a real girl, or has not seen Gone with the Wind. It is that simple.

Full of fabulous full-skirted and tightly corseted dresses, the film is a window into a time and culture completely different from our own, when society women, seen only in terms of their trophy value, were absolutely bedecked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VcRtR217Yw&feature=PlayList&p=75CB71065829637A&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=33
Random Harvest

Another of Black Alice’s favourites, and her sister Black Josie’s for that matter.

Greer Garson stars as a showgirl who falls in love with an amnesiac who has returned from the First World War. In a hugely convoluted, if beautiful, storyline her partner leaves her for one night only to be hit by a car, regaining the memory of his very privileged pre-war life but losing all memory of her. By the end of the film, the pair are reunited and marry, with Garson’s character becoming a perfect society hostess, with a near perfect wardrobe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eME76uDue-0&feature=PlayList&p=737085141109CE94&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=25

The Big Sleep

(and almost anything featuring Lauren Bacall)

Again, the sisters Black love The Big Sleep.

A classic film noir, adapted from the Raymond Chandler novel of the same name, The Big Sleep is a drama so consuming that the clothes might not be the first thing you notice. You might be too busy watching Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall for that.

Bacall can do very little wrong in my eyes mostly because of her outfits in films like To Have and Have Not, Key Largo and this. Bacall’s outfits are typical femme fatale garb; fitted suits, and deep v-necked dresses, worn with high heels, a dark lip, thick eyebrows and absolutely side-parted perfect wavy hair.

Absolutely the best film star ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjJlBnfyiI4

Badlands

Yet another film about killers; I’d worry, but I just cannot bring myself to love the look of romantic comedies so let’s move on. Throughout Badlands Martin Sheen channels James Dean, looking young and (surprisingly) hot in double denim; tight, dark jeans and a jean jacket with a tight white tee but it’s Sissy Spacek I’d direct you towards.

She starts the film in hot pants and a t-shirt, progressing to flared print dresses, before adopting jeans and crisp cotton shirts as her look. Though not immediately striking, her simple look is surprisingly enviable, the kind of thing you might see in the street and try out the next day. It’s a very classic, despite being entirely casual.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcFx06cBmbk

Dangerous Liaisons A costume drama set in eighteenth century France, this film, though lacking the cartoon appeal of Marie-Antoinette (see Some Stylish Films, Part 1, from August 2009), still demonstrates a fashion truism: trying to look French is always a good thing.

The gowns are satiny and bejeweled, the corsets tight, while the hair and make-up is very toned down. It’s kind of my ideal look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbB2oBlP2uI