Week 13: Parc Montsouris

This week we’re keeping things al fresco and moving from a garden to a park, but – more importantly – we are going to venture once more into one of France’s greatest exports: cinema. This week’s film may be a little more obscure than Amélie but it links quite nicely with one of the major inspirations behind many collections for Spring-Summer 2013, that is, the 1960s.

All stills from the film are screenshots I took myself.

 Agnès Varda is a French film director, actor, screenwriter, photographer and editor and a large part of the inspiration of this week’s shoot. Part of the Rive Gauche cinema movement from the mid-50s onwards, Varda was one of the most original and influential European filmmakers of her time. She and her Left-Bank contemporaries saw cinema as an art-form, similar to theatre or literature, and her films are tied to the nouveau roman literary movement and often display a distinctly experimental style.

Her second feature-length film, Cléo de 5 à 7, was made in 1962 and follows a young singer (Cléo) through 2 hours of her life as she waits for the results of a biopsy. The film also explores Cléo's transformation from a beautiful, objectified doll to a woman who sees and engages with the world around her.

We studied this film at university in my first year, and so I'm trying very hard not to essay at you all! I must admit, I'm not sure I got it the first time around- Varda is such a brilliantly clever director, that there are all sorts of references and techniques that you can miss completely on a first viewing. That said, it is a beautiful film, set entirely in 1960s Paris, so it's worth a watch even if you aren't a pretentious ponce like me!   

A major turning point in the film is when Cléo meets a young soldier called Antoine in the Parc Montsouris and that was where we did this week’s shoot.  Despite Napoleon III's desire to create more green spaces in the city, the Parc Montsouris (opened in the mid-nineteenth century) has a less-than-savoury history. Formerly a quarry and a cemetery, it gets its name (which literally means “Mountain of Mice”) from the multitude of rodents who used to live there. Classy.

Luckily for us there wasn’t a whisker to be seen on Saturday and the only animals we encountered were the 

ducks and swan gracing the lake at the park’s centre. Not only attractive to bird-life, the shores of the lake are often visited by turtles, imported from Florida, who wish to sunbathe. I'm full of great facts, me.

At the beginning of the film we see Cléo in light clothing which is often floaty or feathery and with her hair elaborately piled on top of her head. By the time Cléo reaches Montsouris she has undergone a major mind-set change which is demonstrated by the simplicity of her outfit. She has discarded the hairstyle (actually a wig), rid herself of her feathers and put on a simple black sheath dress.

Dress - Lindy Bop
Belt - Vintage
Shoes - Marks and Spencer
Sunglasses and Necklaces - H+M
Scarf - Edinburgh Grassmarket

The sheath dress is possibly the most classic and timeless items of clothing there is. One of the simplest dress-shapes, it offers endless possibilities for re-invention and adornment, as can be seen by this season’s catwalks. Dior dipped the hems to alter the silhouette, and added layers of fabric, Lanvin added boxy tailoring, Sportmaxadded graphic patterns and mesh panels, but perhaps my favourite was Bottega Veneta who modernised the sheath by using a range of surprising patterns, bold fabrics and exciting new textures.

As for my outfit this week – I took my inspiration almost entirely from Cléo’s attire in the film – nipping in the waist with a vintage belt and using a variety of spiky jewellery to modernise this otherwise failsafe, classic look.

Hope you're all enjoying glorious sunshine wherever you are and that your weeks are going swimmingly. If any of you are interested in seeing Cleo de 5 a 7 you can watch the whole thing on YouTube (with English subtitles) by clicking here. See you soon!