Apparently a very simple garment, the vest calls to mind countless symbolic meanings, almost as having multiple personalities, depending on the cultural and historical contexts.
Virtus and Voluptas: it covers yet it emphasizes. Despite representing two such contrasting ideas, the vest manages to resolve this conflict in the awareness of how difficult the way of Virtue, and how spontaneous that of Pleasure ,are .The inherent sensuality in the image of a vest evokes a carnal love and a material physicality.
The most exciting vest in the history of images appears in the movie “ a Streetcar Named Desire” worn by a Marlon Brando at the peak of his erotic charge. With Brando, a new type of introspective and intense actor was born. In the movie he manages to superbly represent the integration difficulties faced by the Polish immigrants in America during the 50’s.
The vest therefore acquired somewhat negative connotations despite, to some degree, being linked to the overwhelming charm of an already acclaimed Marlon Brando.
Also known as “wife Beater” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/29/fashion.celebrity), the nickname comes from the American mug shots from the 50’s: the vest appeared to be the preferred garment by the men accused of domestic violence.
The same sort of sex appeal , this time of a feminine nature, is somewhat intensified in the Italian Neo-realist movies by very sensual and feminine actresses in nightgowns.
An unforgettable memory: Anna Magnani in the movie “Bellissima” by the Italian director Luchino Visconti. Being almost all the time undressed, the actress manages to be somewhat dishevelled and yet extremely sexy thanks also to the black lace nightgown she’s wearing rather elegantly.
This garment acts as a complement , almost as the ideal frame for a shapely body, immediately transforming the actress in an icon of femininity and sensuality.
The vest had the ability to cover and at the same time expose the most erogenous parts of the body, such as a man’s shoulders or a female décolleté. It also sharply truncated the lower body with an extremely bourgeois cultural hypocrisy, which elected not to reveal the pubic region, certainly the most sensual part of the body.
The N&M vest manages to remove this hypocrisy by accentuating these areas thanks to its strong lines.
ANNA MAGNANI
Anna Magnani, whom I remember on a poster with a black lace night gown as she got off her bed a little dishevelled, and I saw her beautiful, gorgeous, for being able to scream her feelings to the world…
Movie review : “ A Street Car Named Desire”
Blanche Dubois, played by Vivien Leigh , emerges from New Orleans station’s smoke to catch a tram named Desire, which will end its journey at a psychiatric hospital.
To drive her insane will be Stanley Kowalsky ( Marlon Brando), in his debut after the huge success enjoyed in New York’s theatres.
With Brando, cinema was seeing a new, intense, introspective, explosive, and an interpreter of an innovative acting technique or “method” (method acting) at the service of the social realism of Kazan’s cinema. The “method” was derived from the system created by Constantin Stanislavski in his quest for “theatrical truth” and practised by Lee Strasberg at his Actors Studio in New York and by Karzan himself.
“ A Street Car Named Desire” is a great classic borrowed from Broadway, an adaptation of the 11 scene play of the same name by Tennessee Williams. Both versions were directed by Elia Karzan.
He was the first director to utilize Hollywood’s melodramatic conventions to narrate the social reality and its conflicts and to dramatise relationships between men and women.
At the heart of this drama, filmed at the beginning of the fifties and set in the post war period, there are two women, a man and a challenge, which he launches against the polite world of Blanche and, before that, against the whole courtesy and decency social conventions. Despite the soundstage being let down by the set, it is the characters performances and interpretations that manage to project and convey an extraordinary naturalism. It is on Leigh’s powdered face and surprised expression, Brando’s agitated look and soaking wet face that kazan focuses on.
The camera appears to go beyond the actors’ phenomenology, reaching deeper and creating an inner journey to reveal and free Stanley’s sadism and erotic charge on one hand , and Blanche’s instability and extravagance on the other. The living together, the feeling of captivity and the economic hardship they experience result in an unbearable strain on their relationship and ultimately into a final explosion of hateful violence.
At the time of its release, in 1951, the movie received as many as nine Oscar nominations and went on to win four: Vivien leigh’s Best Leading Role, Kim Hunter’s Best Supporting Actress, Karl Malden Best Supporting Actor and Best Art Direction. No award was instead given to a Marlon Brando, as usual , very happy to avoid the limelight, beaten by Humphrey Bogart for his role in “The Queen of Africa”. The power of expression of his cinema, his development of the characters from within and his discovery of some of the most iconic Hollywood faces could almost be enough to forget his involvement and collaboration with the House Committee on Un-American Activities on April 10, 1952 (the McCarthy era). Those were the times of the which hunts and the rebels on the front line. Kazan choose the wrong one.
