Did "Blonde" Get Marilyn’s Costumes Right?

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[@WouldntULikeToKnow.]

Really? I understand you need to make a living but these games are predatory for kids who end up spending tons of money in the game itself. I'm sure you can get better sponsors.

[@lollylula6399]

I don't play anymore because I ended up too addicted to it, but I really enjoyed June's Journey for well over a year. It's great for supplementing language learning, I selected to play in Polish, and it helped me so much with learning lots of vocab 🙌🏼

[@BrettonFerguson]

Hollywood actresses always have to have makeup on. There are movies and shows set in post apocalypse times where a woman has no food or water for days and is constantly fighting, swims across a river and crawls through mud and blood and bodies, and at the end her hair and makeup are still perfect.

[@anbu1325]

I really like your videos and your personality! Could I politely point out that the audio in this one wasn't the best.? Other than that, please carry on! 😊

[@blameitoncapitalism]

Can you PLEASE make the same type of video for the Elvis movie?????? I'm dying to see someone analyz- you know what I'm gonna be honest here I wanna see someone who know wtf they're talking about ROASTING it. because the clothes and the make look AWFUL. it looks so cheap, like costumes. specially in the 1950s time frame those wigs look like they were bought on wish or something. it's so distracting. and everybody is praising that movie. it's annoying. I'd love somebody else pointing out how awful that was in many aspect but since no one is doing it and everybody seemed to love that super reactive, weirdly exaggerated and honestly caricatural acting of Austin, at least in the wardrobe department it's impossible to pretend or lie to themselves that it was good. please please please I need to hear your thoughts on that one. (sorry about the broke, second language English. you know how that is)

[@annehurricane4413]

Ironically, by doing what they did and overlaying a 'modern' gaze of what makes Marilyn's wardrobe attractive (undergarments, waist length, bust placement/shape), they guarantee that instead of the movie being timeless in about 20 years, it will be dated, and become a '2020s' does '1950s/60s' snapshot. Had they remained true to the period, that would not be the case.

[@NoiseDay]

I don't think most studios genuinely care about longevity. They care about immediate sales.

[@JessicaOrban3606]

So true

[@annehurricane4413]

@@NoiseDay I completely agree. And in thinking about that, it also means they can recycle the same idea/concept thing over and over again with little effort.

[@tjenadonn6158]

Considering the director said that Marilyn is famous for "being in a bunch of movies nobody watches anymore" he's sure done a lot to ensure his movie has the shelf life of a glass of milk on a hot August day.

[@annehurricane4413]

@@tjenadonn6158 Agreed, although I do wonder how much of that is because something deeper and more artful was intended, and failed, so now he's attempting to save face. I also rather think he's taking a swing at an icon that's so out of his weight class that it's laughable.

[@QueestaLoo]

The side-by-side comparison of the garments when you were talking about tailoring was really striking. They shouldn't have tried to make exact outfits that Marilyn owned if they weren't willing to spend the time to perfectly execute them.

[@tjenadonn6158]

I mean it's clear that they only part of her life they wanted to get accurate was her name.

[@user-wi2vn7cu4w]

@@ceceliakra7234 Remember about Emma film. The costume part is absolute perfection. All costume directors should strive to perfection not to do mediocre job.

[@miglek9613]

@@ceceliakra7234 there's a difference between perfection and doing at least a couple hours of research into era appropriate underwear, which was very obviously not done here

[@conclavecabal.h0rriphic]

@@ceceliakra7234 I definitely get where you’re coming from. It’s just that these big budget movies definitely have the funds, ability, and resources to present us with a far better, more accurate final project.

[@kittymervine6115]

yes the side by side was so important. As if they had a photo of the dress, but not of Marilyn wearing it.

[@rosevinetube]

A movie to skip. I was born in 1951, so Marilyn was a real influence in my life. Why do they never get real “old” people, like me, to advise on these movies? Why don’t they get you, Karolina, to do the hair right?

[@ahhh4117]

Because movies are nepotism :/

[@audrey9able]

Oh wow, if I had the power and money, I'd hire and research and get a REALLY dedicated team for any of the 50s and 60s starlet. I would take creative liberties but I would get them in character, get the design right and make a fun, but riveting story about them or with them. I can only dream.

[@chesito15]

And the worst thing all this details would get a pass if the movie was good. But no, they tore marilyn again, as if she wasn't already sexualized enough

[@EH23831]

Her looked like beachy waves to me - very 2010’s

[@tinaperez7393]

Karolina for the outfits consult AND hair AND the Instagram experts on the 50's and 60's hairstyles. There are experts in these areas. That he movie didn't use them or at least learn from them is missed opportunity.

[@Pierre371]

The director has made it clear that he never really delved deep into Marylins life. He even said at one point that in “Gentlemen prefer blondes” he referred to her as a “wh*re” which like what? And like, I am all for creative liberties an all, its your movie ig, go with your vision. But what really gets me is the fact that MM was essentially blamed for having a miscarriage, like the baby was already going to die either way and she already has endometriosis. wtf are y’all even talking about?

[@atuvera9021]

Oh God, i saw it this weekend and i'm still so mad. This guy should never again direct a movie about any woman. He might be talented as i've seen other movies from him, but i can't stand his pride and ugly heart.

[@MrsBrit1]

Was it her ectopic he's blaming her for? Having had one myself, that will infuriate me if he's saying he killed her baby vs, you know,potentially bleeding out instead. I've also had miscarriages, but the ectopic was traumatising, tbh.

[@Pierre371]

@@MrsBrit1 she had both, and both times she was “punished” for her child’s death. like she had a scene where she was “talking” to her baby and it was like “you won’t hurt me this time, will you? Like you did last time?” And she was like “I didn’t mean to” and the baby was like “yes you meant to, it was your decision.” Mind you she was talking to a cgi baby in her womb at this point. Like what the actual fuck.

[@wasabilover1293]

@@Pierre371 least stupid pro-life propaganda

[@JessicaOrban3606]

Dude that is so freaking wrong and bizarre. Wasn't planning to see it, but this solidifies it

[@CuntyMisanthrope]

I'm living for all the bashing of this mediocre biopics, they are such a plague 💀The dark side of nostalgia.

[@tjenadonn6158]

The turning of people into intellectual properties.

