A recent rewatching of the film Casino reminded me of my secret (now not so secret) love of the style of mafia wives. Generally, I love a good gangster film, having grown up watching and loving The Godfather (all 3!), Casino and Goodfellas (my all time favorite) with The Departed as a recent newly beloved addition. While the storylines and the acting in these movies are completely captivating, I often find myself drawn to the costumes of the female characters..mafia wives' style is all about big hair, over the top make up, gaudy jewelry (and lots of it) and cheap looking (but very expensive) clothing. Not my style or what I aspire to by any means but it is pure escapism and greatly entertaining to watch. As Goodfellas is my favourite mafia movie, here's a few close ups of Karen Hill (played by Lorraine Bracco), who plays Ray Liotta's wife in the film:
At first, her character is shocked by the over the top style of all the other mafia wives but fairly soon realises how much fun it is spending stupid amounts of money on gaudy home decor (zebra print wallpaper and an indoor mini waterfall being particular highlights) and clothing and succumbs to the look...as I think we probably all would in the same circumstances. God, I'd love to be a mafia wife. Although she does end up addicted to cocaine and they lose everything they own...
Moving on..
Also high on the list of fabulous mafia style is Sharon Stone in Casino. She plays Ginger, a prostitute working in Las Vegas, full of charm and confidence and seemingly irresistible to all men, including Robert de Niro, who lavishes money, furs, and copious amounts of gold jewelry and clothes on her. As it turns out, she's a seriously damaged character, (aptly played by Stone who won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for the role), unable to stop loving her manky pimp or give up her former life, eventually becoming an alcohol/drug addict. However, that doesn't stop me from lusting after her costumes in the film, which just ooze glamour, albeit in the form of that slightly over the top gangster style..
If one wanted to emulate the make up of the lovely Ginger I would imagine it would involve a serious amount of time and effort- hair extensions, highlights and heated rollers, false eyelashes a-plenty, frosted pink lipstick and smokey eyeshadow, fake tan, perfectly groomed eyebrows, false nails, waxing etc..I'm getting weary just typing it. Maybe I'll just start hanging around Italian restaurants and casinos and hopefully some kind mafiosa benefactor will start giving me wads of money to spend on personal grooming and fur stoles..a foolproof plan!
i love this type of styling too I was def born in the wrong era, great post :)
ReplyDeleteHello and thanks! I love that era too, although I think if I had my way I'd prefer the Mad Men-late 50's, early 60's, Betty Draper style...without the horrible female oppression, obviously! :-)
DeleteAhhhh I love it
ReplyDelete