Cinema with Style Second Edition: MOONRISE KINGDOM

Wes Anderson makes movies. Wes Anderson makes movies with style, a style that in turn makes the movie uniquely identifiable as a Wes Anderson film. The Royal Tennenbaums in my favorite Wes Anderson film & in due course it will get its own Cinema with Style post but that will be a post that will require much love and attention to detail. In the meantime, I will share with you the style of Wes Anderson's latest film, Moonrise Kingdom, a film I saw this past weekend on the Upper West Side.

Moonrise Kingdom is first & foremost a love story between Sam & Suzy, two preteens in the 1960s who find themselves abandoned by their families (Suzy has been emotionally abandoned & labeled a trouble child & Sam has been literally abandoned by his khaki scout troop & his foster family). Their love is innocent. They are confidantes, partners in adventure and loyal to one another in a world where they have both found consistency & loyalty to be lacking. Their style reflects their innocence, their time period, & their desire to exert their independence & individuality in a society that has labeled them as outcasts and to some extent written them off.

MEET SUZY:

SUZY LOVES:

Her Little Brother's Record Player
Her Cat
Writing Letters
Super Powers (her particular super power involves the pictured binoculars)
School Girl dresses
The Color Pink
Jaunty Berets
Her Lefty Scissors
Stolen Library Books (about children with superpowers)
SAM

MEET SAM:

SAM LOVES:

His Coonskin Cap

His bebe gun

Writing letters

Cartology

Setting up camp

Tighty whities

Cooking trout over an open fire

The idea of family

Suzy's little brother's record player

SUZY

Sam Loves Suzy, Suzy Loves Sam & they both love MOONRISE KINGDOM, the world they create together. Below are some ways you too can dwell in Moonrise Kingdom:

The Inspiration: 

I LOVE:

the lemon yellow

the mini dress

the "Sunday School" shoes

the black sailboat wallpaper (so reminiscent of the zebra wallpaper from the Royal Tennenbaums!)

the old-fashioned record player

The Interpretation:

Chalayan Mini Dress: $730
(grown up yellow mini dress)

Equipment Blouse:$268

A vintage print like the walls

A modest blouse fit for Susie

Cole Haan Skylar Oxford: $248

Pottery Barn Retro Record Player
A retro record player that is slightly less portable but also plays your iPod
aka this is not your little brother's record player

The Inspiration:

I LOVE:

the beret
the blending of different shades of pink
the coat/cape (she does have superpowers, after all)
the beetle earrings (difficult to see in this picture but made for suzy by sam)

The Interpretation:

Lowie Cashmere Beret: Originally $82.85- SALE $31.48

RED Valentino Bow Coat in Pink: $895

Kenneth Jay Lane Emerald Drop Earrings: $130

(a more practical take on green beetle & fish hook earrings)

The Inspiration:

I LOVE:


the wildflowers
the structured suitcase
the picnic basket
the pale pink dress
the peter pan color

The Interpretation:

Tucker Floral Print Blouse: Originally $265-Sale $106

How to Incorporate Wildflowers into your Wardrobe

J. Crew Collection Globe-trotter Centenary Suitcase: $1750

Kate Spade Straw Bag: Originally $375- Sale $289.99

Vintage Peach Dress with Peter Pan Color: $75

The Inspiration:

I LOVE:

 black feathers

The Interpretation:

Sass & Bide Silk Dress with Black Feathers: Originally 850 GBP- Sale 595 GBP

The Inspiration:

I LOVE:

the old fashioned paint set
the square glasses
the fur hat

The Interpretation:

Tucker Printed Silk Blouse: 250 GBP

(For those of us without artistic talent)

Oliver Peoples Parsons Eyeglasses: $340

Helene Berman Faux Fur Trimmed Hat: Originally $48- Sale $28.80

A match made in heaven: a mix of the fur hat that Sam wears & the beret that Suzy wears

The Inspiration:

I LOVE:

the blue eyeshadow

the pale lip

the binoculars

The Interpretation:

NARS Duo Cream Eyeshadow in "Burn it Blue": $34

Bobbi Brown Lipstick Sandwash Pink: $23

And the Supporting Cast Inspires as Well:

WALT BISHOP:

Ralph Lauren Rugby Madras Skirt: $148

 LAURA BISHOP:

