Inspired By ... Jodie Foster's "Taxi Driver" Wedges

These Karen Elson for Nine West wedges remind me so much of the killer platforms Jodie wears as Iris, the hooker with style in spades, in Taxi Driver. The perfect mix of trendiness and retro-mindedness in design, I am so drawn to these shoes (also available in midnight blue and black here) for their vintage appeal that I have already ordered them! Actually I recommend you check out Karen's entire collection for Nine West while you still can - pieces are going fast and items are already on sale!

if you wanted the moon i would try to make a start, but i would rather you let me give my heart, to sir with love

I love the swinging style of the 1967 film To Sir, With Love. Of course I adore Sidney Poitier, but surprisingly my attention wasn't stuck on him - it was on the fab fashions of Lulu, Judy Geeson, and co.

The film is basically about a group of rowdy, unruly high school students who are inspired to change their lives by their hep cat of a teacher, Mark Thackeray (played by Sidney, the king of all cool in my book). Could you imagine going in to school everyday in coordinated minis and teased hair? Only in my wildest dreams would I have the effort to do that everyday! 

The film is known for its uplifting storyline, which has inspired many other do-gooder teacher films in the passing decades, as well as the chart topping hit by Lulu inspired by the film.  

Title: from "To Sir, With Love" (Lulu)

Inspired By ... Jane Birkin in "La Piscine"

I'm loving this Topshop cream-colored crochet swing dress, as it totally reminds me of the crocheted cover-up that Jane Birkin's character Penelope wore in La Piscine. Penelope's white crochet dress, which she wears while sunning herself poolside in a villa in the South of France, is a perfect example of the innocent-sexy style that Jane has become iconic for.

just a wild rambling rose, seeking mysteries untold, no regret for the path that i chose

Being back in the warm Texan weather reminds me that in a world outside of the snow-buried New York landscape, spring is fast approaching. And with spring comes my insatiable desire for beautiful, light, white dresses. A few weeks ago, my bloggy-friend JessM did a post on the dreamy, angelic style of the Lisbon sisters, whose 1970s style is so lustworthy. Thinking about beautiful seventies style, my mind travels to the 1975 Australian film, Picnic at Hanging Rock. The film tells the story of a group of schoolgirls who disappear on Valentine's Day in 1900 after being drawn to the mysterious rock formation Hanging Rock.

The ambiguous, unresolved story is matched by the dreamlike aura of the cinematography, which makes the film - in a phrase - hauntingly beautiful (or beautifully haunting, depending on how you view it). Peter Weir's direction reminds me a lot of the photography of David Hamilton, whose photographs always have a distinctive hazy ethereal beauty to them. The girls are outfitted in gorgeous turn-of-the-century fashions: long white dresses in lace and linen, wild flowers and cameo brooches, patterned parasols, leather lace-up boots, delicate corsetted waistlines, matched with fresh makeup-free faces and long flowing hair.

While Picnic is certainly a mystery film, it does not follow the norm in terms of horror/suspense films. There is no blood, no gore, no villain or hero - and the eeriness of the unexplained fate of the girls, matched with the dreams had by several characters as to their fates, makes this story much more affecting than the typical mystery films of today.

Title: from "Wildflowers" (Linda Ronstadt)