[@mwv1217]

I like the bad ones like the Jayne Mansfield Story because of the storyline. I like a movie that tells a story whether it's bad or not. Learning about someone or it recreating particular moment in time. In addition to this Jayne's ex husband Mickey signed off on the movie

[@proboffensive]

this one isn't even a biopic, it's based on fiction but it's trying its best to market itself as one

[@tjenadonn6158]

@@mwv1217 And of course let's not forget the Queen Mother of all adorably awful biopics, that of course being "Mommie Dearest."

[@k_a_y_l_e_e]

i don't understand nostalgia for people, especially celebrities. honestly, i don't understand nostalgia in general.

[@whitalleys5893]

The biggest difference with vintage clothes to contemporary clothes, it seems, is that contemporary clothes expect your body itself to be the fashionable silhouette, while vintage clothes create the fashionable silhouette.

[@dubudubudan]

someone needs to write a thesis about that

[@2Ten1Ryu]

sigh... that's it. I have almost given up on finding clothes that do my body type (small, chubby, no real hip to waist ratio) any favours... I think, if there was a market for this still, I would feel pretty and feminine more often. Instead, it seems like they used a plank of wood to hang the fabric on while designing the clothes...

[@whitalleys5893]

@@dubudubudan I bet someone did

[@whitalleys5893]

To be fair, this is probably said a lot in the costuming community. I know Abby Cox, Nichole Rudolph, and Meme Mom have reinforced this idea in my brain.

[@Lena-dear]

I think so too! Nowadays, everybody complains about corsets, stays, shapewear etc. (especially certain actresses doing period dramas) but in the olden days, those undergarments ensured the clothes looked good no matter how your body looked like. Now, with all the modern talk, feminism, telling people to feel confident in whatever they wear, the clothes are made for only one very specific body type and there is no shapewear to help you achieve the look. Like, you either have your clothes tailored or sewn for you or you can't look nice if you weren't born with a certain bone structure. Unless, of course, you go for plastic surgery... which is much more invasive than the shapewear everybody's hating on.

[@ljm792]

The note about the make up at the end is what REALLY buged me! She NEVER takes the make up off, and she (almost) NEVER drops the sexy Baby voice. Show us Norma Jean if you are going to do a movie about Norma Jean!!!! Even at the end, when she is depressed and abducted in the night (???) she is STILL wearing falsies!!!!!

[@rebeccagale2095]

Good point 🤦‍♀️ I have only watched clips and I felt the voice was a bit much...I can't believe they did it the whole film. Yikes.

[@atuvera9021]

It's they never heard Marilyn in interviews, she only used her baby voice on movies, her voice was of a grown and mature woman. I really can't with this movie.

[@atuvera9021]

@@rebeccagale2095 if you wanna see it, please consider pirating it, because netflix don't deserve the money. The movie is so disrespectful and torturing to see a woman being tear apart 💔

[@birb8310]

I physically winced at the sneakers and dress look. It's so so modern, it takes me completely out of the movie and back into the 21st century and ruins the whole thing.

[@hedwigblythe3476]

The rose dress is from the Something's Got to Give timeline, so it looked really out of place here. Also, Marilyn was savvy with her proportions, and I agree with Karolina that she would never have paired those two looks. My mother was a contemporary and some things were set in stone with women of that era. You would have your own boundaries when it came to proportions and mixing two styles. There was clearly casual, and cocktail but never together. It would have been like wearing your gym shoes from school with your best evening look - not happening.

[@michellebyrom6551]

@Bonka chambray and gingham day dresses when being informal. Meeting at a friend's house to chill whilst the kids play, not going to a brunch party at the same place - that would have needed ballet pumps or sandals.

[@mooonsi323]

Not sure when it started to be popular, but I was born in 80's and I was pretty shocked how Carrie Bradshaw form Sex and the City was mixing styles, and it was totally interesting but out of my comfort zone until like 5 years ago when I accepted mixing sport and elegant :)

[@SL-ze6su]

@Bonka but it doesn't make sense imo a adult woman wearing a sophisticated a cocktail dress with basic white sneakers, to me it's like a movie 70 years from now making it seem like we used to wear gym shorts with high heels

[@AlextheENTP]

@@SL-ze6su Gym shorts with heels was a thing at one point tho... I think it may have been the 2010s? Or slightly before.

[@saraharnold6790]

I get not having time to tailor everything and costuming only gets so much time with the actor/actress but… this was Marilyn. Spending time on the iconic pieces would have been time well spent

[@cbpd89]

Maybe if they'd shortened the list of costumes they could have had time to just nail those. It probably wasn't necessary to show every single one of her iconic looks in one movie.

[@miu869]

They were too busy deciding what horrifying twisted scene to add next for the creeps

[@saraharnold6790]

@@miu869 that too **cringe**

[@tjenadonn6158]

@@miu869 Like David Cronenberg or David Lynch without the artistry to back it up. You can do a loose biopic full of shocking scenes and have it genuinely work: Drs. Eliot and Beverly Mantle from Cronenberg's "Dead Ringers" were based on Drs. Stewart and Cyril Marcus, who were indeed identical twin brothers who shared a gynecological practice and sank into drug addiction together. Likewise Lynch's "The Elephant Man" more or less follows the life of the very human sideshow attraction Joseph Merrick. Both films play fast and loose with the timeline and events: the former changes the setting from New York in the '60s to Toronto in the 80s, the latter adds certain figures and condenses others, and both add scenes to heighten things (as far as we know the Marcus twins never commissioned "gynecological tools for mutant women," and Lynch always loves a good dream sequence.) But both fundamentally let the changes and decisions serve the story, instead of just flashing shocking images and screaming "ART!" when anyone dares question it.

[@marabanara]

And also, better undergarments!! Which are still very much available and affordable, and would really do a lot of the lifting, as it were.

[@m.n.2971]

I can't believe a woman with such a fascinating life, one of the most famous actresses of all time (who had a life outside getting traumatized and being sad, who could have guessed) gets this biopic treatment. What a giant yikes

[@tjenadonn6158]

Who would've thought the Weinstein produced "My Week With Marilyn" would be the less scummy Monroe biopic.

