The Black swan dress costume controversy and the problem

Black swan dress, the critically acclaimed thriller starring Natalie Portman as a mad ballerina, has been getting a lot of attention in recent months. A lesbian kiss scene caused a stir, and the off-screen romance between leading lady Portman and the film’s choreographer

– who are now engaged and expecting a child – filled the tabloids. But that’s all old news! The latest hot Black swan dress scandal: the costumes at the center of a mini-controversy that shakes the fashion world.

The film’s feathered tutus created a lot of hype before its release,

as it was revealed that fashion industry darlings Kate and

Laura Mulleavy of the Rodarte label had designed some of the ballet costumes, which were a huge hit. In January, several media outlets reported that the Mulleavy sisters were ineligible for a Best Costume Oscar because they were not members of the Costume Designers Guild.

The fashion world was outraged (a typical headline on the website Fashionista read “Why Rodarte Doesn’t Get the Credit She Deserves for Designing Black Swan’s dress Costumes”), and the film’s lead designer, Amy Westcott, hit back herself, saying that Rodarte’s involvement in the costumes was greatly exaggerated of the brand’s PR and the press.

That the film’s costumes ended up not even getting an Oscar nomination only made everyone angrier. (However, the film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director and several other Oscars.)

The craziest thing about all this excitement is that Black Swan’s dress tutus are remarkably unimaginative for a psychosexual, modern version of “Swan Lake” — the kind of princess candy you’d find in the most conventional ballet production.

Movie costumes rarely get that much attention;

Have the stunning creations for Sofia Coppola’s

Marie Antoinette or the outfits recommended by Karl Lagerfeld for Coco Before Chanel caused such a stir? Also, fashion designers who advise or assist with the design are rarely credited as lead designers for the film (think Hubert Givenchy,

who designed Audrey Hepburn’s iconic wardrobe in films like Funny Face and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but didn’t). all costumes in these films). movies). So what is it about Black swan dress that has everyone in hysterics?

My problem with the tutus in Black Swan – especially the one Portman’s character wears – is that they don’t fit the film’s story. In the film, Portman plays Nina, a tight-lipped perfectionist who yearns to dance the lead role in a new production of “Swan Lake,” which, according to the ballet’s shadowy director Thomas, played by Vincent Cassel, will be unlike anything audiences have ever seen before.

As the leading lady, Nina must dance two roles

– that of the pure, virginal White Swan and

the evil seductress Black Swan – and

Thomas instructs her to get in touch with her dark side to embody the Black Swan, which drives her to madness.

But the black swan costume – a beautiful black tulle with Swarovski crystals and black feathers – conveys none of the hypersexual identity that the black swan is supposed to symbolize.

The film compensates for this by using the creepy eye makeup (a common motif in ballet films) and the special effects of feathers growing from Portman’s arms (one of Nina’s many hallucinations in the film).

But if Thomas really wanted to produce a bold, different version of Swan Lake, wouldn’t he have called for more avant-garde costumes?

A striking black one-shoulder long-sleeve bodysuit, perhaps with feathers, would have been more modern—and sexual. And for a fashion brand known for its dark and perverse themes – Mulleavy’s collections are often based on Japanese horror films – Rodartes The beautifully designed tutus were surprisingly cute (except for the black furry costume the monster wore, which was nightmares).

The cult of personality undoubtedly had a lot to do with the popularity of the costumes – just look at how quickly the fashion press came to Rodarte’s defense when they found out the sisters couldn’t win an Oscar. And see how the number of costumes the sisters designed for the film grew from seven (the actual number) to 20 for the entire ballet corps.

But that’s not all.

When I first caught a glimpse of the sparkly,

frothy tutus while watching the movie, I felt giddy too. I did ballet as a kid and the costumes that Nina and the rest of the troupe wear were the kind of tutus that I really wanted. (Unfortunately, I never got beyond plain black pantyhose.) But the costumes reflected a deep-seated desire to be beautiful and light—a desire that I try to suppress because I’m anti-modern or anti-feminist, but which still haunts me.

This exquisite, delicate lightness undoubtedly appealed to many women and girls who saw “Black Swan” and fell in love with the costumes. And apparently that’s what women want now – or what designers think we want. Ballet-inspired fashions have appeared in runway presentations by high-end brands such as Chloe, Lanvin and Chanel.

Oscar de la Renta even featured a tutu-inspired ball gown with a swan skirt in his Spring/Summer 2011 collection. Expect the fall shows, which begin next week in New York, to feature even more flowy skirts, feather embellishments and ballet flats. They have a beauty, elegance and serenity that is really missing in the crazy, hectic and violent modern world – maybe that’s part of the appeal.

Still, I wish the costumes had been bolder and less flashy for the film’s sake. They didn’t challenge me or my ideas about ballerinas or ballet, and they didn’t convince me that the role of the Black Swan really took over from Nina. A suit should be more than just a very nice dress.

For more on the Black swan dress controversy, check out an interview with costume designer Amy Westcott at the excellent Clothes on Film blog.

I write about fashion for Forbes. Since I started here three years ago, I have had my DNA analyzed and found out that I

Editorial standards

It was a compelling idea:

Your blood type can affect your risk of getting Covid-19 or developing a serious illness.

A few weeks ago, many news outlets reported on the story, including CNN and NBC News. NBC’s website summarized the findings as follows: “Overall, the findings suggest that people with type O blood appear to be better protected and people with type A blood appear to be more vulnerable NBC also carefully noted that it was only a ‘correlation’ and not a cause .

And in the original article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the authors pointed out several limitations of their study, including the fact that “adjustments were made for all potential sources of bias (eg, underlying cardiovascular and metabolic factors relevant to Covid-19 are) 19)” could not be performed.

But the idea spread worldwide, health and science journalists reported.

More recently, additional studies have shown that these associations may not be as strong as originally reported.

Blood group

Getty blood type

A large, multi-institutional study published by

researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital showed “that there is no reason to believe that a particular ABO blood group results in increased severity of disease, which we describe as requiring intubation or death has defined leadership.” “

Another study from Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York found that blood type A does not increase the risk of infection, but blood type O may lower the risk slightly. But lead author Nicholas Tatonetti noted, “The effect is so small that people shouldn’t expect it.”

It is not the first time that an exciting scientific result has been changed or overturned by further research. This has happened over and over again in nutritional science or pharmaceutical studies. Spurious correlations based on small data sets are a well-known phenomenon, as this classic xkcd cartoon nicely illustrates.

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