come and be a child of the blue, we make the azure dream come true

Rusalochka is a 1976 retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale, "The Little Mermaid." The film, directed by Vladimir Bychkov, is a far cry from its Disney relative as this film seeks to recreate the haunting and tragic love of the sea nymph and her prince. A collaborative effort between the USSR and Bulgaria, Bychkov's film recounts the tale of a young mermaid who gives up her life in the sea to live on land with a dashing prince she rescued during a storm.
Instead of giving up her voice, the little mermaid in Rusalochka trades her fantastic blue hair for for a pair of legs. Though don't feel too bad for the little mermaid - instead of the blue hair, she gets flaxen locks that would make even the Lisbon sisters jealous. Viktoriya Novikova, who plays the little mermaid (or 'malkata rusalka', in Bulgarian) is perfect in the role - her angelic, ethereal beauty is matched only by her innocent, girlishly charming voice. Though the film is in a different language (Russian, but in most copies there is an English dub available), the warmth and love of Novikova's mermaid needs no translation - she makes the longing, the desires, and the unfailing hope of the little mermaid universal.
As the film was made in the seventies, there is a certain dreamy, soft quality to the way that the film was photographed - which makes it all the more lovely to watch. I absolutely adore the costumes that Novikova wears throughout the film - though set in the Middle Ages, the mermaid's dresses are pieces that I would love to wear today.

Title: from "Mermaids" (Xandria)

you've got me wrapped around your little finger, if this is love, it's everything i hoped it would be

I was long ago seduced by the premise of An Education - the glamorous post-Beatnick, pre-Beatle world of early 1960s England where the rebellion of the decade's later years were just stirrings of restlessness. I finally was able to watch the film the other night, and I must say that I was not disappointed in the slightest.  As I'm sure a lot of other girls have, I identified so much with Jenny that it was almost frightening. There was a scene when Jenny tells her paramour David that when she gets to university, "I'm going to read what I want, and listen to what I want, and I'm going to look at paintings and watch French films, and I'm going to talk to people who know lots about lots." And I swear that I said the exact same thing to my friends almost two years ago.
I'm still much of the same person I was in high school - I still have an intense thirst for knowledge and experience, and a never-ending desire to get more than what I have (I believe it was best described in Vicky Cristina Barcelona as "chronic dissatisfaction"). I read books about famous figures because it offers me a chance to live vicariously through their exploits. Yes, maybe I'm not the one hooking up with Mick Jagger or hanging out in opium dens, but curled up in my own imagination I am almost there.
Like Jenny, I have an obsession with the French. My father is French so I excuse my preoccupation with New Wave cinema, and albums by Greco and Peyroux on that. I listen to French music a lot of the time - most of my friends don't quite understand it, but they've grown to like the kitschy tunes. I'm not to the point where I smoke Gauloises (merely on principle) and speak interchangeably with French and English, but I was known to speak a tad like Holly Golightly and pull out phrases like "quelle surprise" and "tres fou" and whatnot.  I've never been seduced so entirely as Jenny was by an older gentleman like David, but I have been seduced many-a-time by the idea of these men. The ones who know their Brioni from their Zegna, who want to educate you as well as out you up on a pedestal. It's really quite intoxicating to feel so inexperienced, and be loved for it as opposed to condescended by it.
An Education is a film that I will gladly add to my DVD collection - after all, it would be nice to visit a soulmate such as Jenny from time to time.

Dollyween Costume: Hitchcock Heroines

The supreme master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, was not talented just at crafting timeless films but also creating the archetypal femme fatale known as the Hitchcock Heroine. Always blonde, always fashionably sleek, and always cooly refined, the Heroine is defined by her icy disposition in the face of danger. She sometimes was the source of danger for the hero of the film, seducing the Cary Grants and Jimmy Stewarts away from the mission at hand. On a night like Halloween, when we celebrate the Psychos and sickos that directors like Hitchcock brought to the screen, why not dress up as their leading ladies?

Lisa Freemont (Grace Kelly) in Rear Window

·    This would be a beautiful costume to wear. A full tulle skirt with flowers decaled or stitched onto it, with a v-neck blouse (or even a black leotard), low black heels, and large pearl earrings and necklace. For a less well-known Window look, recreate any of her other costumes (I think there are four outfits in all – five if you count her nightgown and robe). A personal favorite of mine is her mint green skirt suit with the ivory halter blouse, pinned hat, and large pearl and charm bracelet. 

Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) in The Birds

A mint green suit, optional fur coat, and (if you would like a post-attack look) rip your suit here and there and add fake blood. One year I saw a girl with fake birds on wires attached to her to look like the birds were swarming her. She looked fantastic, but the outfit was not dance friendly. Top off with a sleek (or not so sleek, depending how far along in the film you’d like to be) chignon. The green suit can be recycled from another year if you decide to wear that as Grace Kelly in Rear Window.

Other ideas to be a Hitchcock Heroine:

• Madeleine/Judy (Kim Novak) in Vertigo 
• Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) in Psycho
• Marnie (Tippi Hedren) in Marnie
• The Second Mrs. De Winter (Joan Fontaine) in Rebecca
• Francie Stevens (Grace Kelly) in To Catch a Thief
• Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) in North By Northwest

girl, you really got me goin’, you got me so i don’t know what i’m doin’

I've recently become obsessed with the films of the late Eric Rohmer. A fascinating filmmaker, Rohmer created an impressive body of work before he passed in January of this year. I am currently working my way through his "Six Moral Tales,"a collection of six films that explore man's struggle to uphold his inner morality when faced with an opportunity (most usually in the form of a beautiful young woman) to diverge from everything he believes in. Rohmer's films are very cerebral and slow-paced, but there is a beauty in his films that makes me come back for more.

My most recent venture into the moral tales was "Le genou de Claire" (or "Claire's Knee"), the fifth - and perhaps most accessible - of Rohmer's moral canon. Jerome, a French diplomat about to be married, goes on holiday to visit an old friend staying on the shore of Lake Annecy. While there, he meets two sisters: the intense and complex Laura, and the delicate and unattainable Claire. Though Laura pursues him aggressively, Jerome is consumed by thoughts of touching Claire's knee. According to him, "Every woman has her most vulnerable point. For some, it's the nape of the neck, the waist, the hands. For Claire, in that position, that light, it was her knee." Yes, it's a strange obsession to have, but he realizes this. His fear that being revealed as a fetishist would destroy his diplomatic designs, he struggles to suppress his obsession.

The scenic Southern France location is the perfect backdrop to the beautiful seventies fashions. Dressed in woven straw hats and shift dresses, Claire and Laura are the picture of French sexy sophistication.

Dress Like Cher from "Clueless"

Back in the day, I aspired to be Alicia Silverstone in "Clueless." I envied her perfectly straight long blonde hair, her computer outfit selector, and her ability to negotiate her way from a C+ to an A- (totally based on the power of her persuasion). I too wanted an a-dork-able stepbrother who can't dance, a backpack that looked like a skinned Collie, and the be-all and end-all of nineties fashion: the white Calvin Klein dress Cher wears when she goes out with Christian. (Did you think I was going to say the red Alaïa? Well, while Alaïa is "like a totally important designer," nothing gets between me and my Calvin.)

Finally, my (and most likely yours as well) fashion prayers have been answered. Francisco Costa, director of Calvin Klein, has remade the dress per the request of Ilaria Urbinati, the co-owned of Confederacy. The dress, priced at a cool $916, is available in both its signature white as well as red. While this frock is a little bit too pricey for little ole me, it won't stop me from drooling over the idea of finally becoming Cher Horowitz.

For the fashionistas out there ready to score a fashion fix, head to Confederacy to pick one up. I guarantee, in this dress, no one will confuse you with being a full-on Monet.

"...it's nice, people knowing who you are and all of that, and feeling that you've meant something to them."

Dozens of actresses have portrayed Marilyn Monroe in some capacity. An icon of beauty, fragility, femininity, and Old Hollywood, it's easy to understand why Marilyn's essence is still so present almost forty years after her passing. While I don't endorse the likes of Paris Hilton or Britney Spears dressing up as our dear Marilyn to hawk some new perfume of their's, and I still morally oppose La Lohan's rendition of "The Last Sitting" from a few years ago, I accept (and even occasionally embrace) young actresses who adopt certain characteristics of Marilyn Monroe in their acting. Whether it's Amy Adams doing her best Lorelei Lee impression in Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day; or Poppy Montgomery, Sally Kirkland, Kim Stanley, Catherine Hicks, Theresa Russell, Sophie Monk, Mira Sorvino, Ashley Judd, and several others who have portrayed the actress herself. In the last few days it has been announced that two biopics about MM are underway.