[@maishi]

it's NOT a biopic. Blonde is a FICTIONAL Book about the actress. The movie is based on a fictional book

[@m.n.2971]

@@maishi Thank god for that, but unfortunately it has been advertised as a biopic, and it's located in a streamline of biopics (when will it end?!)

[@XeaRae]

It was made by a man who said his main drive was to make Marilyn NC-17 movie. It’s torture porn made by one creepy man for other creepy men.

[@chrystianaw8256]

@@XeaRae true

sorry the audio is rubbish I literally forgot to use a mic ☠️

[@ManuelRodriguez-oc5uf]

Your audio is so shitty it literally provoked the burning of Alexandria

[@jeongbread1712]

u forgor 💀

[@uhlexseeuh]

Sigma move

[@atuvera9021]

Not as much rubbish as the movie's plot :V (God, i hate this movie 😖)

[@TheGypsyVanners]

Very Funny! 😀 I'll remember my next mis-step! It just happens.

[@moriahw3947]

The movie was TERRIBLE and traumatizing even though I skipped all the graphic parts! Filming her death scene WHERE SHE ACTUALLY DIED was the most disrespectful thing ever. I think the director hated Marilyn and it shows. Costumes get a C for reasonable effort but the foundations were all wrong (no bullet bras) and because Ana has some yang in her body body (not pure yin like Marilyn) some of the silhouettes were a little off.

[@alyssamcgee9013]

The director did say in a interview that "marilyn is a well dress whore"... He called marilyn a whore... It just shows how he views women..

[@ilovebobsdonuts]

Well said. We all appreciate this video.

[@violettbellerose1173]

yang in her body? What does that mean? Edit: Thank you so much to the people who explained what kibbe body types are!

[@PVilla27]

Yep. Just by checking interviews with the director it’s obvious he saw Marilyn as a talented-less whore who actively chose to suffer and was better off dead. This shit piece of fanfiction was disgusting (even if Ana did the best she could with the material)

[@gothclown9013]

i honestly don't get what the director was trying to do, i don't think he outright hates her but he definitely lacks...respect? he only shows her suffering or overly sexualized (sometimes both at the same time)

[@chyrlwillis9422]

You are so right about not wearing sneakers with a dress on the beach. I lived that decade. You would have pulled off your heels and carried them, but NEVER wear sneakers with a dressy outfit.

[@carolyng5235]

You are right on point with that. We rarely wore sneakers in public, even as kids, only for sports or playing at home.

[@lexp6099]

@UCQ8nSCiO8HXCH-BTp1R-DyA "Rocky and Apollo during a training montage!"

[@StellaWaldvogel]

In the 1980's women started wearing sneakers from the parking garages to their offices, where they would change to pumps. Everybody talked about that because it was a NEW thing then. And office wear, in spite of being dressier then, is not formal wear.

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

No one wears sneakers to the beach anyway.

[@maryeckel9682]

@@StellaWaldvogel or you would walk the few blocks from the train station in sneaks, then put on your pumps in the lobby restroom! I knew of more than one gal who left her pumps on the train 💀

[@melanieschwarz2181]

I gotta say, I love all the comments from older women who lived during Marilyn’s decade and critiquing the fashion! It would be amazing to interview and feature some older stories on the channel.

[@Jjangbunbun]

Before they’re all gone🥲

[@maryeckel9682]

I third that! Karolina, what say you?

[@brittlebricks10]

Great idea!!!

[@RianShafer]

I was alive when Marilyn was & when she died. I was young but I very much remember my Mother being fashionable & we girls were held to high standards of behavior in our fashionable attire as well. Pretty sure Marilyn inspired A LOT of women. She was also known for not wearing a bra or all the shapers women wore all the time even in a couple of well known photographs. I got to hear the conversations about that from women & men. We would run around for whole days in pin curls to attain the looks of the day. My mom too. In our case as children this was usually for professional photos, events, school, etc. We had a huge array of headscarves & it was nothing to see ladies out shopping during the day this way or with turbans covering the curls that would be perfectly styled by the time husbands got home or evenings of socializing. Makeup was subtle with a bright lip. Too bad I can't share the pictures of my mom, family, & we girls.

[@eurekamreum5458]

I'm sure y'all looked absolutely beautiful!

[@vickywitton1008]

I would love to see them too

[@lollylula6399]

My Mum was born in the 40s in England, she told me it was normal to see women with their curlers in and then scarves on top. She still does now sometimes :) She says it keeps her hair out the way whilst she's doing chores :)

[@warmgreytenpercent]

love this description 🤍 what a fabulous legacy

[@AnnaReed42]

There's a guide book of sorts for Mormon teens, the first of which was published in 1965. The dress and appearance requirements have changed over the years with changing fashions, always skewing very conservative, but the earliest version said something like "A real lady does not wear curlers in public." Imagine your church telling you that God doesn't want to see you wearing curlers to the store lol

[@namemeniks]

I am so very glad I am not the only one who noticed the non-conical shape and slouchy look of all the clothes that should have had serious structure, I thought I was going mad.

[@tjenadonn6158]

TFW the music video for Material Girl is a more accurate Marilyn Monroe biopic than Blonde.

[@sarahheri7027]

'the blue dress was very similar, but in comparison it just looks cheaper' THAT is the difference between tailored clothing or not-tailored clothing i guess!!! that sentence hit me in the face fr

[@SplatterInker]

Ooh I came across the answer to this during my undergrad: because boob silhouettes are key to modern ideas of attraction and familiarity. So its always the first thing that's not right

[@sweetsandcharades8383]

What did you study? Sounds interesting!

[@petrichorbones]

and yet its the like the key to make the whole sillhouette look accurate!! argh!!! i guess that makes sense though ... frustrating! as if people can't use their brains to realise fashion was different!! give the audience some credit lmao !! (@ movie makers) !!!

[@SplatterInker]

@@sweetsandcharades8383 History but it was for a course on Fashion in History. Did an essay on the representation of period dress in film. One classic eg they pointed to in the scholarship was Eliz. Taylor's Cleopatra. Boobs in classic late 50s/early 60s silhouette... nothing like real egyptian beauty standards from any era! Like a reverse of Blonde 🤣

[@SplatterInker]

Basically we should blame how the male gaze is socialised to priviledge boobs in our late 20th/ealry 21st century society.

