December 3, 2007

Benjamin Button, style determiner?

When "Amelie" came out, we cut our hair into Clara Bow bobs with über short bangs.
"Moulin Rouge" inspired us to rediscover garters, stockings and absinthe, just like "Annie Hall" made it OK for girls to dress like boys.
And did you, like I did, grow an overnight cleavage after seeing Julia Roberts' and her push-up bras in "Erin Brockovich"?
Each year there's a movie whose ripple effects spread beyond the movie theater and into our closets. 2008, we hear, belongs to Benjamin Button.

That's according to Doris Raymond, vintage clothier and proprietress of designer re-sale store The Way We Wore. I went to visit her at her store on La Brea just the other day, and she predicted that Cate Blanchett's various looks in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button will have a major impact on fashion, starting with magazine editors, celebrities and stylists, and diffusing to the general population.

Costume designer Jacqueline West worked on the movie, based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald story about a man (Brad Pitt) who starts aging backwards. West selected between 100 and 150 period items from Doris' collection to create Blanchett's late 1940s look (the movie spans many decades). The late forties was when Christian Dior's New Look was born, ushering in the era of flared skirts and petticoats with waspish waists. Is that what we can expect to see? Or more of a pointed shoulders and high-waisted slacks vibe? We're hoping for the latter...after our lame-o babydoll obsession of the last few years, it's time for women to sass up again, don't you think?

PS: Doris also told me that she is planning on opening a more affordable annex to her store on Melrose in the New Year. Stay tuned!

December 3, 2007 in FASHION | Permalink