What I Wore: Dress (Chichwish), Leggings (Old; similar here), Shrug (Ruche), Shoes (Old Navy), Belt (Old), Gold Chain Necklace (Gift), Sunglasses (Fredflare.com)
I'm going to let you in on a secret- I kinda love movies. I *heart* them, if you'll excuse the visual pun going on here.... Oh, wait. That probably wasn't a secret at all, was it?
Here's what I think: A well-rounded person- they've read a few of the classic, right? I mean, there are things we get when we read The Grapes of Wrath, Huckleberry Finn, or Great Expectations. We get things from everything we read of course- comics and Bridget Jones have their place too- and we get things from anything we watch. But the right movies are kinda like the right books. They go further; they mean more. There are some things from films that- whether it is the themes, the honest emotion, the visuals, or something else- they move us; they become a part of the culture and our understanding is enriched from knowing them. So, I feel it is important to get literate with classic films.
Casablanca is one such movie. It is, in fact probably my favorite movie, but that's not why I say that. It's fingerprints are all over our pop culture. Which is why when my dad came home with this story, we were really, honest-to-goodness shocked. My dad, he teaches photography (Learn more about Photographic Communications at Northwest College here!) and one of the class assignments was a shot Film Noir style. Granted, kids today- he's not expecting them to have a deep, intimate knowledge of The Big Heat or even
The Big Sleep
. But he used Casablanca as an example of good, visual, film noir techniques.....And not a student had even heard of Casablanca, let alone seen it. How is that even possible? This is not obscure. I bought a Valentine's card with Casablanca, for goodness sake! "Here's looking at you kid," "Round up the usual suspects," "Play it again, Sam"* - It's everywhere. So, being the awesome teacher he is, they are going to have a movie night as homework.
Anyway, seeing this old poster for the seminal film reminded me of this. Funny, what sparks the topic of a blog post!
In regards to the outfit- this is my newest (and, I swear, last for awhile!) purchase. With the wedding coming up, I am trying to keep away from unnecessary spending, but a red dress seems like a closet staple, and I've been searching for the perfect one for months! This one is a pretty perfect fit on me and how sweet is the cut-out? Can't wait for warmer weather, so I can show that off some more. Oh, yes, you will definitely be seeing this baby a lot on the blog from now on. As to the accessories...well, I'll let you in on a real secret and say one of them juuuust might be used with a certain ensemble I'll be wearing in June. But which one is any reader's guess!
I love a woman in red. And those sunglasses are just perfect with this outfit. Lovely.
Reply DeleteThe Nautical Owl
love the light on your hair and the touches of red in these photos, beautiful!
Reply DeleteThis is such a gorgeous dress, i can't resist red and the heart cut out is SO wonderful! I really love movies too, going out to see a flick is absolutely one of my favorite things to do :)
Reply DeletexJennaD
Yay for movies. What are some of your favorites?
DeleteI love this outfit - your dress is gorgeous and that sweater is fantastic. I need some good long ones like it.
Reply DeleteI'll be completely honest with you: I haven't seen a single film you mentioned in today's post. I am a cultural barbarian. I should aim to see at least a few of them! I've also been meaning to read more "real" books, instead of wasting time trying to understand the twilight hype by reading all 4 books to eventually conclude that they are still horrible, haha. The Great Gatsby has been on my list for years. I saw a comic school play from an English theater about it when I was in high school and the story appealed to me. The same goes for Shakespeare. I have never read a full story by him. Does seeing the Leonardo DiCaprio version of Romeo and Juliette count? Probably not, heh?
Reply DeleteAlso, thank you for your compliment on my blog today! English is indeed not my mother tongue. My English is mostly self-taught. I used to watch the BBC Networks (from England) when I was just a child and I started watching The Bold and The beautiful for years later on in life. It is funny how quickly I picked it up! But It's far from perfect. I struggle with those dang tenses!
Actually my second language should be French as I live in a bilingual country. But I lost it after not practicing actively for years. I am a bit sad about it and should pick it up again!
