Un-Hollywood Glamour



Mercouri as Ilya



  It's finals week and I'm feeling terribly lazy, so instead of being productive with my time, I turn to my beloved Netflix instant queue. I've been watching a lot of old foreign films lately and I'm loving the costume design. My usual posts are on this season's trends, but this week I'm going to talk about a few of the films that I've recently discovered.



Melina Mercouri in Never on Sunday





 Never on Sunday, or Pote tin Kyriaki, is a Greek film made in 1960 about a prostitute named Ilya. I know what you're thinking- a prostitute with great style? How is this possible? Before you judge me, just take a look at these pictures, or even better, watch the damn movie. Melina Mercouri plays Ilya wonderfully; so charming and smart. Costume designer Theoni V. Aldredge (also known for her work on The Great Gatsby and The Eyes of Laura Mars) did an amazing job capturing the essence of the all the film's characters. The fit of every garment Ilya wears is perfection, and her style is a great reflection of the character's personality. 



Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Brialy and Jean-Paul Belmondo



Angela's sailor strip-tease costume

A Woman is a Woman, or Une Femme est une Femme, is Jean-Luc Goddard's 1961 film about a French strip-teaser named Angela who desperately wants to have a baby, but has to convince her boyfriend first. Watching this film made me wish I was as fabulously French as Anna Karina, who plays Angela, and inspired me to try wearing my cardigans backwards (so cute!). I loved all the costumes worn during the strip-tease sequences, but Angela's sailor-inspired outfit makes her a serious girl-crush candidate.



Anouk Aimee in La Dolce Vita



Anita Ekberg in La Dolce Vita



Yvonne Furneaux in La Dolce Vita

Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita  is an iconic example of Italian filmaking. The film focuses on gossip writer Marcello, played by the oh-so-foxy Marcello Mastroianni, and his interactions with three women; Emma, Maddalena and Sylvia. Emma, played by Yvonne Furneaux, is Marcello's adoring, yet suffocating girlfriend, and her costumes show her inner darkness. Anouk Aimee plays Maddalena, the socialite who seduces Marcello with the glittering social life of Rome, and her costumes convey her sophistication. The beautiful Anita Ekberg plays Sylvia, a bombshell movie star visiting Rome to promote her latest movie, and her costumes capture her unbridled sex appeal. Made in 1960, La Dolce Vita features beautiful, uncomplicated costume design by Piero Gherardi that transports you to Rome, and makes me long for an Italian vacation/shopping spree!