Lilly Pulitzer Kolby Dress: $248

The KHAKI SCOUTS & COUSIN BEN:

Khaki Scouts

Cousin Ben

Jaeger Safari Dress: Originally $280- SALE: $93

Ray Ban Aviators: $169.95

The BISHOP BROTHERS:

J, Crew Nightshirt in Polka-Dot Flannel: $68

Restoration Hardware Vintage Monopoly: $149

SOCIAL SERVICES:

Burberry Trench Coat: 895 GBP

Acne Lucille Linen Dress: Originally $500-SALE for $300

(blue on blue)

The NARRATOR:

Pendleton Woolen Mill Handbag: $168

I leave you with one final image confirming the importance of style in a Wes Anderson film:

And one product inspired by Suzy's love of stolen library books:

Kate Spade Book Clutch

(because Suzy loves books about people with superpowers, the act of going on adventures & marrying men who also love adventure—making Osa Johnson's memoir the perfect book clutch for her)

(NOTE: an Osa Johnson print graces the main hallway in my apartment even though I am less adventure-prone than Suzy & Sam)

Stay tuned...

Singin' in the Rain

Singin' in the Rain: a love story 

Today is Monday & it is raining in New York City and when I say raining I mean lightening, thunder & gray skies. I woke up & saw the gray skies & I was so happy because it has been a while since I have been able to throw on my favorite green wellies. Having grown up in South Florida, there was not much need for shoes built specifically for inclement weather (even in the rainy season, the storms are brief &  you can just hop in the car to avoid wet feet). 


My first few weeks in college in New York City, I purchased the first pair of wellies I located, a pair of Tamara Henriques boots that were black with red hearts & that seriously limited the choice of outfits that one could wear on rainy days.

 In law school, I realized that I no longer had a pair of wellies to wear on rainy days and I wanted to avoid patterns & the resulting limited outfit options. My ultimate choice? Hunter wellies in my favorite color: green. I have spent years splashing around in my Hunter wellies & always found joy in rainy days after that purchase (I even added a pair of black & brown Aigle rain boots to my shoe closet, making rainy days almost preferable to perfect blue skies). 

Recently, however, I have felt tempted to "step out" on my rain boots...with a different brand in a different shade of green. The Le Chameau wellie that has been worn by the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge on numerous occasions has caught my eye for its apparently high quality materials, its more neutral shade of green, & its outdoorsy vibe. The Le Chameau Chasseur wellies are hand-crafted in France and have leather lining & a waterproof zipper. The Hunter boots are made in Edinburgh, are sold in more of a hunter green (makes sense given the company name) & have had frequent collaborations with Jimmy Choo (crocodile wellies!).

The Duchess of Cambridge & Prince Harry in Le Chameau

Both the Le Chameau & the Hunter rain boots have the royal stamp of approval. Although the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge wear Le Chameau, the Royal family has worn Hunter rain boots for decades. In 1977, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh awarded Hunter Boots with a Royal Warrant since they had been the chosen boot of the family for years.  The resulting "wellie war" reminds me of the Jack Rogers v. Stephen Bonnano feud over whose sandal Jackie Kennedy Onassis actually wore (both are very Palm Beach-y colorful sandals that claim to be the sandal of choice for Jackie O.). In the end, both Jack Rogers & Stephen Bonnano make an attractive & high quality sandal and both Hunter & Le Chameau make a rain boot that is chic & keeps one's feet dry in the rain. 


Ultimately, of course, it is a matter of preference. Both boots go with nearly everything one could hope to wear to brighten a rainy day. The Hunter boots are sold in a wider array of colors & the brand places equal emphasis on fashion & practicality. The Le Chameau is more of an outdoor shoe, a brand focused on classic lines & impeccable quality. Living in New York City where I walk through all types of weather, a boot that is a match for snow & rain might be worth the double investment. Either choice will almost certainly have you splashing through puddles & singin' in the rain as you thank the fashion gods for the gray & rainy day.

  

 Midnight in Paris: Owen Wilson espouses the joys of a rain storm in Midnight in Paris 

The Wilder Life

As a devoted fan of the Little House books growing up and really anything published by or about the Wilder and Ingalls families, I owned a calico bonnet or two and dreamed of making the "pilgrimage" to all the Little House sites. My mother, NOT a Little House fan, was never open to the journey. Wendy McClure, in her new  book The Wilder Life, takes Little House fans on the trail to Wilder fandom without ever having to leave their own little house.

