Anna Karenina: period fashion feast by Jacqueline Durran

30 Nov '12

2 min read

Oscar-nominated fashion designer Jacqueline Durran has offered a sumptuously lavish feast of rich period costumes in Joe Wright directed English film Anna Karenina.

The prolific designer has combined an opulent dose of 1870’s Russian silhouettes, befitting the fashionable aristocrats of that era, with the detailing of 1950’s couture in her latest creations.

The breathtakingly classy ensembles for the protagonist Anna, played by Keira Knightley, include a purple silk gown seasoned with ruffle-y bustle and mega pouffy skirt, a lush ornate cream dress with a swooping silk neckline and a black off-the-shoulder ball gown.

The costumes of the male characters of the movie also got a very polished 19th century-like twist in accordance to their personality traits, as depicted in the novel.

For example Anna’s jolly and bombastic brother Oblonsky (Matthew McFadyen) is seen in printed velvet robes, brightly coloured suit jackets and oversized cravats while her stoic, cuckolded husband Karenin (Jude Law) appear in a range of buttoned-up, least ostentatious austere costumes in the movie.

The British costume designer Jacqueline Durran has won the prestigious BAFTA award for her work in Vera Drake (2004) and has also received an Oscar nomination for her designs in the film Pride & Prejudice (2005).

The film Anna Karenina is an adaption of Leo Tolstoy’s 19th century literary masterpiece with the same title. The novel narrates the story of a married Russian aristocratic woman and her passionately turbulent relationship with the unmarried affluent count Vronsky.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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