Tatler: An English Institution

Whilst it might seem strange to review a magazine, indeed reviews are more something which appear in magazines, however, for the last century, Tatler has been more than a magazine, this british institution has been advising the countries elite how to act, behave, dress and shop, teaching them where to take their holidays, and where to buy their tablecloths. It has taught Sloanes how to sext, earls how to eat and rahs how to rock and roll.

Buying a copy of Tatler is always an occasion, I personally read it almost fanatically, and this month it came with a pair of sunglasses (which I offered to my favorite Sloane in return for her driving me to go shopping). This months edition also came with the annual Watches and Jewelry  Guide, filled with gaudily large rocks which could only possibly be desired by the wives of Russian oligarchs.

Unlike most other magazines, which strive to have the most famous cover stars adorning their front pages, Tatler is often fronted by complete unknowns, young women who are entirely unremarkable save for the 'honorable' at the beginning of their names and the zeros at the end of their bank accounts.

What is also remarkable about Tatler is its sense of humor, articles like 'Turbo Sloanes are Go' and 'Whats It Like to be the Imperial State Crown?' set the periodicals tone nicely, whilst this is a magazine which caters to the country's elite, it is an incredibly self aware publication, and everything it does is done with a healthy amount of tongue in cheek.

With a circulation of less than 100 000, the only reason that Tatler exists is purely because of the wealth of its readership, advertisers flock for their adverts to appear in the magazine. Vogue readers aspire, whereas Tatler readers buy.

Tatler is the kind of magazine which is quintessentially British, the humor of the publication and its irreverence is unique to its identity, and I'm sure that for the next century, Tatler will prevail in advising the cream of British society how to behave.

Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette is a 2006 historical drama, written and directed by Sofia Coppola, starring Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman and Rose Byrne. The film is a highly loose adaptation of the life of the French queen, and represents the life of the queen, from the age of 14 when she was promised to the dauphin, the future king of France, up until the French revolution, when she and her husband were forced to leave Versailles.

The film is a highly loose adaptation, and style clearly takes place over substance in this adaptation. Kirsten Dunst shines as the young and troubled young queen. The film is a highly humanizing portrait of the young queen’s life, and elements of the film are intentionally modernized in order to humanize the characters involved, rather than portraying Marie Antoinette as a selfish and spoilt girl, Coppola presents her as a deeply flawed young woman, entirely cut off from reality, and trapped within a world she had no control over. Jason Schwartzman also stars as Louis XVI. The film also has the distinction of introducing the world to Rose Byrne, who plays Yolande de Polastron, a beautiful and extravagant duchess, a favorite of Marie-Antoinette.

The film is a visually stunning and lavish representation of pre-revolutionary France, and of the court of Versailles, the production had unprecedented access to the court of Versailles and its grounds, and it is of huge advantage to the film. The film is infused with the essence of Versailles, something which could not be achieved if the sets had been constructed for the film. The film is also lavishly costumed, and won an Oscar in 2007 for Best Costume Design. The film often sacrifices historical realism for character development, and the clothes are used intelligently to give us an idea of who these characters really are as people, rather than simply putting them on a pedestal. Marie-Antoinette’s character is developed largely through costume, at the beginning of the film, her costumes are used to show her naiveté and innocence, she wears dresses in blue and pink, with little hats and necklaces, her make-up is also highly subdued at this point, showing that she has not yet reached an age of sexual maturity, and that she is essentially a little girl. Towards the end of the film, as Marie-Antoinette becomes more rebellious and free, her style changes as well. Her make-up becomes darker, more flirtatious, with redder lipstick and more blush, showing her blossoming into a freer and emancipated woman. Towards the end of the film her wardrobe changes also, and she begins wearing darker colors, more daring silhouettes. She also begins to dress in a far freer way; she begins to wear simple, shepherdess dresses, showing her desire for a more liberated, less conservative existence.