[@e.s.r5809]

@@petrichorbones Right? Captain America got the boobs correct enough to _lampshade_ it in the ending. While a big budget biopic, hiring expert fashion historians got it wrong? So obviously deliberate. But I guess they found out the hard way that audiences don't like being condescended to...

[@kwetinka0170]

Karolina, hats off to one of your best videos! Very informative and also spot on observation about the fact that "Norma Jean" wouldn't wear make-up at home and that the director failed to show this obvious distinction between the two characters. It was another assurance for me, that he wasn't actually so interested in showing actual Norma or Marilyn, he was only out for blood.

[@MegaKhelditia]

I read that last part as, "out for blond..."

[@tjenadonn6158]

Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" and "Boogie Nights" were more accurate biopics of L. Ron Hubbard and John Holmes respectively than "Blonde" is of Marilyn Monroe: in the former the main character is named Lancaster Dodd and the group he leads is only ever refered to as The Process, and in the latter the main character is named Eric Adams/Dirk Diggler and even speaks derisively John Holmes derisively for being to exploitative of his costars. Also *Boogie Nights" gives its female characters more humanity and agency than "Blonde" does despite being about the rise and fall of the "Golden Age of Porn" in the '70s and '80s. A movie about the porn industry felt less pornographic than a movie about one of the most respected film actresses of all time.

[@_marth_1537]

It would’ve been such an easy but drastic contrast to make too. At times, I didn’t know whether she was MM or Norma. Or whether there even WAS a distinction. At one point, I just blamed it on the movie being poorly written. But no. It was poorly directed.

[@michellebyrom6551]

@@_marth_1537 this tells a lot about the director's view of her. Along with other comments, he is focused on his view of Marilyn and Norma Jean trying to present herself interferes with that. Some people can't separate fiction and reality. A major obstacle for someone with creative tendencies, for most of us the difference is like night and day.

[@Alalea17]

Also it shouldnt be tooo hard for an hollywoodfilm to make someone look a little different AND not wearing make up through makeup and other techniques.

[@bethanythatsme]

Holy mackerel...roller setting is an art alone. They didn't even bother to do that to get the foundation of her hairstyles correct. Loved this, thank you.

[@lydiastauffer8566]

YESS like I can tell by looking that all her styles are done with heat not wetsets. And not even the heat-to-look-like-wetsets I've seen some vintage ladies do. It drives me nuts!!

[@ewhitmo1]

An art which is still taught in cosmetology and required to pass the board so there's really no excuse! I haven't worked as a stylist in over 10 years but I could still do a proper roller set , dry and comb-out style!

[@brooklynsbaby4367]

you can tell they used a curling iron and didn't even cut her hair right

[@BBMc107]

Since they used wigs, it should have been done right. The stylists could have set all the wigs Ana was not wearing that day.

[@raquelnunes9793]

Like due to marketing and the diet industry a lot of people have forgotten that before like the 60s/70s you used tailoring and under garments to get the silhouette and not use diet and the actual clothes to have the silhouette.

[@bialynia]

Well, it's true that today we expect our very body to be perfectly sculpted into current silhouettes instead of using proper tailoring. But let's not fool ourselves - dieting in the 1950s was already a monster. And please note that the ideal body of that time was ridiculously petite by modern standards but at the same time god forbid a girl be bony! Like you had to have 20 inches waste AND a perfect fat padding because skinny is gross. But 20 inches waist.

[@Lolibeth]

People advertised giving yourself a tapeworm as a dieting trick in the 1890s. Eating chalk was a dieting tip in the 1950s (along with amphetamines). Calorie counting comes from the 1920s. Dieting culture BS isn't new

[@raquelnunes9793]

My dudes.. i didnt say diet culture started in the late 20th century lol i said the shift in thinking about the silhouette came about around that time. X

[@SmartStart24]

People always talk about how glamorous and gorgeous Marilyn was but I adored her casual fashion/looks. She could really dress. Even before she was famous, she dressed really well.

[@StellaWaldvogel]

Marilyn pincurled. Marilyn did not wear winged black eyeliner. Plus everything you mentioned. I got a weird uncanny valley feeling looking at this, like watching Cats.

[@arieldanielle23]

In her most iconic photoshoot (the one everyone gets a tattoo of) she most certainly did have winged liner, but it was subtle. Most of her pictures have eyeshadow suggestive of the wing shape and that along with relatively low photo quality has led to the winged liner look being synonymous with Marilyn

[@brooklynsbaby4367]

Yes. She did wear eyeliner but not *black* eyeliner, it was a brown pencil/eyeshadow. Her falsies were halves and looked more natural too. I have lighter softer features myself and do a similar *softer* eye makeup on me and friends who are fair and blonde since the black is just too harsh, there is enough contrast with the brown. When the makeup is softer it doesn't weigh-down the eyes as much.

[@Mojo_3.14]

The sneakers with formal dress look is a bit like seeing the suit jacket with blues jeans look in a historic movie. The sentiment of "honey they would never", is on point.

[@shannonbalthazor8712]

I feel like modern tailoring forgets the waist stay too often. You really only see it in wedding dresses - but it is brilliant in supporting a wasp- waist silouette. And honestly it is just lazy not to do it it is so easy.

[@katherineneagle7521]

Why do they get the waist length so wrong, it makes the actresses look like their legs are disproportionately short

[@carolyng5235]

Everyone wore a girdle in the 50s and 60s, often full length with built in bra. Even some of those hippies were wearing girdles. I know, I was there : )

[@kittymervine6115]

my mom was exactly around the time as Marilyn, and she had all the undergarments, and she is (still alive) only 5 feet and around 100 pounds. But she put on all the undergarments. Going to church, everything. It was kind of like shapewear in that she did have a baby bump, and women did not work out hard in gyms so they were softer. stockings, clipped to the girdle...big complicated looking bra (to me as a child). Even if mom was tiny, a LADY did not go out to church or an event without the proper undergarments. And she looked great! I was the tall skinny daughter (5'7"), and I had to hear "well aren't you different?" But my mom was always great and understood I liked things simple. She may not have large boobs but they were pointing upward! :)

[@cherylsykes660]

You are spot on. I remember all this quite well, as I was born in the 50s. All garments were structured, especially undergarments, and even hairstyles were structured.

