Two for the Road

Yesterday I watched Two for the Road with Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney. Being a life-long Audrey fan I'm not quite sure why I've never watched it before, but I think it must have been because of other fans telling me that it wasn't one of her best. It does suffer from a bit of self-conscious grooviness that afflicts some films from the latter half of the sixties, and I wasn't entirely convinced by Hepburn and Finney's love/hate affair/marriage, but the film does have some genuinely funny and poignant moments, the Henry Mancini score is simply beautiful, and visually it is gorgeous. Set mainly in the South of France it has scenery, cool cars and high fashion galore.

Since becoming a star I believe this was Audrey's first vehicle where Givenchy was not responsible for her costumes. Instead off-the-peg designs from Paco Rabanne, Mary Quant, Andre Courreges and Tuffin and Foale were used to dress Audrey's character as she grew from young travelling choir girl to wealthy housewife. The result is some seriously cutting edge outfits. Check out the black vinyl suit. Or the two evening dresses by Paco Rabanne: the psychedelic shift and that mirrorball-esque silver dress with matching earrings. My favourites from the film though are the swimsuits Audrey wears in the beach and pool scenes (love that pastel one) and the simple jeans and sweater sets she wears in the falling in love scenes. A pair of high-waisted jeans with a sweater and slip-on shoes never goes out of style for weekend wear.

Check out the trailer for the film here. Audrey was 38 when it was made and was as beautiful and stylish as ever.

Smashing, positively dashing ...

Famed photographer, diarist and costumier Cecil Beaton had already been lauded for his costumes for the London and New York theatrical productions of My Fair Lady (starring Julie Andrews) when he was commissioned to create costumes for the film version. From the December 1963 issue of US Vogue comes this gorgeous preview of those very costumes, photographed by Cecil himself and starring the new Eliza Doolittle, fashion plate Audrey Hepburn. Says Vogue ...

the delicious dilemma we have here is simply this: When Audrey Hepburn, on the brink of the plummiest part of the decade, cast those great enrapturing eyes on the clothes Cecil Beaton designed for everyone else in the cast, she suddenly knew that 'Liza is one of those heroines with almost Nothing to Wear ... Shaw invented her long before he wrote Pygmalion, as a "rapscalliony flower girl in an apron and three orange and red ostrich feathers." Tatters and violets, that's what Eliza starts with. But Audrey Hepburn, before taking to those real garn rags, had one glorious whirl with the gilded-lily dazzle clothes designed for the swells and chiquerinos of the Acscot Chorus and Convent Garden.

The final result, of course, was an Oscar winning bounty of timeless beauty. And thankfully for us Audrey so loved that frilled dress with the organdie boa in the final image that Cecil created one for Eliza in mauve that she wore in the scene in Mrs Higgins' garden. Set in 1914, My Fair Lady covers the same period (and merges the same crowds) as Downton Abbey.

Don't you just love the shades of black, white and grey in the famous Ascot scene from the film? And the hats, oh my, the hats. Vogue says that with his hats Cecil Beaton 'blows life into the statue.'

The 60s Face

Some further scans from the March 1965 edition of US Vogue; these images (from photographer Bert Stern) illustrate a beauty story contrasting 'European' make-up (think Italian mid century films) and the 'new American-English' make-up (soft, illuminated transparency). There is no doubt though that, being the sixties, the eyes had it for both of these looks and that colour was the real trend on display here. Silver lashes! Luscious falsies! And blue eyeshadow (that freaks some people out, but which I've loved for years and years. My eyes are about the same colour as the model on the left of the top picture, and there is something about the contrast between baby blue and deep brown that appeals).

Anyway, these photos got me thinking about my favourite beauty trends across the decades. I've always been partial to the slick of black eyeliner so popular in the 1950s; the shiny, voluminous and effortless hair of the early supers; the vibrant, matte pink and red lips of the 40s and 50s; the strong full eyebrows of the late 70s and early 80s; the over sized lashes of the 1960s (but only on top please ... I have a paranoid fear of gluey mascara on the lower lashes) and, finally, the tanned skin from the real life sun of the 1970s (my bad, I know, but fake tan just doesn't cut it for me. I love alabaster skin too but I'm not someone who can wear it well).

What is your favourite beauty decade?

Hollywood Postcards

Movie star postcards were popular from the 30s through to the 60s and occasionally I like to take a peruse through the fabulous Flickr page and blog of Dutch collectors Truss, Bob & Jan too!. I especially love the coloured cards such as the ones I've chosen here.
It is definitely worth checking out their blog for some of the lesser known European stars and lots of movie trivia too.

Love that picture of Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida. Do you reckon the husband and I can replicate it on some hill somewhere? Perhaps minus the apron?

And Claudia Cardinale looks so fresh and modern in hers. I adore that green swimsuit.