McClure is not some Laura Ingalls Wilder superfan who has spent year after year visiting Wilder landmarks (that was actually my third grade teacher+). McClure instead rediscovered the books after she was an adult, reading through her copies that had remained untouched for decades. She undoubtedly found in those pages what every adult finds in the nostalgia of returning to a world that had seemed so real as a child and that remains intact when you return to it years later. She found comfort & friendship & the desire to continue that relationship with the Little House world & that piece of her childhood for as long as humanly possible.

The Little House books lend themselves to that feeling of nostalgia through a friendship that the reader forms with Laura Ingalls within moments of opening the first of the Little House books (Little House in the Big Woods although I would understand if you did not truly feel as though you were part of the family until Little House on the Prairie).  Laura is a girl who lives in a different time, a girl who faces hardships unimaginable to individuals born in the latter part of the twentieth century. Although we can never completely empathize with the specific trials & tribulations of prairie life, little girls everywhere knew exactly how Laura felt about sibling rivalries, gender roles, school, parents, boys, the mean girls at school, the holidays and the little joys and disappointments that fill a person's daily life regardless of the period in time they occupy. Although Laura the author wrote about Laura the girl approximately sixty years after she left behind her childhood the stories feel as if they are being narrated by a child the age of the Laura character in the book. Laura Ingalls Wilder captures the precise feeling of being each and every age and girls emotionally attach to the fact that even in this different time and place there is someone who experienced the same thoughts, hopes, petty jealousies, small kindnesses & uncertainties.

As a result, even as an adult I want to be in the covered wagon beside Jack & Ma & Pa & Mary & eventually Carrie & Grace. The simplified version, the sugarcoated version of prairie life (and it was undeniably sugarcoated...the destruction of crops by grasshoppers occupied a brief chapter and the period of Wilder's actual life where she was separated from her family due to financial circumstances never makes her chapter books) is  a place we all want to live & McClure's internal exploration of that yearning to join Laura on her travels and her literal exploration of the homesites of Wilder are a delight for any Little House fan even if you have not stopped by to visit the Ingalls family in quite a while.

For those of you that are interested in Wendy McClure's prairie exploration, read her book or simply follow her on Twitter (@HalfPintIngalls).

A Look to Look Into: Mixing Prints

The sweltering heat of New York City summers has arrived & I am sitting in my air conditioned office gazing longingly at the outdoors (I am a Florida native after all...sweltering heat is quite comfortable for me). The summer classics have returned: stripes, panama hats, tortoise sunglasses, white jeans, chambray shirts, & lightweight white button downs are all around me as I walk down the street on the weekends.

I am looking for something more exotic to match the tropical temperatures we are steadily marching towards but I am still a classic girl at heart. My initial thought was to wear one of my numerous St. James striped shirts for summer with a different print (or perhaps even a larger stripe) on the bottom. Then I remembered a print that I glimpsed a few weeks ago on Megan Draper during an episode of Mad Men (you know the one...when she pitched her Heinz Baked Beans idea to Don during At the Codfish Ball) & the possibilities for mixing prints suddenly seemed endless.

I did some research and found some highlights for your viewing pleasure:

The Fledgling Inspiration:

 Megan Draper's Skirt in Mad Men's Season 5 Episode At the Codfish Ball

 Audrey Tautou as Coco Chanel in Coco Avant Chanel

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel is often credited with popularizing the striped shirt look so many of us elect to wear throughout the summer months. 

Print Safari:

 From the Blog HAPPILY GRAY

 From the Blog CUPCAKES & CASHMERE

Both of the Above Images from the ATLANTIC-PACIFIC Blog

 Scar Jo in Mixed Prints

Diane Kruger Mixing Stripes & Florals

 Anne Hathaway with a Casual Interpretation of Mixed Prints

 Olivia Palermo keeps it Simple on the Bottom & Mixed a Subtle Pattern with a Slightly More Intense Pattern on Top (Note that BOTH patterns are in contrasting by complimentary fabrics)

Emma Watson Gets into the Mix






How would you mix prints? I will try it out this weekend & report back (hopefully my camera will be back in action by then!)


And, as always, I will leave you with my favorite image &, in my opinion, an image of one of the masters at mixing patterns, Tory Burch: