All About The Suits

1950's men's formal wear was all about tuxedos and it did not matter whether it had tails or not as long as bow ties were worn in either black or white.Not every one has a tux but this isn't a formal ball, we're just dressing up for the fun of it. Piece a suit together with black trousers, a suit jacket(if you don't have a suit jacket they can be found for €10 in Oxfam) and a bow tie. Go wild and mix up the colours, add a monocle if it makes you feel dapper or maybe replace a bow tie with a cravat. Take inspiration from the men of All About Eve, dress down, dress up, as long as you feel like a dashing gent.

All about the makeup

All About Eve is a story of deception which is something our favorite makeup artist, Kate O’Reilly, knows all about. Film Fatale asked Kate to show us how to use those skills of deception to beautify 1950s style for our All About Eve screening and fancy ball in The Sugar Club on May 5th.

Oh Eve, as if butter wouldn’t melt! The saccharin sweet Eve Harrington, played by Anne Baxter, seems like the doyenne of innocence for most of All About Eve; Film Fatale’s next installment showing on the 5th May in The Sugar Club. With that slightly boyish haircut, super soft skin and minimal makeup; Eve is often referred to as “The Kid”. She does get her chance to pile on the slap eventually but her heavily made up face is not received with as much enthusiasm. All those planning to do an Eve Harrington take note; fresh face good, plastered bad.
 

GET THE LOOK – EVE

It’s that old adage of less is more I’m afraid. Anne Baxter was a very beautiful lady so just a touch of makeup is all she required here. Think librarian chic, but with added eyebrows! The makeup consists of:
1. Matte Skin
2. Minimal cheek colour
3. Thin strong arched brows
4. Subtle black liquid liner
5. Wearable red lippy

In contrast to Eve’s youth and innocence is the heroine of our story, Margo Channing. Rocking some super curvy eyebrows and an amazing uni-lip, the ever so slightly fading beauty doesn’t worry much about her age until “The Kid” shows up... and why should she!? She looks pretty rocking to me. My favorite Margo look is when she manages to remain glamorous and imposing with her face smeared in cold cream. True glamour dahling!
GET THE LOOK – MARGO
If you’d rather not attempt to wear cold cream on your face for the entire evening then why not go for one of Bette Davis’s more glamorous moments in the film. Get your eyebrow pencils ready! Bette’s makeup check list looks something like this:
1. Matte Skin
2. Subtle blush
3. Very high arched and rounded eyebrows – use a combination of eyeshadow and pencil to create the same texture as Bette.
4. Liner on the top and bottom lash line – use a brown pencil and then smudge with brown eyeshadow. Bette is wearing this kind of eyeshadow to draw focus to her lash line and flatter her infamous eyes. If you’d like to replicate Bette’s feature but don’t have rounded eyelids like hers you can go extra heavy in your socket line and leave your eyelid pale to create the optical illusion of pretty bug eyes!
5. The uni-lip – strike straight through your cupids bow to create a single un curved line on your top lip, just like Bette! Another famous uni-lip beauty is Naomi Campbell. Bette is wearing a dark brownish red lip colour, possibly to add to the aged effect. Go for anything from deep burgundy or brownish red through to your favorite cherry red lip colour. No-one will really be able to tell the difference anyway, the film's in black and white!
6. Finish, as always, with a good squeeze of the eyelash curler and lashings of black mascara!


Keep your eye out for another fresh face as Marilyn Monroe makes one of her earliest apperances as young stalet Miss Claudia Caswell. Sporting a sleaker version of her trademark swooshy hairstyle, Marilyn is just as captivating with her handful of lines than she is in later staring roles.

All About the Outfits

For those of you who want to emulate the well dressed ladies of All About Eve. Here is a breakdown of some of the  ensembles that will hopefully inspire you. Whether it's adding some diamonds to your old debs dress, stealing an outfit off a friend, giving a favourite dress a vintage twist or finding a gem in a charity shop. Hopefully we'll all channel the high fifties glamourof All About Eve for for Film Fatale's 1950s ball.

 Bette's ballgown is clearly the dress of the film, check out this blog post for hints on how to mirror this look.

 

A more casual option but still packing a dramatic punch. A skirt suit with a cinched waist and a giant pussy bow blouse is made perfect for night time by adding a fur coat and white gloves.

A more simple but somewhat more sophisticated version of Bette's ball gown. A slimmer fitting dress with the same touches of shoulder skimming sleeves and a big diamond brooch. Finished beautifully by matching the brooch with a a big diamond bracelet and matching her long elegant gloves with her sleeves. If you have a slim fitting dress, add sleeves with a wrap and don't forget your long gloves and diamonds.

A smart sweater is made evening ready with a full bodied floor length skirt and a giant bow.

Once Eve gets in full swing her ensembles start looking distinctly like Margo's(Bette) but with a younger fresher twist. Although the hemline is higher, both wear full bodied skirts nipped in at the waist and dresses with sleeves falling off the shoulder. 

