If you know me at all, you will know that I am a huge sci-fi geek; to be more specific, I am a Battlestar Galactica fanatic. I am still upset at the way the series ended but that's off-topic.
Anyway, the creators of BSG made a spin-off; a prequel called Caprica. The show takes place in the future but despite the high tech gadgets and gear, many of the characters dress as if they came just from the 1960s à la Mad Men.
The difference, however, between these two shows is that whereas the characters in Mad Men are flawlessly styled, the characters in Caprica come off as a bit more worn; they are not perfect. The jackets are a bit loose, the ties askew, the pants don't fit juuuuust right.
Take Joseph Adama (played by Esai Morales.) He is a civil liberties lawyer who came from a poor family and loses his wife and daughter in a suicide bombing. He wears a fedora hat with a wide brim and two feathers.
His suits are usually a bit loose on him but they look stylish, wearable and more importantly, they look like what a lawyer would wear; nothing too fancy but subtly beautiful.
And that's what I love about the costumes. They reflect the flaws in the characters and the dark mood of the show. So although they have style, they might not care whether their clothes are tailored to a tee. Still, it is wonderful to watch.
The summer blockbuster season is almost over (anxious to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on Monday) but there are two non-blockbuster films that I am very excited to see. One of them is the documentary The September Issue, about the making of Vogue's very popular September issue, and the second is the french film Coco Avant Chanel, starring the lovely Audrey Tautou as Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel.
Vogue UK released a few images from the film and talked to the costumer designer, Catherine Leterrier. This is what she had to say:
"The relationship with the House of Chanel was excellent," Leterrier told VOGUE.COM of the filming. "I was completely free designing exactly what I wanted for our film which takes place before Chanel created her 'maison de couture'. She started as a milliner. She became successful creating hats."
"The research process was the same as for any other period film," Leterrier explained. "We did research from real garments - in museums, flea markets, vintage shops or private collections - and research from painting and photos. For the show of the end we used authentic outfits from the Chanel Conservatory and Audrey Tautou wore a Chanel suit inspired by 'Mademoiselle' in the Sixties."
My first impression of Chanel's costumes was a bit underwhelming; the colour scheme is very dark (grey, black, navy) and monochromatic but the tailoring, the details and the fit are exquisite. They perfectly capture Chanel's free-spirit and her transformation as a designer.
The photos show her in the popular Chanel suit, complete with pearls and a wonderful dark loose suit with a wide white collar and brooch.
Although the photos don't show whether we will see any more flamboyant costumes à la Lagerfeld (to see if Karl approves the wardrobe click here,) I am looking forward to seeing these subtle, beautiful clothes.
I just finished reading the biography about Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, who died in the early 1800s. The movie doesn't seem to be anything like the book but that's ok because the costumes make up for it. In the book, Georgiana is portrayed is being a major influence on English politics; this was during the time of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette so there was a lot of political turmoil, revolution and war. Georgiana was also seen as the most fashionable woman in English society. She set all the trends; when she wore her hair up high with feathers, every woman copied her. The book also talks about her relationship with her husband, the Duke, and their ménage-à-trois with Georgiana's best friend, Bess. The movie producers and promoters are hoping that viewers will relate Georgiana to her great-great-great (a lot more greats) niece, the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Certainly there are a few similarities between the two women such as their love of being in the public eye, their love of fashion and the fact that their husbands weren't faithful. But that's where the similarities end.
I am excited to see the movie mostly because I love period pieces and the costumes. I expect similarities in dress to Marie Antoinette, the movie with Kirsten Dunst, as they are from the same time periods. Georgiana wasn't a royal but she did dress with a lot of flair in magnificent gowns.
Check out photo stills from the movie
I'm not an advocate for fur but I love those fox tails on her hat. I wish women wore fabulous hats like that in Toronto. Nobody wears majestic hats anymore. I'm tired of toques and berets.
