ruffled capes are so 2024
also: if you can fit a basketball in your sleeve, then it's big enough
Outfit(s) of the Week | Poor Things (2023, dir. by Yorgos Lanthimos)
*spoilerz ahead* (but not too spoiled, like, please still read my newsletter?? please??)
ok, let’s start with this: i have lately been doing a very poor job at keeping up to date with recent flicks…i find myself slightly averse to new movies and stubbornly viewing mostly 70s/80s/90s cinema at all times. maybe it’s because i wasn’t around back then! maybe it’s the coziness and depth of shooting with film! maybe it’s the fashion! maybe it’s the lack of technology! idk, but after seeing Poor Things, i’ve officially been revitalized and now find myself royally *amped* for 21st century filmmaking.
upon viewing this movie last week, i knew immediately that i had to feature the outfits in this newsletter. so, for the first time in Scene Stealers history, i will be bringing to light not just one, but, um, SO MANY ‘fits from this movie. it would be basically impossible to highlight just one, i promise.
you catch my drift.
alright, this movie is crazy. it’s so crazy, it’s so good, it’s completely unique and incredible. a pregnant Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) is rescued after a suicide attempt by an unconventional scientist named Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). she is found basically braindead, so he finds that the reasonable way to proceed is as follows:
removing her unborn child from her womb
removing the child’s brain
removing her brain
putting the child’s functioning brain in her head
now she has a baby brain! and her life back!
thus begins an odyssey of self-realization and child-like discovery as Bella becomes a new woman in the world.
the movie begins with her as a woman-child, wandering around Godwin’s mansion (she calls him “God”, which contributes to the film’s pretty strong Frankenstein themes), peeing herself and throwing fine china plates onto the ground when she’s upset. she has child-like splendor and goofiness, which is shown through her physical endeavors (learning to walk, get out of bed, eat) and also her clothing.
she wears mostly bloomers and nighties during this first part of the movie. lots of ruffles, too…very lightweight frilly fabrics that help to show a sense of innocence and wonder. i was instantly astounded by these costumes and the way the fabric’s textures played with each other on-screen. also, i think i now may require a blouse with large balloon-like sleeves to meander aimlessly around my home in search of myself on a cold winter’s night. alas…
as Bella progresses mentally and begins to discover new things (such as her sexuality), the B+W color fades away to a much brighter, hornier palette. she gets whisked away by a seedy lawyer (Mark Ruffalo) on a sex romp that spans many continents and she finally gets to see and experience the world. as for the rest of the movie’s plot, you’ll just have to get your little behind down to the theater and slurp it all up yourself.
one of my favorite details in the costuming is the recurrence of certain pieces, such as her 1920’s yellow underwear shorts and white ruffly blouse (both shown above). there’s a lot of collar and overcoat accessorizing that happens with the bottom layer of clothing staying the same, which i think is brilliant.
like in the movie’s fun dancing scene, the outfit above turns into the outfit below.
obviously, this yellow ruffly number wins best collar of the year award.
and this chartreuse house coat thing potentially was my favorite item of the film.
this fancy gown she wears to dinner in one scene provides beautiful contrast to her spitting out her food. she’s just an honest woman! it was gross!
exhausted after a small quarrel aboard a cruise ship…at least she looks magnificent.
and this one, i must say, is the grand finale…the sleeves! wiry and weightless. almost membrane-like…very sci-fi.
i guess the film’s costume designer, Holly Waddington, didn’t quite know what to do with the veil, so Emma Stone grabbed it and just tied it in a knot at the back of her head. would it be too much to wear this kind of head/face wear to work? it can be dressed down, right?!
alrighty, now here are some highly practical pieces that everyone’s wardrobe could benefit from!
yes, i did have an actual blast shopping online for this newsletter. i may have purchased a sheer house coat that will certainly be worn to get groceries.
Honorable Mention of the Week | the last shot of the movie - a liberated and educated woman with her book and martini, basking in the glow of having recently helped replace her ex-husband’s brain with a goat’s brain.
she has walked, so we can run.
Absolutely adore this fashion 🤩 cannot wait to see sheer house coat. Please wear to work!