Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Fashion Binge

I'm a little embarrassed. My boyfriend and I have watched eight episodes of Project Runway in three days. We are now experts at navigating buffering pauses. He thinks Nicholas is mean. I am reserving judgements on all points, except that guest judge Zanna Roberts, second from the left below, is fabulous. (Image: tv.com.)


We also watched Valentino: The Last Emperor on Friday night. To me, the message was that fashion - on this scale (go etsy!) - used to be a craft and is now a business. On one hand, Valentino's seamstresses in Turin preferred to sew by hand... even individual sequins, even when there's a machine! Some of my favourite scenes are when Valentino sketches with 5 pugs at his feet, and when the seamstresses come to his 45th anniversary celebration. On the other hand, Valentino sold his company in 1998 and it is passes from one multinational to a second in the movie. As the director says, "Valentino was literally, to use the cliche, a boy with a dream....Today, it's the money that makes the decisions, and they pick the talent." (Image: the movie's site).


But even film-making is a business. The movie lets you assume that Valentino and his partner, Giancarlo Giommetti, have a romantic relationship. Their relationship is lovely - productive and supportive - but they are no longer a couple. Is it because romance sells movies? Or is it me? Have I become so programmed to look for romance in movies that I can't appreciate other evolutions of love?

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