Both Naomi Watts and Michelle Williams are set to portray the tragic screen icon in two projects slated for production in 2011. Naomi Watts, 41, is five years older than Marilyn Monroe was when she passed away. Watts is set to star as the actress in Blonde, the faux-Monroe memoir penned by Joyce Carol Oates. Director Andrew Dominik told ScreenDaily.com, "Why is Marilyn Monroe the great female icon of the 20th century? For men, she is an object of sexual desire that desperately in need of rescue. For women, she embodies all the injustices visited upon the feminine, a sister, a Cinderella, consigned to live among the ashes."

While Dominik had found his Marilyn in Naomi Watts, Michelle Williams was announced to play the late star in My Week With Marilyn (terrible name for a film, but what can you do?), a story centered around Monroe's time in London during the 1957 filming of The Prince and the Showgirl, her fantastic film with Laurence Olivier.

Honestly, while I love both of these two actresses, I find it difficult to imagine either of them in the role of Marilyn Monroe. I do not doubt their respective talents, but I've just never seen them through the bombshell lens. I'm excited to see how these projects turn out, and it will be interesting to finally see an actress besides Scarlett Johansson gain comparisons to Monroe.

Image credit: People online

i'm the fox you've been waiting for

I have a problem - I've developed an all-consuming addiction to the dreamy, earthy beauty of the seventies. Not to say that I haven't always had a large spot in my heart reserved for this ethereal era - Picnic at Hanging Rock, Sofia Coppola's ode to The Virgin Suicides, memoirs of Buell and des Barres, and the photography of Sarah Moon and David Hamilton all come to mind when I think about the sweet seventies. I now have another film to add to my mental collection of inspirations: Foxes.

The film follows the lives of four Los Angeles teenage girls during the late 1970s. With no discernible adult influence in their lives, the girls teeter on the line between youth and their own naivete during this age of decadence. In the world of the Foxes, there is no such thing as a functional family.

The films stars the fantastically talented Jodie Foster (at her most beautiful, right before enrolling at Yale and taking a hiatus from acting) as Jeanie, the mother-hen of the group who takes cares of her best friends during their many troubles. There is Madge (Marilyn Kagan), the nerdy, repressed virgin of the group, whose wild brown hair and thick, oversized glasses make her look like a cross between Carol Seaver and Stella from the Polanski flick The Tenant. With opposite troubles is Dierdre (Kandice Stroh, in one of her few acting roles), who is continually plagued by boyfriend troubles and repercussions from her own sexual curiosity. Cherie Currie plays the role of Annie, the last and most destructive of the 'foxes'. She a teenage runaway (a not-so-subtle nod to Currie's previous gig, perhaps?) who drinks, parties, and takes drugs to escape the pain that her abusive policeman father has caused her.

That is not to say that Jeanie is without her own problems. She struggles to have some semblance of a normal relationship with her own parents: a mother who is more interested in her married lover than her daughter, and a father who is barely in her life because of his job as a tour manager for the glam band Angel. To forget about their troubles, the girls all like to cut loose and have fun in whatever way they can. While all the girls love to go out and party, Annie always takes it one step further than the rest and puts her safety and health in danger. She has a magnetic quality about her, one that causes everyone in her life to be drawn to her despite how many times she upsets them or hurts herself. The rough-yet-vulnerable portrayal by Cherie Currie is fascinating to watch, and makes me wish that she was given more opportunities to act in mainstream motion pictures.

