[Original] - MARFA LIGHTS (2015)

marfa lights: an imaginary short film

Last weekend my friends and I went on a road trip to a magical city in the middle of the west Texan desert. We do not live inside of a movie, but if we did, this is what it would look like.

I AM LOVE (2009)

You know that feeling when you randomly stumble on a film and you watch it and you’re just like “THIS IS PERFECT WHERE HAS THIS BEEN FOR MY ENTIRE LIFE.” Because I watched Luca Guadagnino‘s I Am Love this weekend and was blown away by it’s elegant & deceptively simple costumes (and story, but we’re all about the clothes here). I Am Love features my androgynous alien queen Tilda Swinton as Emma, a Russian émigrée turned matriarch of a wealthy Italian family, who spends the film navigating some intense family melodrama while wearing a series of increasingly fierce Jil Sander dresses. (In yet another tragedy, costume design Antonella Cannarozzi was nominated for an Academy Award but lost to Colleen Atwood for Alice in Wonderland.)

I love the subtle progression of colors and textures in Emma’s wardrobe as it reflects her emotional state throughout the film. I think the costume choices speak for themselves:

[Original] - Style Icons: Wes Anderson Heroine Edition

Anyone who’s followed my blog is probably well aware of my deep & undying love for Wes Anderson and the magical, meticulously crafted universes he creates in each of his films. Visual aesthetics can make or break a film for me (I can be unapologetically shallow but like, life is too short for non-stop gritty realism).

Wes Anderson’s films get a lot of criticism for being all style & no substance. While understandable, I feel like they’re overlooking a key component of his artistic POV. For Anderson, style IS the substance – which is exactly why his aesthetic is so instantly recognizable, and why he’s been able to create such enduringly iconic characters.

Uniforms both literal and otherwise are a central part of this aesthetic. Characters, with few exceptions, have a single costume throughout the entire film. There’s a sense that a person’s exterior (clothes, hairstyle, the objects they surround themselves with) are a manifestation of their interior. This is actually a core concept in production design. Ideally, a character’s design should contain elements that are distinguishable and act as shorthand for their characterization BUT no one else manages to pull this off as organically as Wes Anderson (with a little help from costume designers Karen Patch & Milena Canonero of course.)

MARGOT TENENBAUM

The Essentials

• Ennui
• Dark eyeliner
• Blonde bob, hair barrette (red)
• Lacoste tennis dresses (striped)
• Chekhov's "The Seagull"
• Mink coat 
• Birkin, T. Anthony suitcases (red)
• Pink gloves (cashmere, minus ring finger on left hand)
• Illicet feelings for your adopted brother

SUZY BISHOP

The Essentials

Wanderlust ☻

Scooter dresses with Peter Pan collar (pink, yellow) ☻

Françoise Hardy record, battery operated record player ☻

Lace knee socks ☻

Sunday School shoes ☻

Binoculars ☻

Knit beret (red) ☻

Beetle earrings (green, fishhooks optional) ☻

Young adult novels (various, stolen from school library) ☻

AGATHA MOUSTAFA*

The Essentials

• Milkmaid braids (sprig of wheat optional)
• Smock dress with Peter Pan collar
• Porcelain pendant with crossed keys insignia
• Birthmark the shape of Mexico, right cheek
• Camel overcoat
• Blue scarf
• Confectioners sugar
• Romantic Poetry, Vol. 1 (From Z to A)

*I know this is super heteronormative to assume she took Zero’s last name but Wes apparently didn’t think it was important to give her a last name. ): Plus it was the 1930s so, you know.