The night gown
Operation nightgown. The secret clothes sublimated in the Neo-realist movies by Anna Magnani, Sofia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida first, Laura Antonelli -and eventually Monica Bellucci and Sabrina Ferilli- later, return to centre stage putting forward again a modern version of an old, unfading and recurring theme. That scalloped silk undergarment that stimulates the desire in men reveals itself, managing to maintain its seductive quality even when partially concealed under thick cardigans, combining sensuous elegance with its functional quality.
It was to be expected, at difficult times such as this, that the nightgown would resurface as an antidote, a reassuring remedy, carrying all the healthy connotations of prosperity and maternal warmth that the figure of a voluptuous woman is able to project. Fortunately though, fashion revivals have the quality of never reappearing in quite the same way. Forget the boudoir scented, textbook diva clones. Forget the waving of the short chemise the likes of those worn by teenagers over their jeans. Old stuff. The new aesthetic is the product of a process deeply rooted in very recent times. It is the source of the modern cosmetic nightgown that a number of designers have been offering , for several seasons, together with lace, see-through and/or extremely light dresses – nylon and elastic silk – to conceal and even somewhat contain the body, improving it as with a corrective skin. From there comes the formula of the silk nightgown, thick jumper, leggings and boots available in every shop. A “ I left in hurry” look that is actually planned to the smallest details in front of a mirror , which creates a figure slimming, winning combination of light and heavy and permitted also by the changing climates due to the global warming. It wouldn’t otherwise work as such a combination with heavier clothes would probably create a Michelin man effect able to make even a size zero look fat.
“ Today’s models are very different from the ones that first appeared on the catwalk during the eighties, when the nightgown was a revealing evening garment to say: “look, look at me I want to seduce you”. These days it is not longer worn in such contrived manner. Neither a dress nor lingerie, it becomes an accessory, a complement to be worn with more substantial garments, even sportswear to allow a subtle and discreet femininity to come through. Indeed, it is in this game of contrasts – thick and thin – and its relaxed and laid back use that lies that flash of wonder revealing an intriguing natural quality. A n art Kate Moss is a master at”, says Alberta Ferretti, whose fortunes were built on the nightgown. Even in collections such as Blumarine’s the nightgown is a constant presence , paired with fluffy pullovers and cardigans in soft shades , aimed at the emerging east European beauties , “Ever more important clients for the Italian market, seeking an elaborately finished product that includes the use of Swarowski embroideries”, says Anna Molinari.
The details of the “how” are a matter of age. If Ermanno Scervino borrows the “Cat on a hot Tin Roof” version for the thirty –year- olds, with mohair embroideries on silk, Kristina pleases the fiery twenty-year-olds. The designer from Piedmont, accustomed ,from her early days, to combining ready-to-wear with lingerie says, “ We have learned to wear this garment as we would any other essential item in the wardrobe, appreciating its more mundane qualities, but the young women and their rock attitude are the ones who better deal with it. Worn over a t-shirt and under a macro cardigan, that only reveals what is underneath. The right “punctuation” is also essential: matching/ coloured/plain socks, long chain and stiletto boots. All seasoned with a great deal of nonchalance.
Colours? Pale shades, but black also, without overdoing it with the punk references that would create it a stale effect”. At the Hotel Fontainebleau in Miami, over the past few days the sexiest fashion show of the year took place. Victoria’s Secret’s show which featured for the third time “Intimissimi”, the only Italian brand to sell in the American chain’s shops after the deal signed with Limited Brands Inc.
Among the guests were Cameron Diaz and Mariah Carey. The fifteenth edition of the show saw the biggest and most beautiful top model the likes of Adriana Lima, Karolina Kurkova, Alessandra Ambrosio, Heidi Klum and Selita Banks take part. The nightgown stole the show. After the TV commercial by Gabriele Muccino for Intimissimi with a Monica Bellucci in a Tanguera version, the brand from Verona increased sales of this garment by 20%.
This subject has its fans, and judging by amount of visits at http://web.tiscali.it/sottoveste/, they must be a lot.
Apparently a very simple garment, the vest calls to mind countless symbolic meanings, almost as having multiple personalities, depending on the cultural and historical contexts.
Virtus and Voluptas: it covers yet it emphasizes. Despite representing two such contrasting ideas, the vest manages to resolve this conflict in the awareness of how difficult the way of Virtue, and how spontaneous that of Pleasure, are .The inherent sensuality in the image of a vest evokes a carnal love and a material physicality.
The most exciting vest in the history of images appears in the movie “ a Streetcar Named Desire” worn by a Marlon Brando at the peak of his erotic charge. With Brando, a new type of introspective and intense actor was born. In the movie he manages to superbly represent the integration difficulties faced by the Polish immigrants in America during the 50’s.