This dress does not look comfortable at all. I can't imagine what a pain it was trying to walk around, get in and out of carriages, sit on the toilet, etc. in these restrictive frocks.
Was Georgiana the first woman who embraced androgynous dressing?
If you know me then you know that I am obsessed with the sci-fi show, Battlestar Galactica. I won't go on and on about why it's the greatest show that ever existed, but really, you have to watch it. The second half of Season 4 (the last season. Tear.) airs in January so you have plenty of time to buy the DVDs and catch up. A while ago I posted about the costumes on the show, which are really cool. And now since the show has wrapped filming, NBC Universal is auctioning off more than 3,000 costumes, props and set pieces from the series. So if you ever wanted Starbuck's flight suit, you know, just to look at or to fondle, it can be yours! NBC Universal and Propworx will conduct two live auctions in Los Angeles, along with a series of Internet auctions at www.battlestarprops.com , in tandem with the airing of the final episodes. I will be bidding on Lee Adama's (actor Jamie Bamber) flight suit. You know he sweated in it.Mmmm. Lee Adama sweat. Speaking of BSG, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre is hosting the Fan Expo Canada this weekend, with guests such as Edward Jame Olmos (Bill Adama) and Aaron Douglas (Chief) from the show. Jamie Bamber (Lee Adama) was supposed to make an appearance but he canceled last week which I'm pretty pissed off about as I wanted him to see my 'Adama for President' tee. Oh well. Eddie Olmos will have to do.
I got a hold of new stills from the movie that really showcase the beautiful clothing that the cast gets to wear. Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh, the film's costume designer spoke to the New York Times about why the costuming is so central to the movie.
"The period of dress here is a classic English look," said Ms. Mhaoldomhnaigh. "The tailoring of the men's suits are quite relevant to today. For a contemporary American audience, it's very similar to Ralph Lauren, who, I'm sure, has taken a lot of influence from English tailoring."
"The period of dress here is a classic English look," said Ms. Mhaoldomhnaigh. "The tailoring of the men's suits are quite relevant to today. For a contemporary American audience, it's very similar to Ralph Lauren, who, I'm sure, has taken a lot of influence from English tailoring."
"This scene is at Oxford. And it's one of the first times that Charles sees Sebastian (seated). So I wanted to portray a contrast to Charles's dark and dreary life at home with a complete release for him to do whatever he likes. Sebastian represents that freedom for him."
"Charles and Sebastian become friends and Sebastian has this beautiful sense of style. Here, you can see already that Charles is looking at Sebastian and, in a quite crude way, trying to copy what he's wearing. It doesn't look nearly as flamboyant or bohemian as Sebastian, but still, it's his attempt to become part of that whole set."
"I think that with Lady Marchmain, Emma Thompson's character, her religion was really important. But also, she was very fashionable. At that time, a lot of women went to Paris twice a year to pick out their wardrobe. So I wanted her clothes to be influenced by French fashions of the time."
"I wanted to use certain colors with her. Of course, not primary colors, but teal blues and purples. I felt like she could never look disheveled. She always had to look like 10 maids had dressed her in the morning."
"I just love this dress. And it was kind of a Eureka moment. Julia's costumes were made in Paris because her clothing also was influenced by French fashion. So I went to Paris to meet with the people were going to make the costumes. And I went to a flea market, where I found the Japanese embroidery that we put on this dress."
While watching the trailers before The Dark Knight (I love Heath Ledger btw,) one trailer blew my mind and almost overshadowed the movie. Actually not really true because I loved the movie and everything else pales in comparison; but the trailer is definitely one of the best I've ever seen. Watchmen is a movie based on a graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons and is considered one of the best ever written. Ever! If you go to a bookstore and ask the employees what they recommend for a beginner, they will always say Watchmen. Here is the Wikipedia description of the novel:
Watchmen is set in 1985, in an alternative historyUnited States where costumed adventurers are real and the country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union (the Doomsday Clock is at five minutes to midnight). It tells the story of a group of past and present superheroes and the events surrounding the mysterious murder of one of their own. Watchmen depicts superheroes as real people who must confront ethical and personal issues, who struggle with neuroses and failings, and who—with one notable exception—lack anything recognizable as super powers. Watchmen's deconstruction of the conventional superhero archetype, combined with its innovative adaptation of cinematic techniques and heavy use of symbolism, multi-layered dialogue, and metafiction, has influenced both comics and film.
