Costume Design Oscar Nominations 2013

It's that time of year again- Oscar nominations!

And the nominees for Best Costume Design are-

Anna Karenina by Jacqueline Durran

Les Misérables by Paco Delgado

Lincoln by Joanna Johnston

Mirror Mirror by Eiko Ishioka

Snow White and the Huntsman by Colleen Atwood

All the designs this year are so fantastic, it's bound to be really tough choosing a winner. I feel like I want Les Misérables to win as I absolutely adored the film, but I don't think the costumes were the best from this year. I think that Anna Karenina deserves the Oscar this year as the designs were so stylish and beautiful. Jacqueline Durran was blessed however with having to design for Keira Knightly- she could be dressed in a bin liner and make it look Oscar worthy!

Who do you think designed the best costumes this year?

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers!

Here at the Vintage Elle Studio we are kind of obsessed with the Ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz (and when I say obsessed I mean majorly obsessed!) They are probably the most famous shoes that have ever exsisted. That is why, when creating our latest collection of sparkly shoes they were the first thing we thought of.

 

As they were such a major part of the Wizard of Oz several pairs of Ruby Slippers were made. 5 pairs are known to exist but there possibly were even more. In the original book 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' by L. Frank Baum, Dorothy's shoes were originally silver. Legend has it that the film producers wanted to take full advantage of the new technicolor technology and decided to make them red... and thank goodness they did! I really don't feel that Dorothy clicking her boring silver heels saying, "there's no place like home" would have had quite the same effect.

 

Aren't they pretty!

It is well known that during the Hollywood Golden Age, Film studios were really careless with their props and costumes. Staff often took advantage of this and took many souveniers home to build up their own collections. In 1970 a costumer called Kent Warner was rummaging around in the MGM basement finding bits of costume to auction off. He came across the stash of Ruby Slippers, which had just been forgotten about. He auctioned them off, keeping the best pair for himself. Lady Gaga even owns a pair now...

...And Debbie Reynolds owns the pointy toed witch version.

It is now believed that Judy Garland only actually wore one of the pairs and they can be found on display at the National Museum of American History. One of the copies is currently on display at the Hollywood Costume Exhibition at the V&A in London and I can't wait to get to see them! Out of all the fabulous costumes that have ever been designed, they were chosen to go on the official book cover! (My boyfriend just gaeme this book as an early Christmas present and I definitely recommend it)

I for one absolutely love this style of shoe. They are so elegant and ladylike, without having a crippling 4 inch heel. This is why we were so inspired to add our own pair to the Vintage Elle upcycled shoe collection. If you take a visit to our Etsy store you could own your very own pair of Ruby Slippers for a lot less than the originals which last sold for $666,000. How exciting! https://www.etsy.com/listing/118121324/ruby-slippers-size-5-handmade

Top 10 Dance Scenes of all time

Ok so it's Monday and what better way to start the week than with some dance. There's so many to choose from but here are my top 10 movie dance scenes-

The Rockefella Skank from 'She's All That'

Ok this is one cheesy cheese film without much artistic merit, but I was about 11 when this film was released and I wanted to be doing this dance!

 

 Beatnik Dance from 'Funny Face'

 

Audrey Hepburn as you've never seen her before... and I like it!

 

 

Singing in the Rain from 'Singing in the Rain'

 

To be honest every scene Gene Kelly is in is the best, but I had to pick one and this is definitely the most iconic.

 



Pulp Fiction

Well this is just super cool and that's all I need say...

You Make My Dreams Come True from '500 Days of Summer'

This is so sweet and hilarious.

Roxanne from 'Moulin Rouge'

This is the most dramatic scene ever and I get so involved in watching it.

Canned Heat from 'Centre Stage'

As a tween this was my favourite film EVER. I used to literally just watch this film everyday.

 

Beatnik Dda

America from 'West Side Story'

 

Growing up I so badly wanted to be a Shark (I still do!) Watching this I realise that I actually still know most of the moves...

 



Time After Time 'Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion'

I love this because it's weird, yet beautiful and I've never seen anything like it before.

 

Final Scene from 'Bootmen'

 

This film is seriously underated and this is a seriously amazing dance.

 



 

So there it is. My top 10 dance scenes. There were so many others to choose from but I felt these were my creme de la creme. What other dance scenes have I missed out that you like?

 





The PROPER Avengers

I recently got SO excited when I heard that a new film of The Avengers was being made. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that it was to be a film based on some Marvel comics that I didn't know a thing about :-(

The Avengers is the best ever spy TV series about John Steed and Emma Peel. Diana Rigg played the absolute coolest spy woman in the world. She was intelligent, sexy, kickass, gorgeous and absolutely oozed cool 60s style. Safe to say that when I was a child (and now) she was my idol. As a kid I was so convinced that I would grow up to become a spy. Someone needs to get this show back onto our televisions! I think it would still be just as popular today.

To try and get over my ever growing disappointment that the wrong Avengers is being made into a film I have done some reminiscing. Here are some visual reminders of the best TV show ever...

Across the Universe

It's been a while since I have loved a film so much, that i can't stop watching it. I absolutely adored this film directed by Julie Taymor. Across the Universe isn't just a film; it is a work of art. I sometimes wish that i could get inside Taymor's head for just a minute to see all the creativity and ideas she has brewing in there.

This is a musical centred around songs of The Beatles starring Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood and Joe Anderson, who were all unknowns at the time. I think one of the reasons it works so well is that it doesn't try to compete with the music of the Fantastic Four, but turns them in to something completely different. Sometimes the singing does sound a bit auto-tuned, but everything else is so well done i can forget about it.

This film really does have it all. Some scenes are elaborate like old Hollywood musical numbers, some are gritty and real, some are romantic and others are just plain crazy. As ever, Taymor is engagingly experimental using puppets, illustration and SFX to dramatise the story. My favourite scene (maybe of all time?) is Strawberry Fields Forever.
I love how they have projected different scenes over the action to blend the whole story together. The Strawberry symbol is amazing. I am so close to pinning a load of bleeding strawberrys to my kitchen wall. I think i'll just have to settle for recreating the strawberry painting though.

Across the Universe was nominated for the Best Costume Design Oscar in 2007 and I for one think it thoroughly deserved it.

Behind all the colours and craziness lies a beautiful love story and a deep and meaningful message. War really is such a waste of life.

I was particularly drawn in by Joe Anderson's stirling performance as Max. I really felt his journey- staring out as an enigmatic Princeton dropout, to having all of his charisma sucked out of him by the war.

There is so much in this film that i can see why you would either love it or hate it. The plot sometimes goes off on crazy tandems and not all of it makes sense. There are a few scenes that don't work quite as well and seem a bit cheesey (e.g. Dear Prudence) but all in all this film has firmly established itself in my top 10 movies of all time.  It is a designers absolute dream to watch. I implore all of you to buy it!

I are some stills of the film. There are so many amazing images i have just decided to include all of them I hope you enjoy looking at them.