This week’s Admit One is the first of our specials where my guest and I discuss and celebrate a specific event, genre or in this case, style. In celebration of London Fashion Week, I invited fashion journalist and documentary maker Davina Catt into the studio to talk to me about her three favourite films, specifically in terms of their fashion, style and costume.
This made me think – what are my favourite films for their fantastic fashion?
I grew up in a home that loved and watched Rodger and Hammerstein musicals, all of them from The South Pacific to Carousel, The Sound of Music and Oklahoma (must-sees if you enjoyed La La Land, well, saying that it’s a slick modern adaptation and these may not be for the musical faint hearted!) When I think of the colour and drama that went into the wardrobe of these films, the costumes were a huge part of the story. The tiered southern belle dresses in Oklahoma, military uniforms in South Pacific and the journey of what Maria wears from nun to Mrs Von Trapp in the The South of Music, from habit to designer.
Now, thinking of films in this millennium that I have loved for their fashion and style, it would have to be Baz Luhrmann’s films; they’re always such a visual feast and pleasure to watch. With his Oscar-winning, costume-designing wife Catherine Martin at the helm, the costumes from his film archive from Strictly Ballroom(1992) to The Great Gatsby (2013) are sensational. Remember the sequin and froufrou styling in Strictly Ballroom? Leonardo DiCaprio wearing a knights armour in Romeo & Juliet and that incredible masked ball party scene? Or Carey Mulligan’s antiquely elegant wardrobe as Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby? Arg, even thinking about this now makes me want to watch the films and pour over the bright and exciting costumes; they’re a character and part of the films, aren’t they?
What is your favourite film for its fashion?
I would absolutely love to know so get in touch and tweet me @AntoniaOBrien using the hashtag #AdmitOne.
Romeo & Juliet | 1996
The Great Gatsby | 2013