A great big credit to Le Souffle au Coeur for so many wonderful screencaps from the film

and in the dark and in the past, i thought 'oh god my chance has come at last'

This weekend marked the first time ever I had seen Inglourious Basterds. Which is surprising, because I am quite the Tarantino nut. In fondness of the film, I dedicate this post to the lovely ladies of the Basterds, Shosanna Dreyfus, played by Melanie Laurent, and Bridgit von Hammersmark, portrayed by Diane Kruger.

Shosanna Dreyfus (also known as: Emmanuelle Mimieux)

Few other characters in cinematic history embody the phrase "revenge is a dish best served cold" than Shosanna Dreyfus. After her family is brutally killed at the order of Co. Hans Landa, Shosanna manages to concoct her revenge almost four years later when a pro-Nazi film is set to premiere at her local theatre.

During the day, Shosanna relies on slouchy menswear pieces to complete her look. Baggy trousers, overcoats, and sweaters are not unusual, nor are suspenders and her requisite newsboy cap. During 'Operation-Kino' Shosanna channels her inner vixen and dresses at the ultimate Lady in Red. In a body-skimming scarlett gown, paired with a veiled hat, Shosanna makes a memorable last impression on celluloid.

Mélanie Laurent

I have recently come to admire the personal style of the actress behind the Basterd Shosanna, played by the beautiful Paris-born-and-bred actress Melanie (with an accent) Laurent. While she doesn't possess the polished Parisian style of Catherine Deneuve (another French icon of style), Laurent's look is something more akin to Vanessa Paradis. This messy, sexy, and edgy look is precisely what I love most about how French women dress. Laurent has the enviable quality about her that makes her hair look better when it goes unbrushed, and she looks gorgeous in makeup from the night before.

I like that she plays around with different styles, moving seamlessly from detailed little black frocks to romantic silk gowns, before switching it up with leather or marabou feathers. Laurent has experimented with her hair as well - dark blonde, brunette, strawberry blonde, platinum (her current hue), with heavy blunt fringe, shoulder-length, long, short, and everything in between. Her beauty mainstays are subtly smoky eyes and a dramatic lip, often alternating between a nude gloss or a dark red stain.

Bridgit von Hammersmark

Bridgit is the ultimate German film star. With her ice blonde hair and Nordic good looks, it is not difficult to imagine von Hammersmark to be an international celebrity en par with Bergman and Dietrich - she has the alluring accent and a demeanor that is equally as such.
Very much a character in tune with the times, Bridgit sports feminine tailored pieces, like her khaki skirt suit with belted blazer. She adds a bit of an edge with her dramatic hat with a feather poking out the back. At the premiere of Nation's Pride, the film-within-the-film, she embraces true Hollywood glamour in a mostly-backless black gown, white opera gloves, tons of diamond jewelry, and an oversized white fur stole. She finishes the look with subtle makeup - little more that red lipstick - and an orchid piece set in her hair.

Diane Kruger

I have always really admired the way that Kruger dresses. She is one of the few actresses in Hollywood that doesn't use a stylist. Instead, she dresses herself in some of the most stunning pieces I've ever seen - occasionally, she even (gasp!) does her own hair and makeup for the red carpet. She consistently comes out on the Best Dressed list for her gorgeous, unique choices.

In Basterds, Kruger was given her best-role-to-date as the starlet/double agent Bridgit von Hammersmark. She was able to use her native German and gave a truly stellar performance. Because of her connection to this Tarantino film, Kruger has walked the red carpet for many of the big events for the last eighteen-or-so months. Kruger rarely experiments with her signature bright blonde hair, but everything else is up to chance when it comes to how she looks. There is no definite 'style' for Kruger, except for that she wears some of the most exquisite, romantic clothing. With her blonde hair, peaches-and-cream complexion and her soft flowing pieces, she looks as if she emerged from a dream.

where does she hide it inside of her, that keeps her peace most every day, and won’t disappear, my hairs turning grey