The vest therefore acquired somewhat negative connotations despite, to some degree, being linked to the overwhelming charm of an already acclaimed Marlon Brando.
Also known as “wife beater”, (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/29/fashion.celebrity), the nickname comes from the American mug shots from the 50’s: the vest appeared to be the preferred garment by the men accused of domestic violence.
The same sort of sex appeal, this time of a feminine nature, is somewhat intensified in the Italian Neo-realist movies by very sensual and feminine actresses in nightgowns.
![magnani-136x150[1]](http://www.dressspace.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/magnani-136x1501.jpg "magnani-136x150[1]")
An unforgettable memory: Anna Magnani in the movie “Bellissima” by the Italian director Luchino Visconti. Being almost all the time undressed, the actress manages to be somewhat dishevelled and yet extremely sexy thanks also to the black lace nightgown she’s wearing rather elegantly.
This garment acts as a complement , almost as the ideal frame for a shapely body, immediately transforming the actress in an icon of femininity and sensuality.
The vest had the ability to cover and at the same time expose the most erogenous parts of the body, such as a man’s shoulders or a female décolleté. It also sharply truncated the lower body with an extremely bourgeois cultural hypocrisy, which elected not to reveal the pubic region, certainly the most sensual part of the body.
The N&M vest manages to remove this hypocrisy by accentuating these areas thanks to its strong lines.
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In medieval times gloves symbolised nobility and chivalry. During the times of the duels, “to throw down the gauntlet“ (or glove) indicated the intention to issue a challenge to a rival, who would most likely accept by picking it up in order to protect their honour.
embroidered and decorated with metal ornaments, occasionally gold or silver, and with ring slits.
Often scented, the story tells of Caterina de Medici being able to murder the Queen of Navarra by soaking her gloves with a poppy based lethal concoction.
of class and prestige, but still managed to retain their elegance and charm. During the 1940’s, Rita Hayworth explodes into the limelight with all her beauty and glamour in the most memorable scene from the movie “Gilda” where she slowly removes her long black glove.
In much the same way, Marilyn Monroe drives men crazy, all over the world , in the movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, wearing a pink satin gown, with matching gloves, strictly long and extremely sexy.
With “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” instead , Audrey Hepburn became the queen of refined elegance in a black satin evening gown, with a pearl necklace and- of course- long black satin gloves. Still today, gloves can be a purely aesthetic symbol of elegance and vanity and the use of different materials and shapes characterises their status. On the catwalks it is possible to see all kinds of different models and colours, presented with every collection with character and glamour, and various styles going from the elegant to the seductive to the sporty, dynamic and just practical.
The Black beret, considered to be the revolutionary headgear par excellence, has certainly deserved a place in wardrobes of the symbols of the 1900’s.
the world. Different colours are used to characterize the various corps and units, sometimes together with a distinctive badge or coat of arms.
The classic , iconic image of Che Guevara wearing his black beret decorated with the Cuban flag’s gold star is the most famous and ubiquitous image in circulation. This hugely famous portrait capturing Che Guevara’s firm and stoic expression whilst taking part in a memorial service for the victims of the La Coubre explosion was taken by the photographer Alberto korda (http://www.venceremos.it/guevara/korda.htm ). The commercial exploitation of this image reached levels the photographer would have never imagined. Unfortunately, shortly before his death, Albert korda was forced to start a legal battle against a British advertising agency for supplying the image used in a Smirnoff Vodka advert.
within the army and by important militant revolutionary figures, in early 1900’ the beret finds its way to bohemian artists the likes of Pablo Picasso, quickly becoming the essential accessory for different and unconventional look.
Worn with the crown to one side, the beret sees something of a revival with Fayne Dunaway in the movie “Bonnie and Clyde”, Hollywood masterpiece of the 1970’s . Initially dismissed as only another gangster movie, it was subsequently reviewed and appreciated for its references to the rebellious tendencies in the 1970’s America. As well as offering an analysis of interpersonal relationships and a more in depth psychological one never before seen, this magnificent movie represented an essential inspiration for the fashion of the time: “ from the moment the beret rested on Dunaway’s blonde head that hat would never be the same”.
D’Aurevilly focuses on Brummel, pointing out that he loved 
provoking astonishment rather than pleasure and that impertinence must ally itself with grace:
practical value of a gift often appears negligible ( if not so much as inappropriate ) and it pales in comparison with the prestige of a precious object, a jewel or a piece of art.
passion for the theater. In reality, Singer’s invention was merely to collect and rationalize previously developed ideas, the difference being that his concept was extraordinarily functional.
And the weaver said, “Speak to us of clothes.”
But shame was his loom
