by Dickie Greenleaf’s love of fashion is as fierce as his obsession with women and living La Dolce Vita. “Let me buy you a jacket,” he says in the brilliant big screen adaptation The talented Mr. Ripleybased on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel. “When we get to Rome, there’s a great place: Battistoni,” says Jude Law’s rakish Greenleaf to Matt Damon’s disturbed and erratic Tom Ripley, the Pygmalion-meets-psychopathic shadow behind him.
Of course, culturally the cooling story has a rich heritage; after the book appeared in the 1960s Midday purple with Alain Delon and Romy Schneider as the main actors in this film, both of them disastrously in their performance riviera eleganza. This month, Netflix will get a new interpretation of the story, in a new series starring Irish actor Andrew Scott as a monster. He has his work cut out for him, as the soft-focus style of Anthony Minghella’s stirring 1999 film remains the absolute summer style benchmark.
Where to start? Those panoramas of Ischia, the rocky outcrop of the Albergo Il Monastero against the rushing waters and Jude Law, Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow in their 1950s costumes by Oscar-winning costume designer Ann Roth (who can be seen coincidence in a memorable scene.in Greta Gerwig Barbie film as an elderly woman who reminds the doll that beauty comes in all generations and forms). Ripley’s venom weaves its way through the happy group like the strong release of vermouth in a negroni.
Greenleaf and Paltrow’s Marge, sweeping in from post-war Manhattan, arrive in Europe for a series of jaunts along the Amalfi Coast and Venice, with a wardrobe entirely of the era – full skirts, camp collar shirts – but desirable completely today too. .
From Greenleaf’s pastel-hued wardrobe to Marge’s tee shirts and tablecloth-patterned skirts (that could have been straight off the Prada catwalk), I’ve seen these looks dot mood boards for the biggest names in fashion, from Paris to Milan.
Scott’s journey as Ripley has a darker look – all chiaroscuro shades and functional, 1950s workwear – but it’s sure to inspire a move towards the elite men of that era this summer.
I declare that no man – apart from Delon who may have been in front of him – looked better on film than Law in his summer polo shirts and short shorts, chore jackets, soft-fitting linen trousers and deck shoes and – and sweeping into the surrounding area. of Rome – Immaculate tailoring that reflects an understanding of sprezzatura without difficulty ; drape the shoulder, the fact that the trousers are fresh white (note to Marcello Mastroianni i The Dolce Vita) rather than corporate Americana greige.
Roth (and Law) love the Italianateness of the whole thing; By contrast, Ripley is the preppy American—so he knows—who can only aim to emulate Greenleaf’s effortless continental swagger. In the first scene he is seen slipping on the Princeton crest; however, it is not his. Roth also designed his outfit to fit badly, and he never looked down on Dickie Greenleaf’s complete righteousness and confidence in money in every situation.
“In the 1940s, we had war restrictions and limited fabric. After the war, Dior came up with the New Look and that was very interesting, with the use of more fabric, as much as menswear,” said Roth in an interview in 2000. “When we got into the 50s , then the jet. – the set thing started to happen – the Italians, the Rivieras, Brigitte Bardot and the Mambo Kings, there was a certain air around town.”
How evocative she is of the allure of that life, and how enticing it is now in the age of Ryanair and the proliferation of Zara shirts and too-tight trousers and trousers for men in today’s warmer weather. Call him the Island of Love effect ; An “athletic fit” shirt designed to enhance your member’s David Lloyd-hewn deltoids, a wacky “holiday shirt” in a garish print and spray-effect trousers and trousers. There’s nothing wrong with a bold pattern here or there, of course, and it’s especially fun when the sun’s out, but when Law, Damon and Minghella’s spellbinding cinematography offer an alternative, those alluring codes are worth exploring. .
For men, that means camp collar shirts in muted colors and a sense of softness and ease of manufacture over Daz whites and spray proportions. Linen rumpled trousers with a pair of deck shoes or espadrilles, or a chore jacket over bloused trousers for when a nautical touch is needed (be careful with oars, mind you). And for aperitivo hour, that soft-suited approach is all about adapting how the Italians get that right; the roped shoulder, the trousers that sit away from the body so that there is a certain amount of ventilation.
Of course, costumes can be too funny and Dram Time – no one expects a complete pastiche of 1950s dressing while traveling on a Vespa with the Positano sunset on the horizon.
But it’s not a bad thing to make small references to one of the most stylish characters of all time, and one of the most magical eras in fashion. It’s a lifestyle and a life that the machiavellian Mr. Ripley wanted so badly for himself that he would do anything to get it. Long live this sinister story about him beil paese style at its best.
Get the look…
Ornos polo shirt, £215, smrdays.com; Castaner espadrilles, £60, farfetch.com
Linen clips, £150, grábrand.com; PO3272S sunglasses, £214, persol.com
