If Actors In Famous Movie Scenes Were Costumed From My Wardrobe

Screen Shot 2015-05-28 at 9.16.06 PM

West Side Story

Tony runs through the alley, calling for Maria. She appears, and he turns towards her delicate voice.

Maria is perched on her fire escape wearing flannel drawstring pajama pants and an old Coldplay t-shirt. Tony makes his way towards her. If he’s disappointed, you couldn’t tell by his beaming smile. Wishing she had left her bra on until it was closer to bedtime, she decides to play this coyly.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Holly is still seated in the backseat of the taxicab. Paul holds the door. “You call yourself a free spirit, a wild thing, and you’re terrified somebody’s gonna stick you in a cage…” 

The camera focuses on Holly, who is enveloped in an enormous puffy coat, staring intently while taking a quick, nervous drag from her cigarette. The shot is tight and direct, and the oversized puffy hood takes up more than half of the screen. Then — dramatically — Holly rests her head on the back of the seat, and the whole puffy hood bulges around her dainty features, making her appear as though she is, in fact, caged.

Casablanca

The fog is thick, the air is heavy, and Ilsa is grappling with the heartbreaking news that Rick won’t be getting on the plane with her after all. The camera carefully frames Ilsa’s face, and we see that her eyes are glistening with tears. She’s ready for travel in her gift-shop “Sun n’ Sand” Panama/fedora crossover hat with neon green ribbon.

The Great Gatsby

The room is heavenly. A gentle breeze blows through the sheer curtains, causing them to billow around two slim figures.

“Is it really you?” Daisy coos to Nick. She is lounging in a pair of jeggings. The cap sleeves of her blouse are dusted with tiny silver sequins. Over time, more than a few of the sequins were bent in the wash, so now when they catch the sun just right, they wink little rays of light—like a beacon on the water.

Out of the corner of his eye, Nick also spots Jordan. She stretches fully, as if emerging from a cocoon. Jordan, as always, is the essence of leisure and sport in her full velour suit.

Cleopatra

With a record-breaking number of costume changes, Cleopatra wears 65 different outfits throughout this 1963 movie. In one famous scene, Cleopatra rests atop her throne, wearing a beckoning grin. Her posture speaks to her authority and power. Her gaze is piercing, and she commands the respect of all in her gold bikini bathing suit top paired with a vaguely animal-print sarong. She is also wearing metallic gladiator sandals, because that’s from a similar time period, right?

How to Marry a Millionaire

Pola Debevoise sits in the window seat of an airplane. Her signature blonde bombshell hair is done up in rolling, voluminous curls. She wears a simple button-up shirt, a black blazer, and a lightweight scarf. “Well, you know what they say about girls who wear glasses?” she says, delivering the line with a breathy sigh to the gentleman seated next to her.

The man urges her to try them on, and Pola reluctantly agrees. She pulls the glasses out of her bag, unfolds them, and grips them on both sides. She hesitantly slips on the oval frames, made of purple-colored plastic. They are dull from scratches, a little crooked, and there’s a permanent smudge on the left lens. These are glasses meant for a Friday night at home with a pint of ice cream.

With a face that is usually nothing but stunning, Pola directs her attention to the man. “You’re crazy,” he says. His next line is, “You look better with them on.” But as he stares at the purple glasses, he has to gather the strength to say it.  

The Wizard of Oz

Dorothy closes her eyes and clicks her sensible black combat boots together three times. “There’s no place like home.”

Tags: , , ,

29 Comments

  1. literarysara +55

    I love the image of Holly Golightly in a puffy coat. In this film adaptation, the movie ends right after Holly says “people don’t belong to people” and dumps Paul, rather than the cat, unceremoniously out of the cab into the cat.

    1. literarysara +63

      On reflection, I should point out that as a former museum employee I have a deep dislike of puffy coats and the people who wear them, so the reason I “love” Holly in a puffy coat is that it gives her character depth and challenges my prejudices.

  2. maccrocodile +60

    I like that the neon green band on the hat in Casablanca shows even though the movie is in black and white. That’s some intense green.

  3. dorianneemmerton +87

    I admit I have issues with suspension of disbelief whenever someone in a movie or TV show is surprised by a visitor when at home alone an they are dressed in real clothes, including a bra.

    1. MuseKray +34

      I’m currently roommates with a straight dude and I pretty much have to wear a bra until I know I won’t be getting out of my room for the rest of the night.
      I’m hoping to get my own place soon.

      1. EdmundHClinton +16

        I have just given up with mine (both my housemate and my bra). These are my breasts, DEAL WITH THEM.

    2. Mrs_Peel +4

      See, I need boob support pretty much 24/7, so I basically always have on some sort of bra (except when I’m showering).

