Based on the international best-selling novel by David Nichols, One Day, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, premiered in theaters last Friday on August 19, 2011. Although weekend box office stats can not be completely determined until Monday afternoon, by Saturday there were already indicators that One Day was not going to meet the expectations of movie critics and its producer, Focus Features. It ranked fourth at the box office among competing Friday released films, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World taking first — more than doubling One Day‘s gross earnings (see boxofficemojo.com for complete weekend box office stats).
One Day‘s less than victorious gross earnings does not at all reduce my opinion of the film. Think about it, do $$$ really increase the value of a film? Gross earnings is definitely not the only indicator of a film’s success. There are other, possibly, more valid measures of a film’s influence.
For instance, I give a film more worth if, because of it, society is positively influenced, beauty is brought to the world, or historical enrichment is provided. These indicators really matter more: Is the art direction superior?; Did the costume designers truly depict the look of the period?; And, do the costumes inform current fashion trends? Of course, it also does not hurt if it includes a powerful love story and heart-wrenching story line, which One Day does. Sorry, I’m a hopeless romantic, now, back to the topic. No, seriously, it takes great skill and attention to continuity to create period wardrobe that does not dampen the story’s dramatic (and romantic) story line.
One Day is one of those movies that inspires us to love the characters and fall with them. A well written novel or screen play is not enough to do this. Detailed artistic elements are employed to enhance these story lines, like lighting and costume design. I believe the costume designer of this movie succeeded in his goal to create fashion that empowers the story of Emma. Emma’s look evolves as the character, Emma, grows and evolves as a woman.
So much concern and care went into the fashion in this movie that, I believe, it became a character all of its own. The above video explains what great care went into the movie’s art direction and what the careful attention went into Emma’s wardrobe, basically, twenty looks, one for each day.Focus Features created an interactive One Day timeline, in anticipation of the public’s interest in knowing more about the period fashion.
This timeline is a must see! The timeline enhances the film’s intent to highlight twenty one-day-encounters between the lead characters Emma and Dex. Focus Features said that One Day “follows the lives and loves of Emma and Dex over 20 years, checking in on them on every July 15th — the anniversary of the day they met in 1988,” basically “Twenty Years, One Day.”Expecting the film’s depiction of Emma’s fashion evolution to garner a lot of interest, Focus Features marketed the film to that demographic. They created this beautiful “One Day interactive timeline [that] looks back at America’s top fashions, songs, best-selling books, news headlines, and even the sexist man alive during these 20 years” (focusfeatures.com). Because the timeline is too large to completely view here, please click through the photo below to view this full size timeline. Hover over each year to capture the fashion, etc. depicted each year of the movie.
(Source: Focus Features)
It is very possible that the producer of this film did not see a growing fascination with Emma’s mid-movie hair cut. There are even early predictors that Anne Hathaway’s short “butch”-style haircut, as her character Emma called it, will gain popularity within the beauty industry. Will it become so popular that women will ask their hair stylists for the “the Emma butch”? Not quite sure if it will be as largely popular as “the Jennifer Aniston” was or what tweens currently request: “the Selena Gomez.” It is really too early to indicate what the film’s fullest influence will be on the beauty industry. But I do know one thing, the self proclaimed name, “butch,” is not especially attractive. It is quite possible the oxymoron of “butch” and hair “style” is what is garnering the haircut so much attention right now. Personally, I anticipate a large popularity for “the Emma butch” style. I think the public is ready for an edgier hairstyle such as this. We will have yet to see if many, many women will get it. Will it cause a similar stir and desire for the cut as when Halle Berry got her pixie cut ten years ago?I don’t exactly know how far the “butch” style will go. But, I am almost certain that One Day‘s Costume Designer, Odile Dicks-Mireaux, will get nominated for an Oscar this year.
Although the film did not measure up to Focus Features’ anticipation of higher box office earnings in its opening weekend, the growing interest in the fashions in the movie is meeting their expectations. Whether or not One Day was last weekend’s highest earning film, the film is expected to increasingly influence the world of fashion.
One Day fashion buzz had already began to surface by the second day it showed. I also expect more tweets, articles and One Day inspired style sets like polyvore. The current buzz is definitely one of excitement for One Day fashion. More specifically, it is creating a greater appreciation for vintage or vintage-inspired clothing, which has already been on the rise. As a tweet watcher, I noticed several women complimenting the fashion in the movie. One said that they were inspired to wear vintage fashion because of seeing One Day.If the impact of One Day fashion continues to grow, as I expect it to, I will give a more detailed review of the looks depicted within the movie at a future date.
Staff Writer for Chic Galleria’s Style & Beauty. Certificate in Fashion Design. Master’s Degree from Regent College, Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Love social media interaction: tweet me @chicgalleria, join Google+ circles and follow as I blog about being a Style & Beauty Writer for Chic Galleria on twitter & tumblr. See all of Suzanne Crumbacher’s articles.
Photo Credit: PHOTO CREDIT: Giles Keyte via http://focusfeatures.com/one_day
Tags: Anne Hathaway, beauty, fashion, film, Focus Features, Halle Berry, Jennifer Aniston, Jim Sturgess, One Day, Selena Gomez, Spy Kids, style, Suzanne Crumbacher, Vintage
3 comments
Posted by: Christa Bolin on August 25, 2011 at 2:47 pm
I love your article. I think it really tells about the movie. I didn’t realize that much thought went into the costumes.
Posted by: mary on September 5, 2011 at 6:13 am
the costumes spoilt the movie for me. I am the same age as the One Day cast. My fellow university friends did not recognise the periods that the film was trying to depict. The 80′s looked like the 50′s and the 90′s were closer to early/mid 80′s. We spent time getting the right look as teenagers/early twenties do. Most of our clothes were from charity shops and low budget places so its nothing to do with cost. I visited Edinburgh-London and small towns and yes the north was a couple of years behind but not decades. As for her underwear in the 80′s-no way. It was always noticeable how behind fashion American 80′s movies were but not the streets of Britain.
Posted by: Suzanne Crumbacher on September 8, 2011 at 8:20 pm
Thank you for your comments. Do you think Emma’s style was purposely not as you & I knew it to show her fashion awkwardness?