Reading Summary: “Cinema and Haute Couture: Sabrina to Pretty Woman, Trop Belle pour Toi!,...

transcript

text summary:

cinema andhaute couture“ ”

@barb_leungWednesday, July 6, 2011

context

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

contextpublished in ’97 by Routledge (NY and London)

context

!rst chapter of Undressing Cinema

published in ’97 by Routledge (NY and London)

!rst chapter of Undressing Cinema

published in ’97 by Routledge (NY and London)

and for the visual learner...

context

that’s the book cover

that’s the book coveraccording to amazon.com anyway

this is the author: stella bruzzi

she’s a professor of !lm and television at University of Warwick

researchspecialties?

interested in fashion and costume; gender and identity in !lm, particularly masculinity;

documentary !lm and television

researchspecialties?

keywords

keywordscostume

costume designer

keywordscostume

costume designercouturier

keywordscostume

subservient visual role

keywordscostume

functional intermediary

keywordscostume

functional intermediary

simulacra

more!semiology of fashion

technological/iconic/verbal

fetishism

designer identity

presumably...

presumably...her thesis “the belief that clothes can function independently of the body, character and narrative, that through them alternative discursive strategies can be evolved that, in turn, question existing assumptions about the relationship between spectator and image, not necessarily p rob lemat i sed th rough the use o f conventional costumes.” (Bruzzi 3)

old and new

old and newold traditional ethos of costume design: means of creating looks c o m p l e m e n t i n g n a r r a t i v e , character, and stars (3)

new clothing prioritizes over narrative (3)

history lesson

history lessoncinematic fashion shows

fashion !lms with simply displays of gowns progressing to story-lined movies built around the display (4)

distance between costume and couture fashion minimized during the 1930s and 1940s

the costume designer

veteran costume designer edith head image (via)

the costume designeronce the dictator of fashion

hot names included Head, Adrian, Orry-Kelly and Branton

new relationship between stars and clothes emerged with Sabrina and Hubert Givenchy

demise of costume designer and rise of couturier

examining Sabrina

image (via)Wednesday, July 6, 2011

examining Sabrinacostume designer Edith Head was given the responsibility of pre-transformation clothes

examining Sabrina

Givenchy designed all the “show-stopping Parisian fantasies” (6)

costume designer Edith Head was given the responsibility of pre-transformation clothes

examining Sabrina

showcase of designs via !lm

examining Sabrina

!lm fashion became more intrusive

showcase of designs via !lm

fashion & the times

fashion & the timesLate 1950s to 1980 "uid mutual relationship between fashion and costume design with !lm gradually becoming a general re"ector of outside fashion and trends (7)

Late 1950s to 1980 "uid mutual relationship between fashion and costume design with !lm gradually becoming a general re"ector of outside fashion and trends (7)

1960s more harmonious relationship between couture and street styles

fashion & the times

exhibitionism & art

should clothes “perform a spectacular as opposed to a subservient visual role in !lm?” (8)

exhibitionism & art

should clothes “perform a spectacular as opposed to a subservient visual role in !lm?” (8)

and should “those same costumes ... remain functional intermediaries to narrative and character, or stand out as art objects in themselves?” (8)

example of Kika

costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier

example of Kika

not only “distancing devices but e x a g g e r a t e d , c o n v e n t i o n a l i z e d mechanisms for making the female form into an objecti!ed spectacle” (11)

example of Kika

not only “distancing devices but e x a g g e r a t e d , c o n v e n t i o n a l i z e d mechanisms for making the female form into an objecti!ed spectacle” (11)

aesthetic displays and perversely functional (11)

example of Kika

from the text:

“This contravenes di rect ly the t r a d i t i o n a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f adornment, as something which accentuates and complements the f e m i n i n e , b u t i s s o m e h o w symptomatic of how couture as opposed to the generic fashion operates in cinema” (13-4)

from the text:

identity & costume

Pretty Women image (via)Wednesday, July 6, 2011

identity & costumePretty Woman presents no clear differences between couture and non-couture clothing

only importance is the display of c o n s u m e r i s m , a s o p p o s e d t o individual pieces

Pretty Woman presents no clear differences between couture and non-couture clothing

only importance is the display of c o n s u m e r i s m , a s o p p o s e d t o individual pieces

fashion, here, exists as dependent and casual response to narrative

identity & costume

Funny Face image (via)Wednesday, July 6, 2011

identity & costumedifferent functions and symbols present in each !lm

Sabr i na p l a c e s f o c u s o n t h e signi!cance of each piece

roland barthes

roland barthesauthor of The Fashion System

distinctions between real, written, and imaged garment “useful for oscillating dialogue with couture” (17)

three different structures for each item: technological, iconic, verbal

fashion requires contextWednesday, July 6, 2011

simulacra

simulacrarepresentation of something/someone

i d e n t i ! c a t i o n o f i d e a l f e m a l e conceived through male fantasyi d e n t i ! c a t i o n o f i d e a l f e m a l e conceived through male fantasy

i d e n t i ! c a t i o n o f i d e a l f e m a l e conceived through male fantasyi d e n t i ! c a t i o n o f i d e a l f e m a l e conceived through male fantasynotably higher female spectatorship for these fashion !lms

i d e n t i ! c a t i o n o f i d e a l f e m a l e conceived through male fantasyi d e n t i ! c a t i o n o f i d e a l f e m a l e conceived through male fantasynotably higher female spectatorship for these fashion !lms“clothes more than the woman that render her perfect and become the point of identi!cation” (19)

interesting to note...

interesting to note...clothes can be used as a distancing device (as is the case in Belle Du Jour) in which assumed bond between beauty and sexuality is displaced

couture garments need context to be desirable: link to class and exclusivity

differs from Richard Dyer’s sartorial idea of femininity: sensual fabrics (20)

perfect simplicity

Belle du Jour image (via)Wednesday, July 6, 2011

perfect simplicitywhen iconic and real are separated, “a distant, unreal feminine ideal that could be termed ‘too beautiful’” may be imposed (18)

in which case, couture garments can have an independent identity imposed on the character, and be alienating

an example would be Belle du JourWednesday, July 6, 2011

hurrah, freud!

hurrah, freud!fetishism manifests itself between “ f a s h i o n a n d s p e c t a t o r a s a contradictory impulse that de-eroticises the body”(24)

response to the female and the often perceived masculine gaze

hysteric confronts masculine imposed femininity through surface-expression

neglected males

American Gigolo image (via)Wednesday, July 6, 2011

neglected malesfor a while, male actors were expected to supply their own costumes

“what I shall wear” has been a “traditional female preserve” (26)

American Gigolo illustrates fetishism in the clothing of the protagonist

balance between self-promotion and immersive design necessary

the point of it allto argue that clothes are not to only be considered relevant in relation to the body

clothing in cinema does not possess an aesthetic discourse or that it cannot function independently of narrative and character (34)

clothes; objects of spectatorial gazeWednesday, July 6, 2011

web: www.barbaraleung.comemail: me@barbaraleung.comtwitter: @barb_leung

thanks!

Reading Summary: “Cinema and Haute Couture: Sabrina to Pretty Woman, Trop Belle pour Toi!,...

Education