Day 3-Cinema, Couture and Ready to wear

References to follow up, as discussed in the lecture:

The film as Fashion show.

Face Off. Watch the first few minutes. Donna Karan.

Pulp fiction.

Patricia Field style led to designers fighting to get their clothes on the screen.

Past 10 years, people have become more aware of designers and fashion, this has been reflected in cinema. This knowledge has been enhanced by the internet. it is a free and democratic information source.

Gaultier. The fifth element.

Narrative. Chain of events. Cause-effect relationship in time and space. Adrian saw costumes as telling the story. Couturier’s prerogative is to create clothes as spectacle, but costume designer must serve the narrative. Couturiers can create narratives within their garment. Mae West Every Day’s a holiday 1936, Schiaparelli.

Hepburn had two trademark looks. The first; Young, bohemian. The second; European elegance. Hepburn is always in control. Not the 'dolly' of the designer.

Makeover movie. Joan Crawford. The bride wore red, Bette Davis. Now, Voyager. Audrey Hepburn. Sabrina, Funny face, My fair lady. 1970s Shampoo, Grease. 1980s Working girl. Pretty woman. Recent. Clueless, Miss congeniality, Legally blonde, She’s all that, The Devil wears prada. The Indian version of Emma.

Why does this idea of makeover relate so strongly to the female viewer? does it relate to the mindset of consumption established in the first lecture and reading, where we have been constructed to think that we always need more, to get clothes based on style, not function.

Audrey was not presented sexually. She was paired with much older men, seeming like a faher figure. This emphasised her child like quality. She is for women. ‘Growing up with Audrey Hepburn’ is good.

Audrey in Givenchy in Sabrina at the ball. Europe meets Hollywood, Europe wins.

60s was the last time fashion looked forward. Futuristic. Barbarella. Paco Rabanne.

2001 A space odyssey.

The Great Gatsby. Mia farrow.

Dolls by Kitano. Clothes by Yohji. Saw his role as subservient to the director.

Couture is now involved in mass marketing.

The women 1940. The fashion show had a New Look feel.

Think about films which contain fashion shows. ‘Blow up’

Reading: Cinema and Haute Couture: Sabrina to Pretty woman, trop belle, pour Toi!, prêt a porter.

The main ideas from the reading were:

Clothes were presented as spectacle and mechanisms for display. Distinction between costume and couture. Clothes functioning independent of the body, character and narrative.

Intersection between costume and couture; Chanel did some costume design well, but did not keep with it as she could not handle being bossed around. Palmy days 1931. Clothes were prioritised over narrative.

Couture= spectacle. costume= portray a character.

Cinema’s use of couture. Kika, Pretty Woman, trop belle pour toi! Voyager, prêt a porter. These are all films I wish to view, in order to get a more complete understanding of fashion, couture, and cinema.

Jean Harlow. Dinner at eight. 1930s Hollywood glamour.

Hollywood style was emulated in couture e.g. Crawford Letty Lynton, Elizabeth taylor A place in the sun. Quoting Hollander (1975 pp 349-50) “dressing is an act usually undertaken with reference to pictures-mental pictures, which are personally edited versions of actual ones. The style in which the image of the clothed figure is rendered…governs the way we create and perceive our own clothed selves.”

Sabrina pre paris- costume Edith head. Post paris. Couture Givenchy.

Aramrni. Gere, American gigolo 1980.

Chanel. Last year in Marienbad, les amants. Paco rabanne Barbarella.

Marlon brando The wild one. James dean. Rebel without a cause.

European cinema ascendance in early ‘60s created synergy between couture and costume. La dolce vita. A bout de soufflé. Darling, two for the road= shopping not designing. I would like to become more informed with a range of styles of film, other than simply those from contemporary hollywood.

Ralph Lauren. The Great Gatsby, Annie Hall. Obsessive nostalgia for a bourgeois past of leisure wear and natural fabrics in pale shades.

The changing course of consumption in the 80s changed the way film was seen. Hollywood- costume functioned to communicate character. However, in Eurpoean films, costume was flamboyant, as another art form. For example; Last year in Marinbad. I wish to see this film. It is relevant to fashion history as well, to understand Chanel's creativity in greater depth.

Arty couture costumes Gaultier- The cook, the thief, his wife & her lover. Kika, My life is hell, The city of lost children, Prêt a porter. I have not seen any of these films, and wish to view them all.

Trop belle pour toi! This is an interesting film as couture is shown as a barrier to identification and intimacy. This contrasts films such as Pretty woman, where couture is the catalyst for identification and intimacy.

Fashion- technological, iconic, verbal. – Barthes.

‘deliberately unspectacular fashion can still function in a spectacular way.’ this idea is very interesting, and connects to the idea of Chanel's, that for a woman to be seen as beautiful, her clothes will not be noticed, she will just be seen as beautiful.

Couturier as costume designer was conflicted between representing their fashion house, and representing the character of the film.

There was more choice after class was eradicated from dictation of dress. This led to direction being sought from movie stars. Class no longer differentiated, style differentiated.

Class Parody and Imposture. From the reading.