[@StellaWaldvogel]

Yes! Those longline bras with all the hooks. And panty girdles, stockings, nylon slips...and the dress over all that rubber and nylon. I don't now how women stood it in the summer. But I have to assume the studio has air conditioning!

[@_marth_1537]

I love that last sentence 😂 Good for your mom!! We love living like you’re always in your prime! ❤

[@hedwigblythe3476]

There's dialogue in Steel Magnolias, which came out in the 80s, where Clairee and Truvy are criticizing the mayor's wife for going out in public without a girdle. Truvy says she hasn't left the house without Lycra on her thighs since she was a teenager, and Clairee says, "You were brought up right." Those foundation garments were definitely essential, and the habit of wearing them not easily outgrown.

[@maddfinn11]

The first sentence in this useless comment didn’t make sense

[@i2ndsight]

Marilyn Monroe's seamstress lived with her, so everything she wore had perfect tailoring right up to the last minute.

[@myrineae]

The biggest thing the movie got wrong was not correcting the trauma porn, which was the entire movie.

[@phoebedarker]

You're so correct, the depiction of trauma inducing scenes is so so... Terrible

[@theewildrose]

@@phoebedarker the problem is most of it is fiction. If that shit really happened then I'd be fine with them showing it but I really get the impression the creators just hate Marilyn and like imagining these scenarios where she is being violated and made to look like a wimpering hapless toy

[@myrineae]

@@theewildrose Andrew Dominik called “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” a movie about “well-dressed whores”. He's got disgusting Epstein vibes.

[@laurahubbard6906]

"Relatable" is the most heinous word in costume dramas.

[@Mitters]

There's an amazing Marilyn impressionst on TikTok who had a lot of Marilyn outfits. Should've just hired her and brought her wardrobe 😂😂

[@rebeccassweetmusic4632]

I have no intention of ever wanting to sit down and watch Blonde if it's graphic, depressing, and traumatizing... Not only is it uncomfortable to the viewer, but it disrespects her legacy. Marilyn was not just beautiful and sexy! She was smart, kind, funny, progressive and ahead of her time. Of course, she had mental health problems, childhood trauma, and had an addiction to pills, but that shouldn't be the only thing that defined her. In terms of the costume design, the recreations looked pretty good. I wish they weren't so modest, but that's my opinion. However, the film itself is exploitative and disgusting and we have no business wasting our time on this!

[@phoebedarker]

Exploitative is the perfect word for this trash of a movie

[@rosemaryflame6863]

Video in a nutshell: Blonde is a traumatizing movie and it completely ruined my life, this movie killed me inside and Marilyn is rolling in her grave. Moving on, The costumes are kinda crap, 3/10

[@tatiana2696]

True story I fear 😭🙏

[@atuvera9021]

@@tatiana2696 is not her true story, is basically based of a novel that fictionalized Marilyn's life. To put it short: a fanfic of Marilyn Monroe. I highly recommend you to search her life because this movie was diservice to her legacy💔

[@raraavis7782]

Too bad. I read the book years ago and enjoyed it. Was kinda looking forward to the movie. Full disclaimer: I have no idea, if it depicts her or her life accurately. You can't research everything and M.M. isn't very high on my priority list, when it comes spending time on digging research rabbit holes.

[@clairethecat1]

@@tatiana2696 nope. Blonde is a fictional book based on sprinkles of true events. It's 95% bullshit, 5% is the events in the timeline itself; for example, Norma Jean had endometriosis, she struggled with having kids when she wanted a family leading to several miscarriages (and not how it happened in the film, where it seemed like they even framed her as the reason for the miscarriage) so all that (pro-life) bullshit in the film was just bullshit. The author did not do Marilyn justice (and does not at all care for the woman's legacy). And the director has called Marilyn Monroe 'a well-dressed whore' in her film 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'. He has claimed not to see any of her movies, or even understand why anyone would. Disrespect all around.

[@anon9359]

Wait, how was it traumatizing??? I haven't seen it.

[@HazbinHotel4Ever2]

“Honey she would never” 👏👏👏

[@miu869]

I can always count on Karolina to drag movies I hate through the mud 😍 QUEEN

[@imrebeccap]

I thought the fabrics looked so cheap. Maybe they made them with the same materials (though I doubt it) but if it's due to modern film and lighting. They should have taken that into account.

[@malcolmapplet4313]

The cocktail dress she wore with the sneakers looked like upholstery fabric.

[@sisuguillam5109]

Very good point!

[@rebeccaude4412]

Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this! Also, it’s completely unfair for you to look so lovely after having a tooth extracted… I looked like a squirrel preparing for winter 😂!

[@tjenadonn6158]

I looked like Richard Nixon.

[@rebeccaude4412]

@@tjenadonn6158 🤣🤣!!

[@XxMCRroxnonstopxX]

The whole bottom third of my face was bruised after I had mine out 😅

[@hel59]

In ‘Being the Ricardos’ there’s a scene where Nicole Kidman is playing Lucille Ball while wearing a girdle and 1950’s style bra. While it’s modest to our standards now I thought it was done really well because it still showed the sexiness of the character in that moment while being accurate to the underwear of the time

[@alexandras5347]

I feel like the lack of tailoring has to be budget. There are lots of great tailors out there especially in LA. The hair has to be a choice....and also people don't understand vintage hairstyles. The hair is so thin like you mentioned. All the women I knew who lived thru the 50s and 60s had hair pieces even for shorter hair looks. They could have easily added hair pieces to thicken it up and add structure.

[@moni1383]

I'm 58 and I still have trouble wearing trainers with a dress! If I want to wear comfy shoes, I'll go for ballerinas. It's a mental barrier. 😆 Karolina is absolutely right that sporty shoes would have never been worn with a cocktail dress back then. I agree on all the other points as well: the undergarments of the era were fierce and should have been used in the movie as they gave MM an iconic look. I honestly think the producers were afraid of the cone bra and thought it would be distracting, maybe even ridiculed but the lack of girdle is a shame.🙈 It's the very essence of the era. The hair is also sloppy and amateurish.