One of my most favorite fashionable film characters is Louise Vargo, portrayed by Tricia Vessey, in the Jim Jarmusch samurai mobster flick Ghost Dog. The film stars a young Forest Whitaker, an anonymous assassin who refers to himself as Ghost Dog, that is employed by a Jersey City mob. He follows the ancient samurai creed Hagakure, and takes care of pidgeons. When Ghost Dog is hired to kill a member of the mob known to be sleeping with Louise, the daughter of mafia leader Vargo, problems arise. She accidentally witnesses the assassination, and the mob decides that Ghost Dog must be killed before their involvement in the murder is uncovered. In the narrative, little is actually seen of Louise, but it is her presence that is catalyst for the entire story. She gives Ghost Dog a copy of Rashomon and Other Stories, which makes several important appearances throughout the film.

Style-wise, Louise seems to model herself after a retro Hollywood celebrity. It is important that the first scene we see her in, she is watching a Betty Boop cartoon. Not unlike Miss Boop, Louise styles her jet black hair in a short, chin-length bob, and wears rather retro clothing. Her eyes are saucers ringed with shadows underneath and her skin is very pale, giving her the appearance of a sleep-deprived child. She lounges around her lover's bedroom in a scarlet nightgown and marabou heels, but is equally as comfortable in an Adidas tracksuit and flip-flops if ever the need to go into hiding in the country should arise. Her final appearance in the film makes her appear as cool and calculated as a Hitchcock heroine. In her classic tweed suit with white flower pin, a strand of pearls, and her dark sunglasses masking her face, her emotions are unreadable.

'cause i know for sure, nobody should be that poor, to say, yes, or sink low, because you happen to say so, say so, you say so

Secret Ceremony is a camp classic starring Elizabeth Taylor and Mia Farrow in two of their most underrated performances of the decade. Released in 1968, it was Farrow's first release since the mammoth success of Rosemary's Baby in June of that year.

Taylor stars as Leonora, an aging prostitute who becomes convinced she has found her dead daughter in Cenci (Mia Farrow), who in turn practically adopts Leonora as her replacement mother. The young Cenci, a wealthy but troubled girl, knows how strongly Leonora resembles her own dead mother and invites her to "play house" at her mansion in the manicured London suburbs. In Leonora's own despondency over her real daughter's death, she goes along with the girl's proposition. At the house, a veritable troupe of eccentric characters circle in and out the gated doors - Cenci's aunts Hilda and Hannah, who rob their niece of possessions to sell at their antique shop, and her stepfather (played by Robert Mitchum), who arrives to break up this mother-daughter bond over the fact that he is losing control over the young girl.

The film is a great psychological drama - peppered with a very mysterious and troubling ambiance. Directed by Joseph Losey, Secret Ceremony confronts issues of mother-daughter relationships, women's roles, incest, lesbianism, and the truth of family. There is a constant morbid tone to the film, only enhanced by Farrow and Taylor's long jet-black hairstyles in the film. Though it was dismissed by critics upon its release, I treasure the campy indulgence and sophisticated creepiness that the British do so well in their films.

I love Mia Farrow's look throughout the film - its very Rosemary Woodhouse-gone-funerial. In her black tights, Mary Janes, and black smock dresses and capes, the wardrobe is the perfect match for the raven-colored long locks she sports. Though she looks divine with her signature pixie cut, I almost wish she had the waist-length hair with bangs (though I know its a wig...) in real life. Elizabeth Taylor is the classic glamorous movie star in bright jewels tones of magenta, purple, and greens, she wears embellished turbans, go-go boots and thigh-high printed frocks with the pizazz of a woman younger than her 46-years of age (her age while making this film).

five foot something cherry bomb, she had everything going on

As one of the children spawned by the women's movement generation, as well as the female empowerment sentiment of Spice Girls, I am a sucker for all things girl power. Yes, I do own the first and second Charlie's Angels, as well as Legally Blonde 1 and 2. And yes, I did go to see Whip It! the first chance I could. Which is why I can barely hold my horses for the March 19th release of The Runaways. With equal parts girl power AND seventies rock and roll, this movie was pretty much made for me.

