Film Fashion Friday: Netflix Instants

It seems that I have a theme going for March, featuring a few films from selected specific areas. This week I am focusing on some of the films you can stream instantly through Netflix. I love Netflix and have been very happy with their service. It's also really nice that they have a lot of great classics to stream live from your computer or PS3. If you haven't tried Netflix before, I highly recommend taking advantage of their free trial. If anything, you will have access to a plethora of instant films, including the ones featured in this post.

I absolutely adore this first film, Father's Little Dividend (1951). It's a really cute film with some classic '50s looks designed by one of my favorites -- Helen Rose (please pardon my miss-spelled name in the photo). I love the cast in this film too, which includes Elizabeth Taylor, Spencer Tracy, and Billie Burke.

The next film, My Man Godfrey (1936), is often considered among the best of the screwball comedies and I fully agree. I love the premise of the story: a rich man decides to take a job as a butler and then falls into a love triangle of sorts. Plus the on-screen chemistry between William Powell and Carole Lombard is hard to miss. If you are into '30s glamour and haven't seen this film yet, you definitely need to check it out! The gowns by Brymer are simply divine!!

The last film for this week is Cleopatra (1963). I decided to add this one in becuase it was recently just added to the instant section and I feel the wonderful make-up by Alberto De Rossi makes it worth watching. The costumes were designed by two different people; Novarese took care of the men and Renie designed for the women. This film made me really get into the egyptian look because I felt the costumes were more egyptian inspired than authentic, plus Liz has like a million costume changes!!

Since I sorta have a self imposed mini series going on, next week will conclude the weekly themes for Film Fashion Friday and the following week I will return to more normal posts. Keep sending in your requests!

Emily

Film Fashion Friday: City Without Men (1943)

Welcome to Film Fashion Friday!! This week's film is a Linda Darnell picture from 1943. It was released in January, so much of the fashion is coming out of 1942. There is no costume designer/director for this film, which I am not too surprised since this is more of a B film. The director is Sidney Salkow and he would go on to direct a lot of TV shows -- most notably "The Addams Family."

Although this film is only 75 minutes long, there are many costume changes that display great wartime fashion. Linda Darnell has some really stylish hairstyles going on as well. I am loving the jumper she has on in the opening scene of the film. I have been wanting one of these for a long time....still no luck yet. There is a grey one on eBay at the moment and I am considering it!!

City Without Men has a super supporting cast of some lovely Hollywood stars, including Margaret Hamilton and Glenda Farrel. Both give wonderful performances.

This film is available on dvd and Netflix. However, I should warn you that it is not a good print and the sound is pretty muffled. It is still a great film to watch for both the fashion and the plot. Plus Linda Darnell is just awesome...I LOVE her!!!

My honorable mention this week is The Big Sleep. Another grand 40's picture. It's hard to resist Bogie and Bacall. Lauren Bacall has some awesome outfits and there are a lot of female characters in pants. I especially noticed the hats that the extras were wearing...they were fabulous enough just to watch the films for that reason alone!!

Emily