Wallis Simpson: Dior ,Cartier & Vionnet!

W.E. is the material girl, Madonna’s second directorial film feature. The romantic drama W.E. tells the story of the famous love affair between Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough) and King Edward the VIII (James D’Arcy) through the perspective of modern day, lovesick Wally Winthrop (Abbie Cornish).

As excited as I am for the love story (and I am a sucker for a good love story) there is one element I’m absolutely giddy over and that’s the Oscar nominated Costume Design. While characters like Wally and Edward’s costuming are stunning (John Galliano and Issa, sigh.) the shining star is definitely the design behind Wallis Simpson.

“The world that Wallis seemed to find herself in was a world of luxury and beauty and decadence, and I wanted to reflect that world in my film.”

                      Director and co-writer, Madonna. And reflect it she does.

W.E’s two-time Oscar nominated Costume designer Adrianne Phillips (Walk the Line) stays true to Wallis’ savant style, which included dresses by designers like Balenciaga and Christian Dior and an infamous gown designed by Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvadore Dali. Phillips used couture from Vionnet and Dior, jewelry from Van Cleef & Arpels and Dior and, hats from Stephen Jones to capture the image of a Wallis Simpson, a woman who once said:

“I’m not a beautiful woman, I’m nothing to look at, so the only thing I can do is dress better than everyone else”.

Phillips has done a smashing job at re-creating Wallis’ look even borrowing Wallis’ Michael O’Connor designed wedding dress from the National Musuem of Costume in Scotland.

One of my favourite pieces from the film is a recreated Cartier Onyx and diamond panther bracelet. The original piece was auctioned off in 2010 for 4,521,250 pounds.

Wallis’ style inspired both Roland Mouret’s and Christian Dior’s autumn/winter 2011-2012 collection with pieces that combine classic cuts and bold colours for an ultra feminine silhouette.  I have a feeling with the release of this movie we’ll be seeing 1930’s Wallis Simpson inspired silhouettes emerging with ferocity.

Read the full movie review on myetvmedia.com here:

https://myetvmedia.com/film-review/w-e/

Lauren Schell