True Romance
True Romance is a 1993 romantic black comedy. It came out a
year before Tarantino’s breakthrough Pulp Fiction.The main characters are Christian Slater who
plays Clarence Worely, a shy, socially awkward loner who works in a comic shop
and Patricia Arquette who plays Alabama, a beautiful blonde hooker who is a
birthday gift to Clarence from his boss. It is a story of love at first sight.
Clarence promised Alabama she didn’t have to see her pimp again and told her he
would go and get her bag of belongings. This ended in a fight breaking out and
Clarence killing Drexl, Alabama’s pimp. During all the commotion Clarence
grabbed the wrong bag which they later discovered was full of cocaine, cocaine
with a value of five million dollars. After this Clarence and Alabama marry and
elope with a plan to sell the cocaine, get rich and move to Cancun in Mexico to
start a family...unaware that they were being followed by gangsters who wanted
the drugs back. After many scenes of extreme violence and near death
experiences, the film ends with Clarence and Alabama on a Cancun beach with
their son Elvis.
The reason I love True Romance is
not only because it’s a cult classic, it is because the viewers get to see the
ending they wanted. Make-up and fashion
in True Romance really mirrors the time it was set, everything about the
styling says the nineties. As it was set in the time when it was made and
not the past the fashion and make-up was a less important part of the film. Colour in True Romance is very important, when everything is going well and the
Worely couple are falling in love and happy bright colours are used and when the
colours become duller they are unhappy. Alabama Worely is the “It” girl of
the nineties fashion-wise for me, I love the garish, bright colours and bold
prints. I also love her platinum blonde bob and signature red lipstick.
Clarence on the other hand will be most remembered for his colourful Hawaiian shirt.
I believe that the clash between terrifying, violent situations and an
addictive love story, teamed with the style, hair and make-up that is retro to
us is what makes this an iconic cult classic.
Make-up artist – Ellen Wong
Hair stylist – Ron Scott
Wigs – Mary Barnard
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a drama film based on F. Scott
Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. It is set in the height of the
roaring twenties on Long Island. The Great Gatsby is a love
story about a man called Nick Carraway who after attending Yale moves to New
York, Long Island to a place called West Egg. Across the water on East Egg
lives his cousin Daisy Buchanan with her husband and child. Carraway befriends
Jay Gatsby, his cryptic millionaire neighbour who confides in him that he is in
love with Daisy who he has a history with, and asks for Nicks help to bring
them back together. Daisy and Gatsby eventually come together again. The Great
Gatsby is most notable for the lavish parties Gatsby throws in order to bump
into daisy and eventually ends in tragedy. Daisy betrays Gatsby, and Gatsby is
killed. It is a film about the dark side of the American Dream and to some
extent shows that even the man that has everything materialistically will still
die trying for the one he loves.
Fashion, make-up and hair is very important
in The Great Gatsby, at the 86th Academy Awards it won Best Costume
Design. As the film is set in the 20’s but made in 2013, it was very important
to get the clothes, hair and make-up right to show the time that was being
recreated in a modern and stylised way, this to me is why it is so iconic. The
costumes, hair and make-up show off the glamorous and luxury lifestyles some of
the characters have. Leonardo DiCaprio is a style icon by his own rights,
however he often outside the film looks and dresses like Mr. Gatsby. Pin curls,
flapper style, slicked back hair, fur,
suits, glitz and glamour define the film.
Key make-up artist – Wizzy Molineaux
Key hair stylist – Ashley Johnson
Wig maker – Kylie Clark