      The ones I wear around the house/ to bed are ancient cotton bras that I’ve washed so many times in the washing machine (even though they say not to do that) that the underwires have come out.

      1. dorianneemmerton +10

        I thought the washing machine was ok but the dryer was a no-no? Please teach me, I am uneducated in the ways of clothing care (and also lazy, and cheap, and thus have never given any credence to a “dry clean only” tag in the score and a half years of my existence as an adult in charge of her own laundry.)

        I’m a 38 DD or E, apparently; the last (and only) time I did an actual fitting I walked out of there with those 2 different sizes. So I don’t do any running, or even serious walking, without support but sitting, standing, and slowly drifting around my apartment in a fog of confusion regarding how exactly my life got here, is totally A-OK braless.

        1. Mrs_Peel +5

          I am far from expert in any clothing care myself, and also extremely lazy.

          I think you’re generally supposed to hand-wash bras to make them last longer (which I can’t be bothered to do). Or, if you do put them in the washing machine, you’re supposed to set it to “delicates” (which I don’t bother with either), or put the bras inside one of those mesh nylon bags (which I used two or three times, and then lost).

          I also put a lot of mine in the dryer, at least for a few minutes (to get rid of that crunchy, hanging-on-the-line feeling).

          1. dorianneemmerton +15

            I will meet you in the sartorial ring of hell, where we will be flagellated with all the clothing we mistreated in our lives. (The “delicates” cycle is to me as is “whites”: I do not own enough things that are either delicate or white to merit a full load of laundry. In with everything else ye go.)

          2. decantate +47

            You guys, I totally wear my bras into the shower. It’s my hand-washing. Soap up the breasts, then take the bra off, rinse, fling over the shower rod. See also: tights.

          3. dorianneemmerton +16

            I have seen all too many “life hack” click bait articles but never in my life have I seen a suggestion as simple, useful, and elegant as this.

          4. decantate +12

            Plus if I’m not actually showering that day because WHO HAS THE TIME, I just toss my tights and bras in the direction of my shower.

            Glad to help! Down with bra guilt! Those damned things cost way too much in the first place and then we have to treat them like they’re actual tiaras or something.

  4. GreenGrasses +43

    Lisa (Grace Kelly) flounces into Jeff’s apartment in Rear Window, pausing to adjust the drawstrings on her purple Emerson College hoodie. She kicks off her old grey sneakers and Jeff is glad he’s in a wheelchair so she doesn’t ask for his help pulling her jeans off.

    1. Mrs_Peel +38

      Raymond Burr enters the room menacingly and looms over Jimmy Stewart, who grabs desperately for his flashbulbs. Light flashes, illuminating Burr’s form-fitting, babydoll T-shirt featuring the Hypnotoad from Futurama .

  5. halloweenjack64 +29

    Stanley screams “STELLAAAAAAAAA” from the street, the streetlight illuminating the words on the back of his Henry Rollins Public Insomniac spoken word tour T-shirt: “WON’T SLEEP WON’T SHUT UP”

  6. Mrs_Peel +24

    Rosemary (Mia Farrow) peers into the crib in horror, then recoils. She puts her hands over face, covering her silk blouse with the stain on it that was too expensive to throw away, and isn’t really *that* noticeable as long as you wear a blazer over it and pull it down a little.

  7. Dorianne

    I will meet you in the sartorial ring of hell, where we will be flagellated with all the clothing we mistreated in our lives. (The "delicates" cycle is to me as is "whites": I do not own enough things that are either delicate or white to merit a full load of laundry. In with everything else ye go.)

  8. CleverManka +7

    Sensible combat boots 5EVAH. Also, I live in Kansas so that was particularly appreciated.

  9. Dorianne

    I have seen all too many "life hack" click bait articles but never in my life have I seen a suggestion as simple, useful, and elegant as this.

  10. mbculver +10

    Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) dives into her pool wearing a mismatched Athleta tankini from 2 or 3 years ago. As she and Dex talk about their sailboat, the True Love, and how yar she was, she pulls on a purple American Apparel polo dress that’s loose at the neck; her dirty black and pink Adidas flip flops sparkle in the sunlight by the deck chairs.

  11. Bittersweet

    Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) dives into her pool wearing a mismatched Athleta tankini from 2 or 3 years ago. As she and Dex talk about their sailboat, the True Love, and how yar she was, she pulls on a purple American Apparel polo dress that's loose at the neck; her dirty black and pink Adidas flip flops sparkle in the sunlight by the deck chairs.

  12. vet clinic +1

    What’s more, it turned out better that I anticipated! What’s more, none of vardenafil reactions, which is brilliant!