The film tells the rise and fall of one of the first all-chick rock band the Runaways, from being rebel kids in Los Angeles to rock goddesses performing their jailbait anthem "Cherry Bomb" on stages across the world. The film focuses on the friendship between the lead singer Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning, all grown up) and the lead guitarist Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart, with a mullet and without her vampire), as they deal with insane tours, controlling managers, and making the music they love. The girls become as iconic as their band's music - Jett becomes the badass black leather-and-mullet-wearing rock'n roll pure heart, and Currie becomes the resident jailbait sex kitten - a Bowie-Bardot hybrid in a corset and fishnets.

The Runaways' story is interesting because of the decadent time period - a post-hippie, pre-heavy world that thought itself wild (and was!) but was innocent to the future (AIDS, etc.). The fact that they were still teenage girls when they were thrust into the world of sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll is remarkable, and it is easy to see how the band fell under the resident Svengali of Kim Fowley, legendary music impresario who crafts the Runaways' image to make them into a smash hit, no matter how bruised or battered the girls get along the way.

If The Runaways turns out to be anything like Satisfaction! or Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains, I will be a very happy girl. I feel like this film could initiate a revival in late-seventies, post-glam pre-grunge awesomeness in the way that girls dress. Joan's uniform of leather pants and faded rock tees with slept-in eyeliner is still working on her over 30 years later, and Cherie's femme fatale looks could easily be channeled to today's wardrobe. It doesn't matter if you just wear a little something that is Runaways-approved, like beat-up black Chuck Taylors or studded dog collar jewelry, as long as you keep that rock'n roll spirit alive. I know that I'm already breaking out my black leather jacket, platform boots and black makeup in preparation.

there is a blizzard occurring outside my window now...

I think I'm going to have to pull a Doctor Zhivago look today if I ever want to make it outside my door. I knew I should have bought that vintage fox fur hat when I saw it!

"you haven't got any. your future is all used up."

One of the last true Hollywood film noir pictures was Orson Welles' Touch of Evil (1958). Centered in a bordertown between Mexico and the United States, the film is about how easily the law, justice, and personal interest can become tangled. Charlton Heston appears (in dark makeup and moustache) as idealistic Mexican drug enforcer Mike Vargas, who recently wed the beauitful-but-dumb American Suzie (seriously - who in their right mind would voluntary follow a strange man halfway across a sketchy Mexico town?). Mike soon begins work with corrupt U.S. police chief Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles) to solve the murder of a local businessman and his girlfriend. While on the case, Mike seeks to expose Quinlan's frauds, while a parallel plot with Suzie being kidnapped by Mexican drug lords ties the narrative together. A pre-Psycho Janet Leigh, who just about has the worst luck when it comes to motels, stars as Heston's bride, who spends most of the film holed up in a bordertown motel or being doped up by "reefer stubs and heroin." The gorgeous Marlene Dietrich pops up as Quinlan's former amour and local madam. Keep an eye out for cameos from Welles' friends and colleagues, like Joseph Cotten, Mercedes McCambridge, and a young Zsa Zsa Gabor.

The film was controversial on its release due to the massive reediting the studio did from Welles' original cut. The DVD version released in 1998 aimed to honor Welles' vision for the film, closely following his original 58-page memo he sent the studio after screening the finished product. The opening shot of the film is amazing - a three and a half minute tracking shot that delves straight into the action of the story and succeeds in creating great suspense in the audience. Despite the controversy, the film is a treat to watch - no matter what version you're seeing.

rain in the sky, make the world fly, into time, beg me your time

A drug exploitation film from 1969, The Big Cube stars Lana Turner as former stage actress Adriana Roman, who is unknowingly ingesting LSD by her bitter stepdaughter following the death of her husband. Her stepdaughter Lisa (Karin Mossberg, whose thick accent explained by the fact her character was shipped off to Swiss boarding schools at a young age) is a spoiled and naive young woman who quickly falls in with a hard-partying group of attractive LSD users, her best friend being Bibi, a ditzy and rather promiscuous redhead who gyrates her way onto the screen and does a complete striptease within the first half-hour of the film. Lisa quickly catches the eye of Johnny (George Chakiris, good in his role but not quite the same without the Puerto Rican accent and dancing with Rita Moreno and Russ Tamblyn), a playboy med student who takes a quick liking to Lisa's wealthy way of life.

