Monday, July 13, 2009

Fashion Inspiration: The Conformist



Some films tend to stick out in my mind after I've seen them. Either I can't stop thinking about the story or the look of the film, a particular character or the costumes. Usually though, all of these factors combine to make a picture appeal to me in so many ways that my mind always wanders back to it, no matter how long its been since I've seen it...and then I have to see it again:)  The Conformist is one of these. If I were to boil the thrust of the movie down to a one sentence, I'd say that its a highly stylized contemplation of fascism seen through the life (mostly in flash backs) of one man: Marcello, the ultimate aspiring conformist. Set it the 1930's, it features fabulous costumes from the era, art deco architecture and incredible lighting that reinforces the plot and action. I tried to find stills from one of my favorite scenes in the film where the two women go shopping in Paris, but could only locate a head shot of Dominique Sanda as Anna and Jean-Louis Trintignant as Marcello. For me, it might just be a perfect film: intellectually and visually stimulating, the sumptuous period elements draw me further into the ideas of the film.

Fashion-wise, I think my favorite of all these stills is the last one of Anna, lounging in a chair in her slacks and oxfords. In the scene preceding this, she slinks through an apartment full of male intellectuals (headed by her much-older husband) looking all tom-boyish, exuding bravura and sex appeal. I've been looking for a pair of shoes just like that for ages and only just realized today that her pair probably inspired by desire for them (after so many viewings). I think she's just perfect. 










10 comments:

  1. Those stills are great, I like the last too, she has such attitude.

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  2. love that last outfit :O!

    of course you can e-mail me :) how exciting that you're going to start a shop, i'll have to save my pennies! i'd be happy to help :D

    chickendinnercandybar@yahoo.com

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  3. The film sounds and looks amazing! I'm definitely going to have to find it now... really like the shoes too! I'm a huge fan of oxfords, but I've only owned black and I've never had any in brown. I'm really boring in the shoe dept.... I tend to stick to black for some really lame reasons. :)

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  4. I do! How do you feel about Zappos? The price is often a little on the high side but I like that the shipping is free both ways... I found these (The brown Frye Ava, Biviel Bv1572 and Born Pace are my favorites... too much heal maybe?):

    http://www.zappos.com/search/oxford/filter/productTypeFacet/%22Shoes%22/categoryFacet/%22Shoes%22/subCategoryFacet/%22Heels%22

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  5. the film looks enticing, i love those gowns the two women are wearing...

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  6. Italy in the fall sounds very romantic! Hope you find your shoes by then... I'll keep an eye out too :)

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  7. love it all! btw come visit www.lagelledailydose.blogspot.com

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  8. Thank you for introducing me to this film. Bernardo Bertolucci is an excellent filmmaker so I'll definitely have to check it out.

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I'd love to hear your thoughts!