Fashion Movie Nights: ...And God Created Woman

...And God Created Woman or original title Et Dieu... créa la femme (1956), is the cinematic St. Tropez romp that solidified Brigitte Bardot as the French sexpot of the century.

Bardot stars as Juliete Hardy, a beautiful young orphan who scandalizes the lazy French island with her racy maneating ways. Caught in a love triangle between two brothers while fending off the wiles of a lusty sugar daddy, the blonde bombshell shows off her famous seductive skills best in this film.

High Fashion Cred: There isn't much high fashion, but this film debuted Bardot's much-copied look. Her casually tousled blonde locks, crumpled shirtdresses, and men's shirts worn as lingerie established Bardot as an influential trendsetter in the fifties (and today).

Best Dress: This is going to be a tie for me. On one hand, my absolute favorite look was her skintight red wiggle dress that she wore to the party, but the way she sexed up a plain short-sleeved shirtdress really exemplified what made Bardot such an iconic sex symbol.

Most visually awesome scene: In one of the final scenes, Bardot shakes her moneymaker with abandon for a group of locals, while her husband looks on in horror. These few short minutes show off Bardot's scintillating figure and sexual prowess, especially when she rips the front of her dress open and dances on a table.

Most unexpected scene stealer: My friends and I were astounded by the language and sexual content of this movie. It seemed EXTREMELY racy for a fifties film! It's pretty hilarious reading all the subtitles, too.

Substance score: 7. My friends and I thought this would just be another weird, but stylish French film, but it actually had a cohesive plot and was quite entertaining.

This was actually just a behind-the-scenes photo on set, but look at her waist!

And here's the trailer for your viewing pleasure:

1960s Costume Party!

A few of my friends dressed up in 1960s garb for White Rabbit Cabaret's retro party last weekend. It was a blast! We really got into our costumes, obviously.

My sister Rachel drew her inspiration from the scion of elegance and class, Jackie Kennedy. She bought her white gloves and pillbox hat at Harloh's, a fabulous Fountain Square vintage store, for the occasion. Her dress and shoes are her own.

 

French bombshell Brigitte Bardot was my inspiration for the event. I decided on this outfit last minute, but I was so obsessed with the pic of Bardot in pigtails that I had to copy the look! My dress is an old 60s bridesmaid dress I had remade a couple of years ago. A couple people thought I was trying to look like a retro Playboy bunny.

My friend Megan didn't have a specific person in mind when she thought up this outfit, but I think it looks exactly like something Swedish bombshell Anita Ekberg would have worn on a summer day. If you look closely enough, you can see my dog, Khan in the background. He looks so enthralled about our 60s outfits, doesn't he?

 

We scrambled this outfit together for Lindsey at the last minute. The hat is most definitely Audrey Hepburn, but the teeny tiny minidress and straight hair are SO Jane Birkin, who in my opinion is one of the sexiest women, ever. This is actually my dress, but it looks much more mini on Lindsey, since her legs are about two feet longer than mine!

 Kiley's Mondrian dress and Kelsey's go-go boots are iconic throwbacks from the 60s. Throw in some Raquel Welch hair, thick headbands, and huge fake eyelashes, and they look just like extras from Blow Up.

Clockwise from top left: close up of Kiley's hair and makeup; close up of my makeup, which took me forever to put on; Megan's colorful eyes; Rachel's pillbox hat from Harloh's.

We sort of look like a freakish version of the Spice Girls, don't you think? This was taken before we left my condo.

 Rachel's "sparkle" feature on her camera makes the margarita from Revolucion look pretty awesome, even if cell phones don't really fit into the 1960s theme...

 Again with the sparkle feature. Posh and Baby Spice at White Rabbit Cabaret.

I'm not sure what this camera feature is called, but it made Lindsey and I look like bored 60s housewives watching our children during cocktail hour.

 Kelsey and Rachel having the time of their lives, clearly!

Some girls we met with pretty rad beehives at White Rabbit Cabaret.

 

...Three of those girls ended up dancing behind the screen at the front of the bar wearing killer fringe outfits. White Rabbit Cabaret is a really unique place. If you haven't been, you should definitely check it out!

Me with Megan, Lindsey and Kiley getting our retro dance on.

The Dukes and the Conner sisters dancing awkwardly. Per Usual.

 

From left to right: Kelsey and Rachel; another partygoer in costume; Megan and Lindsey; Kiley and Kelsey do their best Mod Squad impersonation.

 

 I think it's appropriate to end with some Warhol style pics of Lindsey and I and Rachel and Kelsey. Hopefully White Rabbit will have more of these parties. I love playing dress up!