Supporting characters are also introduced largely by their wardrobe, Madame Du Barry, a prostitute and favorite of the king is shown with dark defined make-up, and modern avant-garde clothing, looking highly unlike the rest of the nobility, ensuring that she is seen by the audience as an outsider, given that she is not a true member of the nobility. Costume is also used to show the sheer extravagance of the royal family, Manolo Blahnik created hundreds of pairs of shoes for the production, and at one point in the film, we see a pair of modern Chuck Taylor’s, in pale blue under a table, showing that Marie Antoinette is essentially still a young teenager, even if she is the Dauphine of France. Also important in the film are wigs, Marie-Antoinette brought in a fashion for wigs in France, and in the film Marie-Antoinette beginning to wear wigs is a turning point in the film, as her extravagance begins to become inappropriate. Her wigs also show her innocence, that even though she was a grown woman by this point, even though she was queen of France with responsibilities and children, she was still immature and childlike, willing to try odd and even downright ridiculous things.

The film is a highly humanizing portrait of the doomed queen; Marie-Antoinette is portrayed as being entirely cut off from reality, Versailles is depicted as an entirely cut off world, a world in which she was endlessly trailed by courtiers and servants. Marie-Antoinette is portrayed as a woman who couldn’t possibly know about the troubles of the working people of France, because she was entirely cutoff from reality, and as a woman who desperately longed for a simpler life. She is described as essentially a woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and who cannot be blamed for the financial woes of France. Marie-Antoinette is shown to be a woman who cares deeply for her country, despite not having been born in France, and as a woman who accepts the position she has been put in despite it not being her fault.

Louis XVI however is portrayed in a highly unsympathetic light; he is shown to be pompous, unfriendly and uncaring towards his wife. His inability to consummate the marriage is of considerable pain to his wife, and yet he makes no attempt to console her, the film also places the financial ruin of France solely in the hands of Louis XVI, given that it was him who sent troops to America to fight the British, a move inspired wholly by ego. The film’s use of music is also superb, as is traditional for Sofia Coppola films; the film uses a soundtrack of new age and post punk music, which although anachronistic, really allows us to empathize with the characters. The use of anachronistic music, which although being de rigueur today, was relatively unheard of in the early 2000’s, allows us to see Marie-Antoinette as a young teen, and gives us a way to relate to the film.

Although being lightweight and frivolous, Marie Antoinette is a well-produced, visually sumptuous and deftly acted drama; the film finds a way to allow us to empathize with these historical characters, by taking them off their pedestals and humanising them greatly. Marie Antoinette is a harrowing and personal view of the doomed queen, a woman who despite being spoilt and selfish, is not guilty of either the financial ruin of France or the downfall of the monarchy, and who has been made to pay for the faults and flaws of the monarchy as an institution. Sofia Coppola shows that she again is a highly capable director with a real voice and opinion, and is successfully able to translate this overly told story to the big screen, giving it a new perspective and enlightenment. Rating: A

Marie-Antoinette: Am I to be Austrian or the Dauphine of France?

Design in Sex And The City

I've done a few posts about design before, discussing the production design of films such as The Truman Show and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Although i intend for production design to be a part of this discussion, it seems restrictive to talk exclusively about this, and it seems implausible to talk about Sex and the City without even mentioning fashion, given that fashion and clothes were such an important part of the show.

Sex and the city exhibits four characters who are defined by their clothing, the way they dress is a huge revelation of their personalities. Our heroine, Carrie, is a woman who lives for fashion, a woman who bought Vogue instead of fashion and who spends more than she can afford on clothes. Carrie exhibits a certain freedom with fashion, she expresses herself through her clothing and she is unafraid of taking risks. Maintaining a wardrobe like Carrie's would be virtually impossible for anyone other than Anna Dello Russo, but the filmmakers give her real persoanlity through her clothes, how she dresses is tailored to whether she is in a relationship, and how happy she is. At times she dresses almost like a child, showing her naivete and her selfishness. Shoes are a huge part of Carrie's life, and she confesses to owning over a hundred pairs, Carrie's wardrobe seems to be highly unaffordable on a writers salary, but with an unashamed lack of realism the creators of the series unapologetically make sure that Carrie is always dressed in something fabulous, whatever the occasion.

