Reflecting on my last post about Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, I decided to go take a look at our collective closet, Etsy, and see what's up. Oh My. There are so many lovely choices in Neon Green. However, some good research skills will come in handy. Keep in mind that one person's "neon" is another person's "bright" is another person's "lime" is another person's "acid." So you may have to try a lot of different search terms to find what you want.
This ridiculous movie is one of my favorites of all time. Christina Applegate plays your average teenager with loads of personal style who just wants to spend the summer on the beach with her friends. But mom goes off to Australia (...to be a with a younger guy? Ugh. Gross mom.) and leaves her five kids in the hands of a very very old woman who is also very very mean. But then she dies! And now Christina Applegate has to get a real job at a real company with a real early morning commute so that her siblings don't starve. On the way to adulthood, she falls in love, of course.
But perhaps my favorite is her incredible color combo in the following outfit. Neon green, if the blogs and magazines can be trusted, is this spring's must-have color. Here she makes it look not at all garish and incredibly sophisticated.
As mentioned in an earlier blog, Marlene Dietrich's undeniably sexy cooptation of a man's tux remains one of the most important moments in fashion and film history. It's not easy to pull off men's clothing, because it's designed to accentuate the ideal male body. Breasts are usually the most difficult thing to squeeze into a suit, and they tend to destroy the lines of the clothes, obliterate a waist, and generally look awkward. But in Morocco Dietrich is stunning, invoking both female and male sexual indicators. Papers should be written about how she pulls this off.
Technicolor! Ok. So sometimes the colors get a little over-the-top along with much of the styling. Is glitter really an appropriate choice for Errol Flynn when he's gallavanting in Sherwood Forest? Apparently, even Flynn complained, formally requesting that his ridiculous wig be altered so that he didn't look so...silly. But who cares. The men are dandified, Maid Marian is radiant, and this film will eternally be my image of Medieval costumery. RPG nerds take note. This is how it's done.
It has been argued that this film, entirely made up of female characters, is really about men in drag. Critics point to the over-the-top performances, which easily read as caricatures of femininity. The clothes are equally outlandish, supposedly because these are women of "society." Whatever the gender implications of the film -much of which takes place in clothing stores, changing rooms, and beauty parlors- the clothing has remained outrageously fabulous, and always inspiring in its unqualified love of fashion.
In a scene from the first half of the film, Rhett Butler brings Scarlett a hat from Paris, which she places on her head backwards. He tells her things have really gotten bad if a girl like her doesn't know how to wear the latest fashion. Clothing plays an integral part in all the many hours of the film, used and manipulated as a tool. Scarlett famoulsy makes a dress out of curtains to get money from Rhett. Rhett forces Scarlett to wear red so that Melanie can sufficiently embarass her. The film's comment on the emotional and politcal significance of clothing would be enough to send it to the top of the list. Thankfully, the costumes themselves are eternally stunning.
Every single outfit that Grace Kelly wears in this film is enviable. Kelly plays a New York socialite and works at a women's clothing store. Could there be a more perfect set up for Edith Head? The infamous costume desginer made the best of a good situation and turned out clothing so spectacular it would still turn heads at a Park Avenue party.
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