To be fair to yourself Nikki, you are also from a culture that speaks a different language too. I know many films that are beloved the world over, but I do think that might make a difference in the number of pop culture references you see about Casablanca. And seeing a filmed version of a Shakespeare play should definitely count has having "read" Shakespeare. I mean, he wrote scripts to be preformed. I always feel it is much better to see a performance- filmed or otherwise- rather than just read it. It comes alive. :)
DeleteAs for reading "real" books- I'm actually horrible about that too. I think we get things from all we read (or watch) some might be "fluffier," more pure entertainment than others, but that's not bad.
I am now even more impressed with you being tri-lingual and being mostly self-taught with English. I actually trained to be an English as a Foreign Language instructor and never realized before how weird and strange so many of the rules of English were before that.
I love your sweater, it looks great with red! Casablanca is definitely a classic :)
Reply DeleteSo glad to have "met" another Casablanca lover!
DeleteThis dress is amazing! Red looks great on you.
Reply Delete¡me gusta mucho tu blog! ¿Te gustaría seguirnos una a la otra? También en bloglovin, facebook y hasta lookbook si quieres... déjame saber. <3
Reply DeleteNEW POST UP!
www.OntoMyWardrobe.com
I am sorry. I am sadly unable to understand your comment. I only know English, unfortunately. But thanks for stopping by!
DeleteLove your dress and you sunnies :)
Reply DeleteYou are looking pretty darn fabulous here, Kristian! Love the shades.
Reply DeleteRachel
Great this dress !
Reply DeleteFirstly, I adore your blog name! These pictures are amazing! I love your style very much; those sunnies are the best!
Reply DeleteIf you have the time, I'd really appreciate it if you could pop by my blog where I'm hosting a giveaway for my little vintage etsy store:
Hill Side Story
Hill Side Story on FB
xx Aliya
I'm so glad you like the blog name! Congrats on getting a facebook page by the way!
DeleteAdorable sunnies! Love them! You look very pretty in this dress dear!
Reply DeleteMaybe you would love to follow each other on gfc and bloglovin? Check my blog and let me know! I would love it!
Great pictures! Very Hollywood!
Reply DeleteSarah XxX
Ahh this dress with those sunnies are amazing!
Reply DeleteThis dress is ADORABLE! I love the heart cut-out! I actually just won a similar dress in a giveaway, I can't wait to wear it! And it's so cute how you matched your glasses to the dress. Love the photos in front of the theater too.
Reply Delete-Jessi
haircutandgeneralattitude.blogspot.com
ok its been awhile since i have fully READ a post but OMG YOUR PINTEREST BUTTONS ARE AWESOME.....where did you get the code for them i am totally obsessed. also HEART CUTOUT i love it :) and what an adorable theatre!
Reply DeleteFinally made it over to your blog Kristian! You look great here- I've been wanting heart sunglasses FOREVERR and I love the cut-out on your dress too! Additionally I've been searching high and low for new perfect black flats and you're the second person I've seen with those Old Navy ones. And it hardly takes me any convincing to make a new Old Navy purchase.
Reply DeleteLove your old movie obsession. They're classic for a reason! Not sure where you took these pictures but I love the Marquee/movie poster! Thanks for coming by my blog!
perfectly priya
Oh, I was so delighted to see that you named Casablanca as your favorite film! It's tied with Metropolis as my favorite but it was a movie I'd never actually seen until my husband got me to watch it with him. (He's a huge classic movies buff and it's one of his favorite movies as well, right up there with Das Boot.) It's such a iconic movie but it's so funny how few people of our generation have actually watched it!
Reply DeleteI always enjoy it so much when you talk about films, many of the ones you mention are movies I love as well. It's great to see those movies talked about rather than seeing a recap of the latest Hollywood blockbuster with people saying "OMG, whatshisname is so hot in it and it was amazhuing!" when the movie is just a fest of bad computer animation and acting. (With some boobage of course!) Your posts and thoughts are always so interesting and well thought out, I really enjoy reading through them.
Um, I totally forgot to mention that your red dress with the hearts cut out is the cutest thing ever.
DeleteI think you forgot to link to your dad's webpage.
Reply Deleteditto on loving that dress! I'm always amazed at how you pull everything together- dress, sunglasses, setting = squeee!
Oh, thanks for catching that, Ginge! I'll go add the link... you never know where a new student might come from, right?
Delete