The Increasingly Inaccurately Named "Dress a Week"

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From Veronica Tucker via Pinterest

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Pockets!!

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One Dress a Day Challenge

November: Grey Redux

License to Kill / Carey Lowell as Pam Bouvier

In terms of the "five primary modes of Bond Girl chic," this falls under "no-nonsense workwear." It's a simple, classic dress made of soft material with a deep V neck, cap sleeves, and tied waist, falling just below the knee. With it, Pam wears matching flat shoes and minimal jewelry (just a bracelet and tiny earrings). Even though it's not a glamorous outfit in itself, she uses it to great effect on one of the bad guys!

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Reblogging for Bond month (September).

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One Dress a Day Challenge

October: White Redux

Live and Let Die / Gloria Hendry as Rosie Carver

Rosie was kind of hapless even by Bond girl standards, but she absolutely rocked this off-white halter-neck minidress. It looks like it fastens by zipping up the front, and an attached belt fastens over that. The front also has wide lapels and two pocket flaps, while the back has a T-strap, leaving her shoulders bare. For jewelry, she has a gold bracelet and hoop earrings, which echo the circular gold belt buckle. We see in one brief shot that she's also wearing dark red or reddish-brown pumps. All in all, it's one of the iconic Bond girl looks of the 1970s!

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Reblogging for Bond month (September).

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So I Saw This Costume...

Thunderball / Claudine Auger as Dominique "Domino" Derval

Domino frequently wears white in this movie (or white and black), perhaps to emphasize that although she is entangled with Largo and his organization, she is not complicit in their nefarious activities.

This short evening dress is deceptively simple in design, with a slight draped effect on the bodice leading to an ornament at the waist and a half-belt effect wrapping around to fasten in back. Along with the fur-edged wrap, it sets off her impressive jewelry: multilayered necklace, earrings, and jeweled hair ornaments. She also carries a small white clutch purse.

Compare Kim Basinger's dress from the equivalent scene in Never Say Never Again.

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One Dress a Day Challenge

October: Black Redux

Casino Royale / Deborah Kerr as "Agent Mimi" as Lady Fiona McTarry

I hadn't watched this movie in years, so when I rewatched it recently to screencap costumes, I had completely forgotten that this was Deborah Kerr gleefully devouring the scenery as the French secret agent posing as a Scottish noblewoman (with truly outrageous accent). And climbing out of windows in a negligee and Wellies! I love the random little black butterflies in her hair, too.

Also, as silly and sometimes meandering as this movie was, it does deserve credit for being the first to suggest that "James Bond" was a code name that could be passed along to different agents.

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Reblogging for Bond month (September).

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So I Saw This Costume...

Dr. No / Zena Marshall as Miss Taro

I've highlighted the first Bond outfit, the first Bond girl, the first Bond villain, and the first swimsuit in previous posts. Now here's the first Bond femme fatale, the non-first-named Miss Taro. Her most memorable look is this short blue cheongsam-style dress with very pronounced side slits. With it, she carries a soft blue clutch purse made from the same fabric as the dress.

The design of this dress is echoed by Honey's outfit for the finale, which is provided by Dr. No, hinting also at the link between him and Miss Taro.

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Reblogging for Bond month (September).

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One Dress a Day Challenge

October: Gold Redux

Skyfall / Naomie Harris as Eve (Moneypenny)

To kick off a month of gold and silver, here's Eve Moneypenny in a stunning gold evening dress by Amanda Wakeley. Definitely some 1930s inspiration in the cut and drape of it, but also the slightly sculptural texturing that was popular in the 2010s. The version worn in the movie also includes a triple strand of ribbons going over the shoulder--more for the visual effect than for structural necessity, probably, since the original dress is strapless. In a walking shot, we also see she has matching shoes.

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Reblogging for Bond month (September).

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One Dress a Day Challenge

June: Brown Redux

(Publicity shot for) Live and Let Die / Jane Seymour as Solitaire

The costumes for this movie must have been finalized rather late, or else the publicity shoots were held quite early, because Solitaire isn't wearing any of her actual costumes in the publicity pictures. (Compare this orange dress.) But the designers clearly knew the look they were going for, as this brown paisley maxi skirt with close-fitting brown top demonstrates. And is that a Christian Dior logo on the belt?

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Reblogging for Bond month (September).

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So I Saw This Costume...

Dr. No / Ursula Andress as Honey Rider and Sean Connery as James Bond and Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder

I've started a project of watching the Bond films from the beginning (though I may bail when I get to Daniel Craig, we'll see). Bond and Honey are provided with these Asian-inspired clothes when they are "guests" of Dr. No.

It's an interesting choice to not put Honey in an evening dress, but perhaps they felt that territory had already been covered in the movie with Sylvia. Also more practical for the amount of running around Honey later does. Her sleeveless top is decorated with flowers and fastens up the front with frogging. The matching pants are close-fitting, more like leggings, although they have a slight pleat in front.

There's a good writeup of Bond's rough silk jacket, beige slacks, and espadrilles here. I think Sean Connery looks great in this jacket, which strikes a nice balance between formal and casual. I always wince at how thoroughly it gets destroyed during his escape from Dr. No's base.

More costumes from Dr. No:

Bond's shawl collar tuxedo

Sylvia's red off-the-shoulder evening dress

Honey's white swimsuit

Dr. No's "villain suit"

Miss Taro's blue dress

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Reblogging for Bond month (September).

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One Dress a Day Challenge

October: Silver Redux

Tomorrow Never Dies / Michelle Yeoh as Wai Lin

It is unfortunately difficult to get a good look at this sleek evening dress, between the lighting and the crush of people in the scene. The only back view is an out-of-focus shot of her in the background as Bond walks by. The design is a simple sheath with a suggestion of waistline, allowing the rippling of the fabric to be the main focus. The only bit of decoration is the beaded halter collar.

Interestingly, some publicity shots show her in a different silver dress:

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Reblogging for Bond Month (September).

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One Dress a Day Challenge

Evil Under the Sun / Maggie Smith as Daphne Castle

For an evening party that's she's hosting at her hotel on a Greek island, Mrs. Castle wears this fun bejeweled jacket over a horizontally striped blouse and vertically striped skirt. It's accompanied by a necklace, bracelet, and flower pin.

Anthony Powell designed the costumes for this movie. According to Wikipedia, other noted costume designer Sandy Powell is his cousin!

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Reblogging as I revisit Multicolo(u)red August.

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So I Saw This Costume...

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever / Barbra Streisand as Daisy Gamble

I legit don't know whether this dress that matches the drapery and the armchair is an abomination or a stroke of genius. Looking closely, I don't think it's exactly the same as the curtains, but it's close enough to blend in. And it seems to match the chair exactly.

As the 1960s bled into the 1970s, fabric patterns got extremely busy for a while. Stuff from just a couple of years earlier is generally a lot cleaner in design.

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So I Saw This Costume...

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (s3e5, "It's Comedy or Cabbage") / Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam "Midge" Maisel

I wonder if this dress was made from vintage material. The combination of large circles and giant flowers, plus the color combination, really evoke the design sensibility of the late 1950s (this season takes place in 1959).

Obviously, the main feature of this outfit is the cape! It seems to be there purely for effect, as it serves no practical purpose and might even defeat the goal of having a cool sleeveless dress for summer.

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Very interesting comment on Abby Cox's video about the upcoming Netflix Pride and Prejudice adaptation:

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[recycledmoviecostumes]

This beautiful outfit, was designed by Earl Luick for the 1931 version of 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒏, where it was worn by Thelma Todd as Iva Archer. It was worn again that same year on an extra in 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒓.   Learn more at Bit.ly/PostEd230      

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This honestly looks like it should be lingerie, but apparently it's a party dress? Thanks to @northernmariette for bringing it to my attention!