Look-of-the-Day

For Valentine’s Day, we usually show our favorite looks from romances, and since the Day of Love fell on a “Fancy Friday,” it only made sense to feature a romantic gown.  (Apparently, RED is the color we like for this holiday, considering it was last year’s choice and also our first Valentine’s post).  Here is the magnificent Cate Blanchett with Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  This is one of this editor’s all-time favorite cinematic dresses, and I’ve wanted to write about it since we started theSkinnyStiletto.  Blanchett plays Daisy, a girl who falls in love with the boy next door, but the only problem is, he’s trapped in the body of an old man who ages backwards.  Here, he’s come to admit his true feelings for her, but it’s a bit awkward as she’s a bright, youthful dancer and he’s still deep into middle-age (at least physically).  Costume designer Jacqueline West (who was nominated for her work on this movie) described how it was her favorite look of the film to Elle: “The red dress has become kind of an icon piece. It was a compilation of some different Claire McCardell designs that I loved. The long ballerina-length skirt in 1947 – no one else was doing that really in America. It was strictly in Europe, in France. McCardell’s favorite color was red, and I put the hooks and eyes that she used on a lot of her clothing down the front as an homage to her.”  West also went on to say it was also Blanchett’s favorite, and director David Fincher doesn’t like red, so Blanchett said having never worn a red dress himself, he “was perhaps not aware of its power.”  The result was stunning, and the most memorable part of the film is the way Daisy performs her ballet sequence for Benjamin in the gown (pictured, below).  It’s the moment when the viewer realizes that they’re destined for each other, even if they’re at opposite ends of their lives.