How to look happy: Julia's Eat, Pray Love wardrobe
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| India: Happy, getting happier |
Julia Roberts (playing the author Elizabeth Gilbert) embarks for a year in Italy, India and Indonesia with only one large duffle bag–an extended version of my month-long "Express Checkout" wardrobe experiment. Good, I thought, I'll see what she does with it.
Ha! She doesn't wear a single item of what she wore in one location in the next.
Her costume designer (the late Michael Dennison) wanted to show her evolution– from fraught to joyful– by changing her wardrobe her for each phase. Let's track the transition.
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| NYC: City-casual |
2. In Rome, a crisp shirt dress and ladylike sweaters, more femmy than NYC. Losing the black, but still contained.
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| Rome: Beginning to lighten up |
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| India: Wedding guest's sari |
4. Bali, the last locale: Vibrant and free, costumed in batiks and casual cottons, islandy blues and greens, and–to saunter with Mr. Right in Asia Lite, Javier Bardem– a floaty, sexy dress in peach and taupe tones.
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| Bali: Girl, you know I'm in loooove |
To look maximally happy (and possibly enlightened): reach for your colour-drenched shawl or chiffon scarf. Leave highly structured clothes in the closet. Wear dresses that swish, supple cotton or rayon pants rather than jeans. Rich hues– including textured neutrals, but not black– reflect a renewed heart.
I thought of a longtime friend, Laura. After several difficult years, Laura felt hard and cold; "There's a gate on my heart", she told me. She determined to break out of that constricted place.
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| Bali: Blissful in batik |
It worked; as her spirit lightened, new ease and love appeared.
Sometimes I see shots of women in the media and flinch; that toughness sneaks up on you, and the camera doesn't help.
"Eat, Pray, Love", light as bamboo wind chimes, provides a pretty travelogue with a bonus, a three-locale lesson in blissed-out dressing.
Comments
Meg
These days, the really structured pieces just feel too mannish to me, even the blazers that used to be my go-to pieces. Although I'm heavily into neutrals including black, my wardrobe has gradually transitioned to softer pieces in drapey knits. Not only are they more comfortable, but they're a way to keep some femininity flowing through a minimalist vein. But I also have a pink coat on the way to me now...
Interesting comment about the big city fashionistas' take on less structured and perhaps more feminine clothing.
I used to always prefer a jacket with most any ensemble, but find myself going to softer pieces as well. For me, it is about comfort, but I also notice that when I gain weight, the most structured pieces are more uncomfortable. Currently, I'm in a losing weight phase and wonder if my pretty structured pieces will become more appealing as I lose.
Pseu: Can't wait to see you in your pink coat!
Marguerite: let us know how it goes! EF have changed, for the better.
Not that I don't find some Coldwater Creek type stuff attractive, it just seems like the default "I'm a free spirit" choice. I don't know, maybe it would have been hard for a mainstream book and film to make sure the message got through to the masses without being pretty mainstream about how they codify freedom into the costuming.
Susan: No structured mens' tailored jackets for me, either, not b/c of weight (though I weigh more than in my 40s) but b/c of I no longer have to dress in formal business attire.
Someone: I didn't see a piece of linen in this film. Julia's Bali clothes are form-fitting, especially two low-cut dresses. (I searched for them online but could not find.) In India she wears some loose pants with tunic tops, which would be respectful given that she is in an ashram.
How you would you "codify freedom into the costuming"? And yes, this film is intended for "the masses".
I've never been a fan of the fitted men's wear blazer on women.
Personally, if I had a sari I'd wear it and nothing else.
Can anything be more beautiful than a sari?
Like you, I look for things that are not black but when the slush hits, ecru sits.
Belle: I live near Little India and am lucky to see saris often- the church a block away always has a stunning selection among its congregation. Like you, I find them absolutely stunning. Julia wore hers well. (But when I went to India I bought many shawls, because I knew I'd wear them!)
Here in Montréal (a very different climate) I've been trying to pare down. Oh, I'll always be boho, but as Someone said, overdoing hippie stuff can look a bit clichéed à un certain âge. It is fun seeing young people of the ecolo, "global justice" type wearing a variation on the clothing we wore decades ago, but with subtle differences. As Duchesse said, even semi-hippie types (of the artsy variety; not talking about bedraggled drug addicts) wouldn't let our bra straps show way back when!
I wouldn't wear a pink coat here, but perhaps I would if I lived in Southern California. Not only weather but also dominant colours in the landscape and architecture strongly influence what looks right. I bought some clothing in deep oranges when I was studying in Italy, and didn't wear these articles much returning here.
I love the look of saris as well - so graceful and elegant, and those fabrics. My favorite national dress. Some years ago I actually purchased sari fabric and made sarongs with them. Anyone can wear a sarong and they make terrific lounge-wear as well as warm weather garb.
Duchesse, your Indian shawls must be beautiful. Do you find it easy to incorporate them into your outfits
Years ago I worked with a hospital administrator (North American) who wore only saris, to work and off work- because she liked them. She was viewed as "eccentric", with fondness.
Fuji: I wear the shawls instead of a jacket, with everything; I have both casual and dressy ones. They roll up into a bag, so are perfect for travel. It's a way to borrow a tiny bit of the grace of Indian women. When I was in India, I could not get enough of women in their saris, the many ways of draping, the fabrics- fantastic!
I adore those shawls - S. always had one on in Amsterdam, as of course she was always cold there. Gracefully draped, of course.
Interesting theory - as usual your post has given me food for thought.
And now, I'll keep an eye out for the clothes as well.