#multicoloured august

[cressida-jayoungr]

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.

[cressida-jayoungr]

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.

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

Anything Goes December

The Taming of the Shrew / Costume for Elizabeth Taylor as Katharina Minola(?)

I'm tremendously curious about this gown. It appeared in an exhibit titled "Glamour: Famous Gowns of the Silver Screen" in Finland in 2020. FrockFlicks did a a fine writeup of the exhibit in which they dubbed this the "unicorn dress." But it doesn't appear in the actual film!

It looks like an alternate version of the wedding dress, possibly intended to make Katharina match more closely with Petruchio's outlandish multicolored costume--but that's just a guess. If it wasn't used, why was it constructed? And was it designed by Irene Sharaff, who did Elizabeth Taylor's other gowns for this film, or by Danilo Donati, who designed everyone else's costumes?

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

August: Fantasy & Sci-Fi

The Wiz / Mabel King as Evillene (the Wicked Witch of the West)

The amount of detail in this costume is phenomenal. Every bit of the surface is covered with ornamentation of one sort or another. But somehow, despite the bright colors, it doesn't look cheery at all--quite the opposite, in fact. It seems at once junky and sinister, like a trash heap full of broken jewelry that has come to life.

Another detail that amuses me is that Evillene is wearing three crowns at once--one on the top of her head, and one over each ear.

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

Anything Goes December

Marie Antoinette / Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette

This gown represents Marie at peak "Versailles" style, with its ruffles and bows and the accompanying ostrich-trimmed hat. Stripes were very fashionable during the latter part of the 18th century, although i suspect these are more freeform than authentic. The movie does play a little fast and loose with historical accuracy at times for the sake of making an impression.

[cressida-jayoungr]

Coeli's Picks: Multicolo(u)r, part 2

One Dress a Day Challenge

Birds of Prey (2020) / Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn

Contempt (Le Mépris) (1963) / Brigitte Bardot as Camille Javal

Midsommar (2019) / Florence Pugh as Dani

House of Flying Daggers (2004) / Zhang Ziyi as Xiao Mei

Mad Men (s7e4, "The Monolith") / Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) / Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian

Words and Music (1948) / Vera-Ellen as herself

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) / Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

Multicolored August

Richard III / Pamela Brown as Jane Shore

Jane Shore, the king's mistress, doesn't have many lines, but she's on the edges of so many scenes, hovering in the background and looking enigmatic. This costume and Pamela Brown's performance make her memorable. I'm sure they were indulging in a bit of symbolism with the gown, which is a respectable blue-grey on the outside and lined with flashes of bright scarlet! If that doesn't drive the point home enough, they put the queen in white, although they inexplicably also put her in the style of the previous century.

This was one of my dad's favorite movies. He used to like to say, "How now, my hearty stout resolvèd mates?" when he was feeling jocular.

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

Multicolored August

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries / Essie Davis as Phryne Fisher

I love the multicolored geometric designs on this blouse. They look a bit (US) Southwestern to me, although that's probably not the intent. It looks great with the red coat and hat. I'm not sure whether the trailing bit is a separate scarf or part of the blouse, although @phrynefishersfrocks thinks it is separate (see this entry).

I've hit the trifecta this month: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries, and Miss S!