An elegant slimline evening dress nipped in at the waist and ruched at the bust with a beautiful lace and beading neckline and sleeves. Accessories, diamond earrings and smugness. There are beautiful lace and beaded ribbons in Hickeys and the Dublin Woolen Mill, that can be easily sewed onto a strapless evening dress for a similar look.

                                    Not to be forgotten in the fashion stakes, Karen is all about the plunging necklines and abit of sparkle. Her award ceremony dress is very modern for the 50s and similar dresses can be found easily. Don't forget the pearls.

The beautiful Miss Casswell, Marilyn Monroe in one of her first roles, looks more like a princess than a young starlet. She wears a full skirted floor length ball gown with a strapless top and sweetheart neckline. Finished with diamond earrings and a fur.

The Dress

On Saturday the 5 May, Film Fatale will be channeling high fifties glamour for our screening of All About Eve followed by an elegant 1950s ball mirroring the film’s award ceremony. But what does one wear to a 1950s ball?

All About Eve is all showbiz and drama which carries through to the exquisite fashion in the film. In no outfit more so than Bette Davis' iconic ball gown. Bette's ensembles were all designed by Edith Head, an eight-time Academy Award winner for her costume designs who famously dressed all of the leading ladies in the 1940s and 1950s, including Ginger Rogers,  Barbara Stanwyck, Shirley MacLaine, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Head is arguably one of the most, if not the most, important figures who made the 40s and 50s drip with glamour and elegance. All About Eve is no exception in the era of glamor and elegance. While the men’s costumes are elegant, classy and timely, it is the ladies’ costumes that make this film an iconic movie for fashion. Head was called in on short notice to design costumes for Bette Davis. She personally designed for Davis, while her assistants dressed the other female actors*

This dress is one of the key elements that made this movie famous for its costuming. Interestingly, this dress wasn’t originally designed the way it turned out in the movie. Apparently, when Head arrived on set the first of the cocktail party filming, she discovered that the bodice of the dress had been made too big. To ameliorate the situation,  Bette David pulled the bodice lower and off her shoulders, which made the dress look even better than the original design.*

If you are lucky enough to have a dress this extraordinary take it out of your closet immediately.The rest of us are left with two options, hunting through charity shops and vintage shops or playing make and do. 

Charity shops can be time consuming and painful but when you find a cheap once off stunner of a dress it's all worth it. We found an amazing ballgown in Oxfam George's streets vintage section the other day for €15.The best charity shops can be found on Georges street, Camden street and Capel street. Bring pictures and show the sales assistants, they may have something hidden in the back or if your lucky they might take your number and call you if something similar comes in. 

Vintage shops in Dublin are getting better and better, Lucy's underneath Cafe Irie in Temple bar is by far the cheapest and I've found some beautiful stuff in there but my never fail shop is Harlequin just off Drury Street as it has an amazing collection in great condition. Swop shop in Temple bar have an lovely  set up where you can post a picture on their Facebook page and they will put it on their wishlist so if someone has something similar that they no longer want they can get extra swop shop points for it. Of course there is always the magical world of ebay, size is always an issue but that's what safety pins were designed for.

For the more creative ladies it's time to take out your old debs dress bridesmaid dress or sophisticated halloween costume and go to town. If you don't have one you'll find one for about €15/€20 in a charity shop.

If you have a ball gown style dress with sleeves, very simply, do as Bette did and pull them down.  The off the shoulder sleeves are key to this look and can be created very easily with a sash or some material, stitched or pinned into place.

                           

For a more streamlined variation use a ribbon in a similar colour to the dress to pull it in at the waist. If you have sleeves pull them down, if you don't create them with a similar coloured material. 

Finish with a big sparkley brooch.

 

Win tickets to Film Fatale in today's Metro Herald

Tickets for All About Eve now on sale at Entertainment.ie

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Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night as Film Fatale presents: All About Eve

On Saturday the 5 May, Film Fatale — Dublin’s most glamorous film event — will screen Bette Davis’ finest performance in the superb All About Eve in The Sugar Club, Dublin.

 

This night of cinema nostalgia and old–style Hollywood sophistication will transport the audience back to the 1950s for a night of film, vintage fashion, dancing and good old-fashioned fun.

A screening of Joseph L Mankiewicz's  Oscar-winning drama will be followed by an elegant 1950s ball mirroring the film’s award ceremony with live performances, while Film Fatale’s resident DJs, The Andrews Sisters’ Brothers, will play music from the film’s era. The audience is invited to help set the scene by dressing in their vintage finest, paying homage to 1950s glamour or emulating the characters from the film. 

All about Eve is an elegantly bitchy backstage story of ambition, betrayal and the theatre. Bette Davis stars as Margo Channing, an aging Broadway star who takes teh seemingly naive aspiring actress Eve Harrington(Anne Baxter) under her wing but Eve insinuates herself into Margo's life and palce on the stage.

Tickets €15 will be  available at Entertainment.ie from Thursday.

Doors from 8pm. 1950s Ball from 11pm with tickets at the door (€5)

Photos from Film Fatale presents North by Northwest

Michael Ryan at Film Fatale presents North by Northwest on 31st March in The Sugar Club, Dublin.

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