Look-of-the-Day

We had a little trouble coming up with an Irish gown for “Fancy Friday,” and then remembered the 1992 film Far and Away!  Former spouses Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise star in the Ron Howard movie about Irish immigrants coming to America during the late 1800s, to stake their claim in American soil.  Kidman plays Shannon Christie, a wealthy girl who grows dissatisfied with her parents’ traditional views, and leaves for the US with Cruise’s character, Joseph Donnelly.  Shannon is accustomed to a cushier lifestyle than Joseph, so she emigrates across the ocean more dressed-up than her male companion.  She’s wearing a royal blue gown with a velvet top, leather gloves and purse, and a couple of fancy hats.  Shannon soon learns that rich clothing isn’t going to get her anywhere in this new land… Life is much tougher without money.  But she and Joseph decide to take part in a race across the wide plains of the Oklahoma Territory, in which the victors win part of the vast land!  Costume designer Joanna Johnston, who just celebrated her first Academy Award nomination for Lincoln outfitted the film.  Fun Fact: Three of Ron Howard’s great-grandparents actually rode in the Great Land Run of 1893!