To Rome with Love - The Fashion of American Women?

Judy Davis as Phyllis

Feminine wares of To Rome with Love?

So I ventured off to see To Rome with Love and it was more of a like.  I'm not sure what Director Woody Allen and Costume Designer Sonia Grande are trying to communicate about American women throughout this film.  Both Ellen Page's character Monica and her best friend Sally (Greta Gerwig) for the most part are clad in low rise jeans with button down shirts and masculine-reading likely-Italian-leather belts.  Both give off the vibe of 21-year-old boys dressed to go into a local bar rather than dressing as the sexy love interests that the film purports them to be.  Even Allen's character Jerry has a wife Phyllis (Judy Davis) who is draped in dull outfits (if you can call them that) and T-shirts.  All three American women look breast-less and androgynous.  Upon first glance a feminist may say this is a good thing--women don't need to wear skin-revealing outfits a la Scarlett Johansson to appear feminine.  I agree.  But in this case it comes off as making women look like they are trying to look more like men.

Perhaps Allen is attempting to highlight Penelope Cruz by shoving the other female characters in baggy attire.  Cruz's tight red dress can only make her stand out from the other women, but unfortunately the costume enforces the cliched Italian prostitute who doesn't have much to say but has much to do with her clients.  Cruz looks amazing, but I would rather have seen her clothed in something more surprising and quirky.  I will say, however, that the red dress is so ridiculous that it has a humorous life of its own.  So while Cruz and the other Italian female characters give off their feminine charms in dresses the American female characters linger in their western wear.

Regardless of the costumes, Allen delivers with his usual characters filled with neurotic tendencies, insecurities, and palatable narcissism.  Such consistency in Allen's films is what makes his films work.  In an age when most people only post flattering pictures and personality traits on their Facebook profiles, it's nice to go to a fiction film to get a slice of reality where people are just people, wrought with problems.

Like us on Facebook