Have you ever felt that there was someone else out there, exactly like you? An evil twin, perhaps? Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller, Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, and Mila Kunis profiles the depth and nuances of this scenario through a horrifically beautiful story inspired by the classic ballet, Swan Lake.
Black Swan is a feast for the eyes, every moment of the film captures a feeling of artful attention to detail. Overall, the entire movie is based on the contrast and conflict of the colors black and white, which lends itself extremely well to fashion inspiration. The story is simple, a ballerina and her paranoid fears of being imperfect and replaced, but the beautiful imagery, piercing acting, and suspenseful style of storytelling keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. We highly recommend this movie for anyone who has not seen it yet. (This post may contain some spoilers for those who haven’t seen the movie.)
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The Cinematic Fashion designed by Amy Westcott & Rodarte
The costume design of this movie was gorgeous and lived up entirely to the spectacle of watching the movie. Both twisted and glamorous, the costumes perfectly described the character’s personalities and gave a visual change to Nina (Natalie Portman) to go along with her inner transformation. Rodarte cited that some of their inspirations came from mechanical birds, unconventional materials, and nature. Check out this behind the scenes featurette for more information on Amy Westcott’s thoughts on the movie’s fashion.
• NINA’S GOWN: Natalie Portman wore a beautifully made white gown with jewels and a overlapping tulle back, that was perfect for the occasion and fit so well into the storyline. The dress was gorgeous and really set Nina apart from the crowd as well as Lily (Mila Kunis), showing Nina’s modest innocence and Lily’s carefree rebelliousness.
• SWAN LAKE COSTUMES: The swan lake costumes were especially stunning, the juxtaposition of the black and white swans were beautifully done and really showed a transformation in Nina visually. Both costumes featured pancake tutus but were stylistically very different. The black swan featured a more asymmetrical design in the bodice which illustrated an unconventional nature that the white costume did not feature (its symmetrical design showcased a simple beauty).
• RODARTE’S AESTHETIC really shines through in both the gown and the Swan Lake costumes, their patchwork-y mixed media style is apparent greatly. We love seeing their work in a more classic and refined style than on the runway, the gown especially, it has obvious Rodarte influences but in a restrained glamour that was really needed for the scene.
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Iris & Daniel: Our Black Swan Style
We styled two outfits inspired by both the white and black swan sides of the story.
• IRIS: I’m wearing an H&M dress that is simply balletic, and with white flats the look is an everyday way to wear Nina’s outfit for rehearsing for Swan Lake. The black tights represent the transformation and turning point Nina experiences when discovering her darker and more adventurous side, the struggle for perfection is stifling her creativity and performance but she pushes through.
• DANIEL: This amazing “suit” is from H&M as well, and the Alexander McQueen/Givenchy inspired print fits perfectly with the theme of Black Swan. It’s a graphic and abstract representation of the evil twin’s feathers. A fur collar creates a feather-chested-like effect.
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Chictopia: Inspiration from the Style Gallery
• Keiko_Lynn exemplifies Nina’s soft, light, and innocent style in the beginning of the movie.
• Denni’s dynamic silhouette and Miu Miu spats are perfect for the Black Swan transformation in the end of the movie.
• InKARLcerating shows off how to get a feathery Black-Swan-inspired look without going literal, the texture of his sweater mimics the Swan Lake costume while retaining wearability.
• TickTockTap is the epitome of Nina’s style, she wears a light pink coat and gray shoes repeatedly throughout the film.
• LuLuLetty’s pretty pink lace dress and black tights show off a turning point in the film when Nina first starts wearing black tights with her ballet garb, her transformation into the black swan begins.
• TeenVogue wears a tiered tutu skirt in a wearable and chic way, keeping the look casual instead of over-the-top.
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Black Swan Beauty: Hair & Makeup
The makeup in the movie was an important underlying teller of the story. From Beth’s lipstick to the full dramatic face of makeup on the movie’s poster, the look of the actresses were definitely essential to the film.
• LIPS | Dark lips (Iris uses VaVa Violet on the edges and Wine Not in the center, both from Revlon) can be made everyday if worn with a clean face and minimal eye makeup. The look is bold but still chic. The actual lipstick in the movie was done in MAC Dubonnet and lined in MAC Vino.
• EYES | For fun, we decided to try out doing the movie’s infamous Black Swan eye makeup. For a wearable version of this, we suggest straight (instead of curved) cat eyeliner in black and using silver liner to accent it (sort of a double liner look), or metallic silver eyeshadow and black liner. For a more dramatic fashion forward look, apply dark red shadow underneath the eye.
• HAIR | For hair, we suggest low or high tight ballerina style buns, keeps the hair up and away from the face (unless you have bangs). The hairstyle is sleek and modern, for a cooler look keep the sides a little bit messier.
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On The Front Page: Runway Inspiration
We used some fashion shows from Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 to show that fashion takes well to the balletic style of Black Swan.
• THE WHITE SWAN | Chloe, Rodarte, Jil Sander, Alexander McQueen.
• THE BLACK SWAN | Chanel, Balmain, Lanvin, Altuzarra, Alexander McQueen.
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Thanks for reading!
Iris & Daniel We Have No Style