[@PatchworkUSA]

I was a kid in the 1950's. I knew that in my mother's underwear drawer she had a corset that she would wear with evening dresses. It hooked up the front and covered the bra area, the torso, and went over and down the top of the hips. When I was 13, sometimes when she went to the store, I would sneak into her room and try on this corset. It was very comfortable and I was entranced at how good I looked. It definitely created that tiny waist '50's look. I couldn't wait to have one of my own but unfortunately by the time I was 18, all that girly underwear had gone out the window and hippie days were going full blast. But anyway, it is interesting that you point out how the understructures of the 50's dresses in the movie were not rigorously implemented resulting in the actress not having that wow shape that Marilyn did. I know from doing theater costuming that both male and female actors really appreciate wearing clothing as authentic as possible to the period because it helps tremendously when they are mentally getting into character for each performance.

[@pheart2381]

It was the same with Memoirs of a Geisha,where they modernised the makeup that is such an important part of a Geisha's appearance.

[@opossumqueen7532]

Do you think it's the tailoring or the undergarments? I haven't seen the movie, but from your pictures I feel like they could have done wonders with a tight girdle and an authentic vintage bra. Ok lol I just got to the boobie part of the vid. I feeeeeeel like they wanted Ana to portray Marilyn as a "natural" beauty with the crazy slept in hair and like how the clothes were just supposed to be shaped by Ana's body, but they ignored literally all of the steps required to get there. Marilyn wasn't naturally that iconic shape, it was the fact that she was so casual despite the foundation garments and hours setting her hair. Idk. Like the difference between how you, Karolina, dresses vintage - and someone who just bought a dress labeled "pin-up vintage authentic 50s" on Amazon and thinks that THAT is dressing "vintage" Foundation garments are a foundation for a reason! Ugh. Thank you for sparing me the torture of viewing this film.

[@Ineverusemychannel]

I agree. It’s so odd that they chose the “casual” approach to all garments considering how they wanted the Marilyn v Norma Jean personas to be central to the film. Why not doll her up appropriately for the scenes where she’s Marilyn and be lazy when she’s Norma Jean? Then you get to cut the effort in half and highlight that one was clearly a performance. Or maybe just try to accurately depict the photos you are directly replicating??? I could make exceptions if the reasons for inaccuracies were due to budget or time but it really all came down to the director not finding an accurate silhouette sexy enough. WTF. When will we let this poor woman rest??

[@bloodorange9]

Two points of comparison with "My Week with Marilyn": Michelle Williams is wearing what at least is a retro, pointed bra (maybe not a full-on bullet bra, but at least they got close), and makeup which only "signals" Marilyn with three-four recognizable points: the brows, some contouring, lip shape and the mole. Honestly, just the brows and the mole were enough.

[@XDdu73]

I also thought it was weird how the movie made a distinction between when she felt like Norma Jean and when she was Marylin, talking about how she hates being ogled and how the outfits are too much, but they kept her wearing so much makeup in her down time.

[@AW-uv3cb]

For any theatre buffs here, there's an amazing play about Marilyn by a cult Polish director Kristian Lupa. The play is entitled "Persona. Marilyn" and it's basically an exploration of the conflict between Marilyn as a real person and Marilyn as a created persona. It's fictional, but based on one time when she disappeared for a few days from a photo shoot. It's very very slow, almost no action, but if you want a sympathetic portrayal of Marilyn, that's it. The play has been shown around the world but probably won't be anymore (it was basically made with one actress in mind, Sandra Korzeniak - and she was truly amazing in it, a real tour de force), but if you can find a recording or something, I highly recommend it (though of course it's not going to be quite the same).

[@kgrlktty]

There's a book that was written either by or with significant sourcing from the designer for most of Marilyn's professional clothes, and he talked about how Marilyn's breasts were wide set, letting her get around film standards about cleavage. I'm guessing Ana just doesn't have that kind of same set up, making the completely structure-less some like it hot dress simply not lay right

[@Ineverusemychannel]

I think they also had Ana wear some sort of support in that scene. Even though they’re not pulled up for cleavage, they still sit very round and frontward which is not very typical of most natural breasts. The dress also was ill fitting everywhere but the breasts which gave an impression that there was tension or friction keeping the fabric in place there. It’s possible that’s how Anas built, but it looks like she had some support. Marilyn, however, was in full, natural hang. I can understand why most actresses would not be comfortable being as suggestive as Marilyn but considering Ana was nude in a lot of the movie it’s kind of a funny choice to make that outfit more conservative than the actual (regardless of breast shape).

[@PointSoldiers]

would happily sit through a 40min essay on boobs throughout history and/or hollywood getting it wrong

[@feelingokay2737]

Abby Cox on KZbin has made this video and one on butts

[@benzaiten933]

I guess people don't want real immersion into another time but immersion in what they think this time looked like.

[@Nyuffykah]

☝

[@rebeccassweetmusic4632]

I really liked seeing the slight change in her look for The Misfits because she wears clothes that are more comfortable. My favorite iconic outfit moment is from Some Like It Hot (which is my top favorite classic movie), where Marilyn wears that dress and the shadows from the camera give her the illusion that she is wearing black gloves. It was the small details that added more to that stunning dress 😍. Also, Jack Lemmon steals the show every time 😂

[@tjenadonn6158]

My trans friends and I quote those final lines to each other all the time: "I'm a man!" "Well, nobody's perfect." If someone could get over it in the fifties they'll get over it now. And yes, I am saying that "Some Like It Hot," in its own Hays Code dodging way, said trans rights.

[@rebeccassweetmusic4632]

@@tjenadonn6158 YESSSS!!!!!! Also, Bringing Up Baby is another great example because of the way Cary said "GAY" knowing EXACTLY what he meant by it... Granted, the word gay, in those times also was another word for happy. However, the way they did that let us know what he meant 😂. Mrs. Carlton Random: "But why are you wearing THESE clothes?" George: Because I just went GAY all of a sudden (as he wears a women's bath robe and jump while saying gay I mean, c'mon... We ALL know what he meant 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🌈🌈🌈🌈)

[@rebeccassweetmusic4632]

@@tjenadonn6158 The majority of Billy Wilder's movies still hold up today (not so sure about Irma La Douce, though...). If you haven't seen it yet, watch The Apartment with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine

[@notatallfunctional]

They should’ve never made a movie adaptation of that distasteful fanfiction about Marilyn. She deserves a real biopic on her life.