Movie Magic: Debbie Reynolds Auction

Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while would know that I'm a big fan of old movies. My interest has its genesis in my childhood, as my Aussie grandparents were both big movie buffs, loved 'their' Golden Years of Hollywood, and as a result had amassed a big collection of classics on VHS. Every school holidays - when I wasn't coming up with elaborate games set in the 'olden days' with my cousins, or playing down at the beach - I was watching movies. Some of my favourites were Little Women (with Janet Leigh & Elizabeth Taylor), Pride & Prejudice (with Greer Garson), Gaslight, High Society, Intermezzo, Rebecca, Casablanca, My Fair Lady, anything starring Shirley Temple or directed by Alfred Hitchcock (except Psycho or The Birds ... too scary) and, of course, The Sound of Music and Gone with the Wind.
My Nanny was obsessed with Shirley Temple as a child in the 30s and kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about her. She's also had a lifelong crush on the young Laurence Olivier. My Grandfather has always fancied 1940s songstress Deanna Durbin, who has somewhat faded into obscurity now. I, however, watched an awful lot of her movies when I was young.
So, when I found out that Debbie Reynolds was auctioning off her UNBELIEVABLE collection of movie memorabilia, I had to take a look at the catalogue. The breadth of it filled me with wonderment and sadness. Wonderment at the quality and fame of the items (it is wonderful to see some of the costumes in colour for the first time) and sadness that such an important collection is being broken up. Apparently Debbie intended the collection for a museum, but the project got into financial difficulty, and so she's had to auction off the items to appease creditors.
Here are a few of the costumes included ...

Other costumes include that white Travilla dress that Marilyn wore in The Seven Year Itch as well as the red sequin dress she wore in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Dorothy's ruby red slippers.

And it wasn't just costumes up for grabs; there was movie posters, stills, props, scripts & contracts, paintings & illustrations, and even cars. You can tell that Debbie was someone that really loved her industry.

The first part of the auction happened yesterday and the Cecil Beaton designer Ascot dress from My Fair Lady fetched a staggering US$ 3.7 million. Judy Garland's Dorothy dress and red slippers were worth US$ 1.7 million and, wait for it, Marilyn's iconic white dress was snapped up for a cool US$ 4.6 million.

When I saw Andrew O'Hagan speak a few months ago, he thought that Marilyn Monroe has now superseded Joan of Arc as the most famous woman in the world. This latest auction result goes some way to proving his theory. Discuss?

PS Speaking of old movies, I recently watch The Best Years of Our Lives for the first time, and highly recommend it. A brilliant film, in any decade, it also stars my Mum and my current retro crush, Dana Andrews. He is also very sexy in Laura. Check him out.

Anne as Audrey

Actress Anne Hathaway is the cover girl for the November issue of US Vogue and the editorial has her wearing elegant evening wear as shot by Mario Testino. She's looking very Audrey in this shoot - a whole lot of My Fair Lady with a dash of Roman Holiday thrown in - and utterly gorgeous. Love the shot of her in the Oscar de la Renta polka dot.

It seems Audrey's unforgettable style and beauty will never cease to inspire. The November issue of Vanity Fair has also come over all Audrey, with a scene by scene tribute to Funny Face featuring the latest couture. The editorial sounds awesome in theory, but in practice doesn't quite work for me. I'm not sure whether it's the layout, the model or the particular choice of expensive clothes (come to think of it, that surely can't be it), but for me it comes across as a little bit budget and twee. Surprising, as Vanity Fair has featured some of my favourite classic Hollywood inspired shoots ever.

Let me know your opinion if you've picked up the November issue too.

Some Like It Hot

Over at What They Are Wearing Now, I was introduced to this LA Times interview with seminal stylist Freddie Leiba, where he talks passionately about the movie costumes that have shaped celluloid, and fashion, history. Of course Audrey appears no less than three times (and I will be drawing the winner for the Breakfast at Tiffany's book comp on Sunday), but that other 20th Century movie goddess Marilyn Monroe ties for equal first. Is it possible to blog too much about Marilyn Monroe? Considering her face can still sell magazines today, perhaps not.

Leiba selected this risque Orry Kelly creation which created a storm in its day when Some Like it Hot was released. The beauty of this dress is that ut appears more revealing than it is; even as a kid I was mesmerised by Marilyn's beauteous figure in this frock.

Another risque dress for its time (there's nothing like a keyhole cut-out to drive men wild!), this shocking pink frock was worn by Marilyn in one of her early roles, Niagara.

Pink was the colour of the 1950s, and of course the strapless column dress with the matching gloves (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) was included on the list too.

The cut down to there red sequin dress from Gentlemen as well as the iconic white halter from The Seven Year Itch and the fantastic green corset from Bus Stop didn't make the cut but they are all pretty darn memorable. Audrey might be an enduring fashion darling but both on-screen and off, Marilyn's influence on what women wear and have worn, can't be denied.

For today my favourite Marilyn costume pick is the purple evening dress from How to Marry a Millionaire. It's a style that is still being emulated by starlets on red-carpets everywhere.

I was sad to hear this morning that Tony Curtis, who starred alongside Marilyn in arguably her best ever performance as Sugar in Some Like it Hot, just passed away. I'll never forget his brilliant Cary Grant parody in that film, nor that beautiful face. Wasn't he handsome when he was young? I also found this lovely pic of him and former wife Janet Leigh. LOVE her ice blue dress and his perfect tux.