Films capture the essence of a culture. They are little time capsules that can let us relive certain ancient periods or they can make us relate to modern day adventures. Regardless of all the great and epic stories that have been told through the magic of the silver screen, they're also great fashion inspiration. Every week I'll post a breakdown of a character's style and how you can achieve it yourself.
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Black Swan
The ballet movie with the infamous sex scene that has 5 oscar nominations and won 1 for best leading actress. Eery, suffocating and beautiful are the first words that come to my mind when trying to describe this movie gem. So far Darren Aranofsky directed five actors/actresses in such a brilliant way that they were nominated for an oscar. That shows that he has a talent for moviemaking, or at least for good casting. A couple of years ago he wanted to make a film about the love between a wrestler and a ballerina. Eventually he made two separate movies about, yes you guessed it right, a wrestler ('The Wrestler') and another one about the ballet world ('Black Swan').
There's something about the ballet world that keeps inspiring people to write psychological thrillers and gutwrenching movies about it. Maybe it's the strive for perfection and the mental torture that can come forth of it, that fascinates us.
Those two are the main themes throughout 'Black Swan'.The prima ballerina Nina, is so fragile and naive that she's the perfect fit to dance the role of the white swan in the upcoming swan lake performance. The duality of the persona of the swan however, requires the search for somebody who can portray the the black swan. Nina argues that she can dance both roles but the dominant choreographer deems her to be too insecure to dance that particular role as well. Enter, Lily, she's the opposite of Nina and is cast as the dark and alluring counterpart of the perfect white swan. Nina eventually explores the dark and rotting caves that are buried deep inside her own mind so that she can upstage lily. She becomes so enthralled and lost in this spiral of psychoses and negative influences that you can only watch this movie with eyes wide open and your popcorn untouched by your side because you don't even want to miss a second of this mental breakdown.
Nina
Like I described earlier, Nina is a fragile and naive ballerina. She's so focused on her ballet training and doing everything perfectly that she is not in touch with the modern world where everything seems to revolve around social skills and impulsive decision making. Her overly dominant mother makes her even more chained to her routine of practising and eating just enough to keep on dancing. The whole movie is about the evolution of her character so I picked one look from her 'pre-black swan' period and one during her black swan period.
Feathered Naiveté
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This look represents the porcelain doll like side of Nina. A classic pastel pink coat and a white feathery scarf mimic the appearance of a fragile but beautiful bird. Combine those with a dove gray skinny and heeled suede boots. A light gray bag pulls the look together and to top it off, paint your nails with a classy clear nailpolish to embody the pure character of White Swan Nina.
Tormented Lake Beauty
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If you want to stand out at a party and leave people wondering who you are then you should definitely take a fashion cue from this dark and gracious swan. Start by donning a little black dress adorned with feathers to give the impression of a tutu and with a black lace body. Nude tights and pretty nude lace shoes with a bow refer to ballet practice and the sweeter, much more innocent side that is somewhere hidden underneath that black femme fatale appearance. The seam at the back of those tights will give the impression of longer legs, and that's something every woman can use. A headwrap and dark berry lips are all the accessories you need to get a standing ovation without the psychological terror that Nina has to go trough.