[@hellund2874]

YES! The structure vs. looseness is very much a beauty ideal clash of eras. The looseness of the suits and dresses on the actress are very much in line with the contemporary ideal of clothes basically 'hanging' softly from the bodies of size zero models. Regardless of the actress' size, they were not even trying to emulate the fuller, hour-glass shape of the 50s which is enhanced and showcased by these structured and tailored garments. Same with the boob shape. It's not even laziness or lack of time, it's trying to cater to 21st century beauty ideals above everything and that is the most infuriating.

[@alenayushkevich8159]

the director told that he didnt give a flying fly about marilyn in general or tried to understand who she is, so makeup during her time alone is just to make sure he leaves no trace of a real person, just a sexualised version of her.

[@funonyoutube1716]

"Honey, they would never" -- exactly!

[@julicorn2289]

cone bra are the shit! my shitty cone bra i diy-ed from an old bra and random fabric holds my boobs better than modern bra with wires. And it is just iconic 50s thing! how could they not include it?

[@fionakeenan7885]

The key to getting an actress who looks similar to Marilyn is to go off of how she looked naturally when she was younger. Alot like Judy Garland or Brittany Spears.

[@senna8829]

You're absolutely right! MM's hair was giving the illusion she had round face, but it was more like heart/rectangle

[@judithstuart9631]

I love it when Karolina goes on a good rant!

[@liminal-refridgerator]

I can't imagine making a Marilyn Monroe movie and not sinking a huge portion of my budget into costumes, makeup, and hair.

[@TheGypsyVanners]

SO GLAD - you did June's Journey! I've been looking for away to support you - beyond helping you on KZbin by liking and commenting. (Hint fellow Karolina Kids: she is more successful with KZbin when we do that. 🐬🐬)

[@Ekaterina12345678]

I loved how you used “Ad Break”, I actually stayed for this one; usually when youtubers just go into ads without a significant notice I feel like skipping, but when it’s so explicit, I feel like you’re being honest which makes me stay.

[@rhondahale007]

Too bad the movie producers can’t hire you as a historical fashion consultant. You’d be amazing.

[@davidroosa4561]

they couldnt afford her, lol

[@rhondahale007]

@@davidroosa4561 she’s worth it. 🤩💰💰💰💰

[@EnglishProfStyle]

I've always been the sort that believes something is worth doing, it's worth doing well. There was so much potential for the costuming, hair & makeup, but it's like they did zero research. There is so much to learn and it's so fascinating!

[@AnABSOLUTEBarbarian]

I’m glad you mentioned the body type topic. Anna is pretty and resembles MM in the face, but her frame keeps throwing off the illusion for me. Marilyn is the textbook ingénue, soft and feminine. And it balanced everything out-her hair shape and style, her chosen silhouette, etc. I think things weren’t as tailored to give the illusion of volume through the clothing because it couldn’t be accomplished with the actresses smaller frame. But the end result is Marilyn Monroe cosplay. A little frumpy and at times silly lol.

[@rationalcynic8416]

Marilyn is a texbook Kibbe Romantic, but has a Kitchener Ingenue essence. She could pull off Romantic looks because she was a Romantic kibbe type but her most iconic photos are where she is rocking the Ingenue essence.

[@pigpjs]

Really appreciate your analysis. Marilyn Monroe was such a complex person who by dying young and beautiful, has kept the public fascinated with her. It's sad that movies seem to fail at showing the woman who championed black performers and by all accounts was the opposite of the ditzy blondes she portrayed. But was also a severely depressed alcoholic who went from abusive man to abusive man, modeling her own destructive and abusive childhood.

[@CM-hp4pz]

I feel like Hollywood's ultimate horror movie would involve the bullet bra being resurrected from the grave 😆.

[@theewildrose]

I wore bullet bras before and I don't see an issue with them. Unless you just hate the shape but I think they're fun

[@dinahmyte3749]

I refuse to watch anything about her. She's been abused and traumatized enough. Just let her rest...

[@Marcel_Audubon]

calm thyself, sweetie, no Marilyns were harmed in the filming of this movie

[@dinahmyte3749]

@@Marcel_Audubon ...cool input

[@medealkemy]

@@Marcel_Audubon "sweetie" 🙄

[@dinahmyte3749]

@@medealkemy Yeah, sounds like they're the type of person to victimize an abused person even after their death... it's all cringe.

[@beeben5260]

@@Marcel_Audubon okay Bro🙄

[@EasternStandardTim]

The worst thing about the hair, it’s all wigs, they could have gotten it right, they chose not to

[@mikeg8276]

10:48 the dress is meant to be a recreation of the one she wore in the movie she died while filming, Something’s Got to Give. In the movie she wears it with a coat and heels when she meets her children in the pool. It was never completed, but there’s a good deal of footage from it here on yt.

[@alyalvarado1667]

I just want a historical film or show that actually takes time to think about the time period, about the structure and silhouette of the clothes, the face and make-up and hair, and just get it as right as possible. I mean, creative liberties can be taken, of course, but everything doesn't have to appeal to the modern aesthetic. And the 50s was so recent, like there are people still alive during that time, and we have so many artifacts and books and photos and movies that like basically everything WWII and forward should be like at least 90% accurate, and yet we still get films like this where they recreate the outfits perfectly, but fail on the silhouette and hair and overdo the make-up.

[@chesito15]

Emma (202) is pretty accurate!

[@alyalvarado1667]

@@chesito15 yes!! One of my favorites. I was going to talk about Emma 2020 but I thought my comment was long enough lol

[@frugalhousewife9878]

I hear you about the tailoring and structure of the 1950s clothing. The New Look clothes were really stiff and structured compared to modern clothes. That's definitely what makes the look so distinctive. It's supposed to be stiff. In contemporary movies set in the 50s, they always look too soft.

[@sarahportelli93]

Re costume tailoring, it's definitely an issue of using contemporary patterning conventions to create vintage styles... I've studied both contemporary and midcentury pattern making and some tiny things make a huge difference. Namely, in the past negative ease was a more widely used element of drafting patterns however as time has passed and clothing has become more casual adding ease to clothing has become the accepted norm for everything which results in clothing that is almost always too loose around the waist.

