There had to be a French entry in our month of costume/fashion in movies, so this week we look at Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless.  Emblematic of the Nouvelle Vague, Breathless subverts many filmmaking standards of the time, and lists no costume designer, with the actors perhaps having chosen parts of their wardrobes themselves.

Sources

IMDb

Marantz Cohen, Paula in “Movies: The Potency of ‘Breathless’: At 50, Godard’s Film Still Asks How Something This Bad Can Be So Good” from The American Scholar

Scheyer, Kate in “Classic Film Style: Breathless”: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2010/04/classic-film-style-breathless

Wikipedia

How do we look at costume when a film is animated?  In the case of Disney’s Cinderella, the costuming is an even-more-obvious-than-usual echo of the fashion trends at the time of the film’s creation.  Plus, we look at how Cinderella rescued the faltering Walt Disney Company and at controversies surrounding the over-restoration of classic movies.

Sources

Duignan, Stephen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephen_duignan/status/988445879773351941

Hallay, Amanda at the Ultimate Fashion History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYFpVzkP3UM

Lugli, Emanuele at Bright Lights Film Journal: https://brightlightsfilm.com/tear-that-dress-off-cinderella-1950-and-disneys-critique-of-postwar-fashion/?fbclid=IwAR3JssZsnUkUgovlz73-QJJL_JgfDFz1Bgjkw7pV8GgAiqGy55F8URbhs-0#.X0sG3y2z1aq

White, Brett at Decider: https://decider.com/2020/02/15/cinderella-70-year-anniversary-saved-disney/

Wikipedia

Groundbreaking in terms of its technical achievements, Stanley Donen’s Seven Brides for Seven Brothers also features an almost uniform-like approach to the costuming of its main characters.  Join us as we discuss these and other aspects of this mid-century musical, including its fantastic dance sequences and rather disturbing politics.

Sources

Cain, Eric and John Rosman in “Broken Treaties: An Oral History Tracing Oregon’s Native Population” from Oregon Public Broadcasting: https://www.opb.org/artsandlife/series/brokentreaties/oregon-tribes-oral-history-broken-treaties/

Folsey, George in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers: Simultaneous Production Shooting in CinemaScope and Widescreen” from American Cinematographer: https://ascmag.com/articles/simultaneous-production-shooting-in-cinemascope-and-widescreen

Hallay, Amanda at The Ultimate Fashion History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_lJ_Uu6I_0&list=PLgbG7OrLeM0DBTOEl1oUHMeK28caNYvTg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6R4FaXbWNE&list=PLgbG7OrLeM0C-DipJuVacPTjCvNLjmHwh&index=5&t=0s

Harris, Thomas J in “Review: ‘Donen Dancing on the Ceiling’” from Literature/Film Quarterly

Harvey, Stephen in “Stanley Donen Interviewed” from Film Comment

IMDb

Mueller, John in “Fred Astaire and the Integrated Musical” from Cinema Journal

Wikipedia