Miss Pris

These ones are going to be short coz I am not sure anyone likes the costumes Blade Runner as much as I do and I don't want to bore you this early on :)

Pris is really uncomfortable watching. You are never sure she is going to flip. For her, Christopher Kane I think.

Blade Runner Part Three: Rachel

Rachel is feminine in the extreme. Her costumes exaggerate her forms. As waisted as a burlesque performer, with shoulder-pads even in excess of eighties norms and wrapped up warm, she is like a fetish doll. As the story evolves, this doll-like, cosseted character shows another side to her character, a more casual look of domestic life. The costume designers never leave her dowdy whilst in this mode though, she is always the kind of glamorous that I would always aspire to.

(Top Right: Rachel, Top left: Kenzo A/W09, Far Right: A/W09 Alexander McQueen houndstooth dress, Right: Goddess Turn Up Blouse by Future Classics, Below right: Sean Young plays Rachel relaxing at home).

Blade Runner Part Two: Attempting the Profane

Some things should be left alone. The re-telling of Alice and Wonderland, Mr Burton, for one. But I cannot help dabbling in the profane. When I began writing this blog in Autumn of 2009, I had recently re-watched Blade Runner. I watched it for the sheer enjoyment of it but in researching it I found the lengths that the stylists had gone to, the details that they had considered. Thinking a great deal about how the character Rachel had been made to look so stylish, so feminine made me think how I would take on the challenge of dressing someone for a party as one of the iconic characters of Blade Runner.

The following blogs are a scrap book of my ideas, my own re-telling:

Blade Runner Part One: Devil is in The Detail:

Inspiration: Blade Runner, 1983

Street-level is hemmed in, dark and greasy with rain. The underworld of LA, populated by the criminals and illicit activity, contrasts with the luxury and spaciousness of the skyline living of the Tyrell Corporation. Ridley Scott sets the scene.

The film’s costume designers, Michael Kaplan* and Charles Knode, are slavish in their attention to detail. The costumes are character driven rather than being film-driven. Gaff’s costumes are meticulous and calculated; Deckard’s are a disheveled, nonchalant uniforms. Pris wears the provocative, coquettish outfits of a futuristic gymnast. Rachel is a doll either cinched in or wrapped in cotton wool, ever refined, ever measured. Roy seemingly relaxed in an overcoat, poised to attack at any given moment in sleek body-con; a killing machine.

I love it. That is styling at it’s best.

*Kaplan has also worked on a couple of my favourite (all David Fincher) movies including S7ven, The Game and Panic Room.

Inspiration: Kenzo and Missoni A/W09

In a parallel universe I would be living in Portugal on a remote cliff-top shack that would bake in the summer and shiver in the salty winds of winter. I would have left London for the Opt-out packing my cumbersome leather suitcase only with essentials.

This opt-out is different, this is My Opt-out and I am going to be considering my wardrobe carefully because in this caveatted ‘escape from the trappings of the material,’ the materials matter!

Inspired by the beautiful knitted layers of Kenzo and Missoni's Autumn/Winter 2009 collections, this is my Desert Island Wardrobe:

Summer: flimsy, see-through dress. No sunglasses – wrinkles are OK on this trip, positively encouraged. I will just have one and I will handwash it every evening and let it dry on the line overnight.

Winter: this is key (I am a cold person). For the feet think Peruvian leather-soled socks for round the house and tough workboots for outside - something sturdy, lace-up; leather that will weather (I’ll be here for years writing my novel and making improvised furniture). On the body, leggings – ruched and camel-coloured like the pictured Missoni ones, ‘Boyfriend’ workshirts and woolen cardigan layers drawn in with a leather belt. Tight, long-sleeved t-shirts to wear underneath. I'll leave clashing patterns to the knits.

Not sure how laptops and blogging fit in to the Opt-Out so enjoy it up while you can.