Deconstructs the myth of fashion and appearance, shows how fake it is. Constructed. Destroys the concept of class distinction, can use fashion to break through the barriers and create a façade. Presents status as a matter of appearances.

Vogues 1938, the women 1939 makes fun of tasteless socialites.

These film communicated fashion as a construct. The way it could be applied, and change one’s life. Social status assertion deconstructed and parodied.

Aspire to ideal Hollywood look. Start of the article, talked about how you have to choose your style to represent your identity. This section talks about masquerade. Creating a new identity. How clothes can transform who you are. Nothing to do with actuality. Doris day defying her identity. Dietrich.

Midnight. does not just change clothes, but mannerisms. To move from the Bronx to being a baroness. Arbitrariness of class signifiers.

Appearance was no longer a clear indicator of identity.

Lecture one-Film, Fashion and Consumption summary

Hollywood had a pivotal role in shaping consumerism. Gave the idea of democratic consumption, as film narratives commonly involved actors the viewer could identify with. Viewers were given a flavour of fashion. The democratic fashion idea was picked up by magazines in the '20s and '30s. Schiaparelli was quoted: “what hollywood shows today, you will wear tomorrow.”

There was visual grandeur in silent films, as it was necessary to express the plot, but this aesthetic was carried through even when sound was used.

In the 19^th C makeup was only worn by actresses and prostitutes. Eyes were outlined to emphasise communication of expression. Max Factor went to Hollywood. Had the idea to sell cosmetics to the general public. People wanted to emulate what they saw on screen.

In the aftermath of the war it was normal for women to go to work.During the depression in the '30s, there was jobs for women but not men. Thus women were now targeted as consumers.

Mass production of garments made it possible to make copies of hollywood dress. Synthetic fabrics made it possible to make them cheap, for example rayon to emulate silk. Consumer capitalism relies on planned obsolescence. Runway shows were for trade, not the public.

There was a tension of dominance Paris Versus Hollywood.

Film costume is supposed to tell you about character, not to sell clothes.

Sex and the City the series is an example that does not adhere to this rule. Carrie was in emotional crisis, but her clothes were distracting from the dialogue.

Ginger Rogers Top Hat. Fur= the glamour of classic Hollywood.

Everybody used to know how to sew, so film copies were expressed in patterns as well as garments. Dinner at Eight. Jean Harlow. Her + Marilyn, and Brigitte Bardot were not natural blondes. Before this, only prostitutes dyed their hair.

Joan Crawford + Chanel popularised the suntanned look.

Hair- Marilyn had an Italian demi wave. It was then the most popular haircut in the ‘50s. red lipstick. Arched eyebrows.

Profitability. Will Hays was quoted “every foot of American film sells $1 worth of manufactured products someplace in the world.”

Transformation by fashionable dress is a staple story of Hollywood. Message that it can change your life. Examples include The Devil wears Prada and Pretty woman.

People used to go to the Cinema 2 or 3 times/ week.

Responsible for the obsession with body shape. 20s slim, 30s curvy. Plastic surgery began to be researched in the ‘50s.

Tie- in = connecting start of film with merchandising. Queen Christina with Greta Garbo. Swedish flatwear.

In 1933 general electric and general motors secured product placement deals.

Spin off. Accidently creates trends. E.g Uma Thurman pulp fiction. nail polish. Marlon Brando James dean. Workwear white tees. Top Gun. Ray bans flying jacket. It happened one night. Clark Gable. Men stopped wearing singlets by 75%.

Bias cuts. Vionnet designed it. But Hollywood made everybody want it.

Edith Head. The only female costume designer of her time. The Sting. Jungle Princess 1936. Liz Taylor, A place in the sun.

Dior New Look 1947. Said to be inspired by Gone with the Wind. Tiny waisted dresses. Romantic. Chanel’s gypsy collection.

New look would not have been so popular on high street if film directors had not portrayed it. Grace Kelly Rear Window. The Birds Edith Head Tippi Hedren Used the tight New look style.

Contemporary Synergy between film, fashion and consumption: Oscars. Film stars sit front row at catwalk shows. Filmmakers began by making commercials. Now leading filmmakers make commercials. Gucci. Lady Dior. Full of references to other films and fashion photography. The more you know about old films the more likely you are to understand fashion films.

Domestic Bliss W magazine. Brangelina. Based on film stills. Italian films of the ‘60s. Desperate housewives.

Digital fashion films. ShowStudio. Nick Knight. Actually photographers not filmmakers. Different languages. Gareth Pugh. Very influenced by Avant Garde cinema.

Laura Mulvey. Women’s sexuality. Men look, women are looked at. Women constructed as sexual beings. Femme Fetale. Marilyn was sexual yet vulnerable. Men usually kept their clothes on. Men tend to be portrayed as smart.

Hay's Code- Mae West help encourage it by her brash behaviour. She was crude. The code was an enormous document, very detailed. The Pelican Brief. No inter-ethnicity sexual relationships. Cigarette smoking linked to sexuality. 1930s Hollywood communist witch hunts. Crazy sci fi films. Attack of the killer tomatoes. Attack of the 50ft woman.