Sounds like it could be an amazing movie eh? You bet your comic-movie-loving ass it could!
When I saw the trailer, I actually forgot about my Dark Knight/Heath excitement for a minute. That's how good it is. The Smashing Pumpkins song "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" thumps its way through a visual orgy of tortured, mutilated heroes; sexy women walking through fire, murder and amazing special effects that will kick 300's ass.
And because I really believe that this graphic novel will change your life, buy it here.
But this is a fashion blog, not a pop culture blog so I must mention the costumes! There aren't that many photos up yet so I grabbed the few available.
This is Nite Owl. He sort of has a Batman feel going on with the hood but this costume is less chesty and more rough and even spiritual with the symbols across the chest.
This is Ozymandia. I love the Eye of Horus on his belt; possibly it's there to symbolize protection. The whole outfit reminds me of some powerful God, with the muscular legs popping out and the gold-plated shoulders. Rorschach's costume is literally an Rorschach ink blot on his mask. The ink blot test was used to examine personality traits and although I don't know much about this character, it is interesting to see his face and therefore personality hidden behind this psychological test. Wonder what it means? I like how The Comedian has this massive shotgun and is being all bad ass but wears this tiny little "Robin" mask.
And finally the hot superhero! It looks as if The Silk Spectre wears nothing but thigh-high leather boots and gloves but she is actually wearing a costume behind the hair folks! The costume (watch the trailer) doesn't really leave anything to the imagination but it is erotic in a powerful way.
I have been obsessed with the TV show Battlestar Galactica for more than a year now, and this obsession is not about to abate. The first half of the fourth (and last) season has been over for a month now but I still revisit episodes to watch my favorite scenes. Normally when I watch the show, the clothes are the last thing that I pay attention to. Normally I'm more interested in the plot, the movie-quality effects, trying to figure out who the final Cylon is...you get the gist. I nerd it up a lot. But I've recently started noticing the clothes. Deborah Everton was the costume designer for the mini series and Glenne Campbell is the designer for many of the episodes in the series. Most of the time the cast is in either a pilot uniform or a standard deck uniform consisting of a backwards tank top and loose pants. But some characters get to sex it up a notch and actually wear interesting (and wonderfully cut) clothes.
Let's start with Six, played by Tricia Helfer. Six is overtly sexual in her personality which is also reflected in the clothes that she wears. In the mini series, she wears several skintight, body-revealing clothes in order to seduce Gaius Baltar so she can hack into a military program to help the Cylons invade the world of Caprica.
Her clothes are not typically "sci-fi." I could see this outfit being worn by celebs on the red carpet today. But there is something about its construction that makes it futuristic. The bondage-like ribbons, the sea-blue colour, the revealing neckline make it a perfect match for a sexual robot.
And who could forget the little red dress? Very powerful, very sexual.
Gaius Baltar's clothing reflects his confidence, his arrogance, his complete narcissism. He loves a tailored suit and he loves to show off. His clothes always stand out but are not too flashy. He dresses the way he thinks an important man should dress.
But he also likes to show off his chest hair! He can be a little bit of a Hugh Hefner type with the lavish robe and the shirt undone at the top.
I find that these are the only two characters in the show who really get to have fun with their wardrobe. They are not part of the military so they don't have to dress as if they are in battle or going to the gym. So it's a real treat to see some sexy clothes in the show and it really shows off their personalities. I wish we could see more of the cast get to dress up a bit more, but since I guess they didn't bring a lot of clothes with them and their planet has been nuked, it makes sense to keep them in their fleet gear.