[@porcelanek2701]

The hair issue I have with when they are recreating Diana as well. Like Spencer was an amazing movie but that was a legit bob not the hairstyle Diana had.

[@ShiawaseNoIro]

w tle słychać szzzzzzz chyba Marilyn przyszła posłuchać co się sądzi o filmie na jej temat i nie wiedziała ze jej obecność zakłóca przekaz

[@finfan83]

So, basically they need to perform one of those many XIXth century caricatures on Ana de Armas , where a woman was squeezed into her corset by whole bunch of servants pulling the drawers and also helping with their foot. I'm glad someone pointed the change in her hairstyle between 50's and 60's. It's puzzling me since forever. It's a subtle change, she still is a short-haired blonde, but the overall shape is so much different ! Also: this is not a long gone history, there are still people and books on hairstyling around to learn how it was done. If it worked then, why it wouldn't work now ? I know, I know, it's a movie and they don't have time for keeping an actress in rollers under a net half a day. But you're touching one of defining features of the image that Marilyn Monroe was.

[@StellaWaldvogel]

Those old wet sets last, though. No daily washing and starting from scratch. Or wash, set, and sit under a hair dryer.

[@rebeccagale2095]

The thing that baffles me is they had fairly elaborate wigs so it seems like you could have curlers in the wigs when they're not being used? This movie is just wow.

[@finfan83]

@@StellaWaldvogel sounds like they would benefit from rollers then

[@christopherbarber9351]

Thank you! I haven't seen the movie but I enjoyed your comments and the illustrations you give.

[@giorgiaolivotto8442]

Will you talk about the Empress? I'm at episode 3 and so far it looks like a dark Augsburg Bridgerton. So very enjoyable after all

[@expertlayman6800]

For something as clothing-iconic as Hollywood Marilyn Monroe, the movie was shockingly uncaring about accuracy. The hair was disappointing and she looked almost frumpy in some scenes with the lack of tailoring. And it’s not like tailoring is all that difficult for professionals, esp when it only needs to stay put for a couple days of shooting. Great video!

[@MollyPatricia5]

Oh I waiting to see what you thought of the looks! Great video!

[@oldstuffbethtx8052]

Karolina, your scorching assessment made me hoot! Your wit is impeccable and wisdom irreproachable. Hats off, Girl. PS, how are the renovations coming?

[@letnievechera]

If Marilyn Monroe wore sneakers with a dress, maybe my mom wouldn't say it looks bad every time I wear them😂😂😂

[@TheMimis11]

Blonde is fictional movie as a Marilyn fan Im not going to watch it.

[@atuvera9021]

It truly is a disgusting portrayal of her. They fictionalized a lot of her life and played in a sickly sadistic way with her pain. I wish i could erase this movie from my head.💔

[@shannonbalthazor8712]

Yes - don't watch it. It is not worth it. I could not get through the first quarter.

[@eltooyo2]

Brilliant, insightful analysis. Thank you, Karolina!

[@TheatreGirl_Vintage]

God you’re brilliant, I just love your content. Thank you for posting!

[@katherinealvarez9216]

Okay, I’m pretty sure Blonde was first a TV movie? Because I’m hearing the plot and thinking “Wait, was this on lifetime?”

[@hedwigblythe3476]

There's a 2001 TV movie starring Poppy Montgomery with the same source material. It's just as tedious. Why do people care at all about Joyce Carol Oates fictional take on MM?

[@karolinag1073]

Jak zawsze bardzo dokładna, wnikliwa i ciekawa analiza! Dzięki ❤️

[@nataliakoodziej2582]

It is just so clear in every aspect of this movie that Marilyn was just male-gazed into infinity by the director

[@thebeldam8202]

Oh god. I've been playing June's Journey religiously now. It's so enjoyable. The graphics and the story are my favorites.

[@alexander_yoko]

Oh, I missed this type of videos!

[@Jjangbunbun]

Its so evident when they use heat styling instead of wet setting for hair in movies and tv and i HATE IT it automatically makes it look like a modern recreation

[@TSmith-yy3cc]

The best thing to come out of this movie is a Karolina video.

[@Hiker_who_Sews]

Haven't seen it, but still enjoyed hearing about it. Thanks!

[@Bubblies005]

I haven’t seen Blonde. Mostly because I have mixed feelings about it. Norma Jean/ Marilyn had a very complicated life. I really wish she wasn’t as sexualized.

[@theewildrose]

It's honestly a terrible film. The best thing about it is the stylistic framing of scenes and even that is pretentious. The story has nothing to do with the real Marilyn it's basically slander

[@ericab1302]

One word: gratuitous. It's a hard pass for me.

[@lfgifu296]

As nerdy as this may sound, I know all your tumbnails by heart, and when I was watching another video and this showed up in recommended I was like: who- time to switch🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️

[@alvareza21able]

Great video. Your explanations were detailed and concise.

[@kimberlyoldschool]

I’m not even involved in the fashion or movie industry, and I have tons of books that show the different clothes she wore, with and without bullet bras, falsies, etc. We also obviously know Marilyn’s breast shape, and that she was pressured to wear special bras and falsies to meet the beauty standards of the time. We have seen her actual makeup box. There are zillions of interviews with her makeup artist, hairstylists, etc. All the source material was there.

[@RG-3PO]

Seeing the actual photos of Marilyn and the shots from the movie side by side makes me realize how good Marilyn really looked. The actress playing Marilyn in Blonde just doesn't look quite right (after a little research I see she naturally does not have light color hair and the makes a big difference). Then a real photo of Marilyn is shown, and I think, "wow, I see the 'it' factor."

[@MrsBrit1]

Marilyn was a brunette, you know. She wasn't blonde in her life (naturally)....so the actress not being a natural blonde makes no difference.

[@maia_gaia]

I don't think the actress was the problem at all. Especially since, as someone else said, Marilyn was also not a natural blonde. Blonde looks good on Ana for sure

[@hedwigblythe3476]

I didn't think Ana looked at all like Marilyn. She looked more like Gwen Stefani playing Jean Harlow. I think people who say she looked like Marilyn aren't that familiar with Marilyn.

[@beeben5260]

@@hedwigblythe3476 agree they are nothing alike but I see Ana looking like material girl Madonna.

[@melaniesheldon8013]

I love you 😍 thanks for your videos!