The other characters are also defined by their clothing, possibly more stereotypically than Carrie is, Miranda is a lawyer, and her wardrobe is thus slightly serious, rarely seen without her briefcase and palm pilot, Miranda is slightly more body consious than the other girls, and so likes to keep covered up, particularly after she has Brady in season 4, she is also slightly less fashion conscious than the other girls, caring less for fashion than for comfort, wearing ugly shoes whilst pregnant because her feet are swollen. Like Miranda, Charlotte is also slightly uptight, a typical Park Avenue Polyanna, Charlotte keeps to a uniform of cardigans and pearls, reflecting her status as an upper middle class wasp, and her hailing from Connecticut. Like Carrie her style also reflects her relationships, wearing plaid after marrying her first Scottish husband and a Jewish veil when marrying her second. Samantha has the most brash style of the four women, she wears bright colours and bold prints, being unafraid to show off her body and reflecting her brash and confident personality, and her unashamed sexuality.

The girls apartments are also important in reflecting their personalities, the production design of this show is so good that even when the characters move, their personalities are still shown, Carries apartment, whilst being ludicrously large for a writer to afford is nonetheless very close to her character, it is cluttered and filled with clothes and books. Her desk takes center stage in front of the window, show how important her writing is to her, and her spotless kitchen shows how little she cooks. Her closet is also an important room in the apartment, showing her love of fashion and the bookcases show her love of reading and books. Miranda moves into a large apartment of her own halfway through the series, with this apartment being organized and controlled as she is, with it's size and laundry room showing her status as a partner in her law firm. Charlotte's second apartment, that she gets in her divorce settlement, is lavish and beige, reflecting her status as a park avenue polyanna, and her clearly educated upbringing. Samantha is the only woman who lives alone throughout the whole of the series, her first apartment is on the upper west side, and her second is in the meatpacking district, this shows her status as a high earner and her willingness to lead a lavish and independant lifestyle.

Sex and the City is a series in which costume design production design and set dressing are hugely important, are revelatory of character, the objects people surround themselves with and the clothes they wear tell us about who they are as people.

The September Issue

Welcome back, hope you all celebrated Star Wars Day in the appropriate way, i briefly considered reviewing Return Of The Jedi, but i decided that three Star Wars posts in as many days may be somewhat overkill, so i will leave it till later to complete my series on the original trilogy. The September Issue is a 2008 documentary feature revolving around the production of the september issue of Vogue magazine, directed by RJ Cutler, the film looks at the conception, writing and styling of the magazine, and the conception of what was, at the time, the largest edition of a monthly magazine ever produced at 820 pages.

The film revolves around Vogue and it's editor in chief, Anna Wintour, notoriously frosty and cold, Wintour runs Vogue with an iron fist, and that is apparent from this film, however the film also does a good job of showing us the woman behind the pageboy bob and the large sunglasses. The idea for the film came about in 2006, after the release of The Devil Wears Prada, the film had the unintended consequence of turning Wintour into a celebrity outside of the fashion industry, and giving her a reputation for being mean, frosty and unemotional, in order to repair her image, Wintour commissioned a documentary, detailing her private and professional life, and the development of the magazine.

The film begins by showing us the Vogue offices, Wintour's country home in upstate New York, and her life with her daughter, a university law student, the film then shows us Wintour's trip to europe and her meetings with the fashion council in Paris. What is hugely focused on in the movie is Wintour's relationship with Grace Coddington, Coddington, a former model who is now fashion editor at American Vogue. The relationship between the two is featured heavily throughout the film, and Coddington often seems to be the only person who occasionally stands up to Wintour.

The September Issue is highly successful as a documentary, as it provides an unadulterated and reasonably unfiltered look into the creative process at Vogue Magazine and the way Anna Wintour runs the magazine, the film also manages to make it's protagonist, who was previously thought of as being cold and unapproachable, into someone empathic and strangely likeable. The September Issue is entertaining and fun, and is an accessible documentary for anyone interested in fashion. Rating: B

Anna Wintour: Just because you like to put on a beautiful Carolina Herrera dress or a pair of J Brand blue jeans instead of something basic from K-Mart it doesn't mean that you're a dumb person.