After Lisa's father is killed in a boating accident, Johnny convinces her to give Adriana pills full of LSD to get 'revenge' and drive her to insanity, therefore speeding up the inheritance so that Johnny and Lisa can be wed. As their plan goes into action, Lisa's wardrobe changes from white minidresses and pearls to dark navy sweaters and military style coats. The film is a delightfully campy film in the way that the hippie generation is portrayed as spoiled evil children out to destroy their parents and ultimately themselves. But they dress so fabulously when doing so!

Whether it is the drug 'Queen Bee' in a black-and-yellow midriff top and bell bottom ensemble with pink eye pasties to match, or Bibi running across screen in a crystal bandeau top with thick white suspender-type straps connected to a short white miniskirt, or Lisa's see-through sleeves on her wedding dress that is only rivaled by her teased hair (similar to International Velvet or the entire cast of Valley of the Dolls).

cinemaspiration: Love and Other Disasters

This is the first of I hope many posts about strictly film-inspired fashion. I know I have done posts like this in the past, but I've thought of a word for it now so it's quite different now (the word being 'cinemaspiration,' as in aspirations brought on by cinema - if this word already exists and is in use, I don't want to know).

Love and Other Disasters, a perfectly charming romantic comedy, inspired by equal parts Breakfast at Tiffany's (characters are seen at various points watching and/or discussing the classic, and Murphy's character is stylistically inspired by Holly Golightly) and Sex and the City (the films shares the same atmosphere of the young and fabulous looking for love in a big city, only imagine Carrie Bardshaw if she were a Brit-Spaniard raised in America and employed at UK Vogue). Brittany Murphy plays Emily 'Jacks' Jackson, a hyperactive talkative gal with a fantastic wardrobe and even more fantastic friends. Tallulah, an emotional poet who is partial to hash brownies and impractical relationships, is Jacks' best girl friend and keeps the story entertaining with her bizarre and rather inappropriate comments. Jacks' other best friend is her roommate Peter Simon (the adorable Matthew Rhys), a gay screenwriter consumed with the romantic fantasies occurring in his head rather than looking for love in reality. His constant struggle to meet the elusive David Williams, an art curator at Sotheby's he has never actually met, is only equalled by his struggle to write a screenplay that represents the truth of his daily life. The main romantic triangle in Jacks' life is between her ex-boyfriend James, who she sleeps with regularly mostly out of pity but demands no relationship form between them, and Paolo, a gorgeous Argentinian who interns for a photographer at Vogue and who Jacks mistakes throughout the entire film as gay. For the girl who claims to have a remarkable 'gaydar', she misses every single sign that the boy throws her way.

Jacks possesses the kind of wardrobe that every young cosmopolitan-minded girl desires to have. Whether she is running around her apartment in fantastic silk and lace lingerie, or running around town in sparkly dresses and little jackets, she is never without a thick swipe of eyeliner or five-inch red-soled heels (you know the ones, wink wink). She sports Bardot eye makeup and wispy Audrey Hepburn bangs on even the most casual occasions. She mixes denim and sequins, and wears bubblegum pink in the most serious way - even on her eyelids.

It's a completely worthy film for anyone looking to laugh, love, and be inspired. A special treat is when Gwyneth Paltrow and Orlando Bloom pop up at the end of the film. Catch it on Showtime now, or add it to your Netflix queue pronto.