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| I later noticed that I added the wrong blog site *whoops* |
Carmen Miranda
For those that do not know, Carmen Miranda was a Portuguese-Brazilian actress and sambia dancer from the 1930s-1940s. Her style was the stereotypical dress style of her home city which was both good and bad. As her popularity grew her name soon became the synonym of frilly, off the shoulder tops, eye-catching turbans and overall exotic latin look. She was actually 5 ft tall and was the one to popularise the platform shoe. She was also in the 1940s the highest paid actress for a period.In March 1941, she became the first Latin American artist to print her feet and hands on the sidewalk of the Chinese Theater and to have a gold star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.This post is essentially about all the style of Ms. Miranda, for I feel most of her style is perfect for summer and for a day out.
The Style
The Headpiece
Her pieces were the biggest staple of her outfits. They drew the eye to them. Her headpiece often compromised fruits like bananas, grapes a look that is often worn by baianas in the town she was from. Her hair was more often than not hidden away or in a bun at the nape of her neck. Since Carmen had worked as a milliner before her big break, she created her first turban for the film "Banana da Terra". See an online exhibit here, it shows her turbans and style. Her turbans were something to see besides fruit some had feathers, jewels, sequins and more and made her seem much taller. Her turbans were inspired by those worn by Bahian women and they were made from lamé, cotton, silk, muslin, brocade, or velvet.
The Outfit
The upper part of the outfit consisted of off the shoulder crop tops. They were loud, eye-catching and unique. Some of them consisted huge sleeves and were bejeweled. The tops ended just above the ribs and brought attention to her trim stomach & waist. I wonder is she was the first lady to rock the off-the-shoulder crop top. *mhm*
The skirt was more often than not on the floor like a maxi skirt, high waisted and, like always, colorful. Some had thigh split on the front or side, and as seen in the picture below had hip cutouts.
The skirt was more often than not on the floor like a maxi skirt, high waisted and, like always, colorful. Some had thigh split on the front or side, and as seen in the picture below had hip cutouts.
The Shoes
We could not forget this one! Ms. Miranda actually designed and made a couple of pair of shoes. Since she was only 5 ft tall she wore some really tall heels, some as 7-inches tall! They were gorgeous and something you definitely do not see every day. Bedazzled, velvet, sparkly you name it she had it. There is an online exhibit by the former Carmen Miranda Museum where there is a whole collection dedicated to her shoes, you can see it here.
The Accessories
Necklaces were an important accessory in her outfit if you see her pictures it seem like she wore 7-8 bright necklaces, and somehow she made it work without clashing with her outfit. (I applaud you, Ms. Miranda!) Big earrings were also an outfit staple. Brooches could become earrings when pinned to a turban, or hair ornaments could be attached to necklaces. Earrings also became brooches and hair ornaments. She preferred costume jewelry to fine jewelry. Some of her collection be seen in this online exhibit.
I will follow up this post with my take on Ms. Miranda's mode later on. I really hope that you learned something new, I know I did. Unfortunately, since she was not the typical girl-next-door American girl she is often forgotten when listing talented actresses.
Til next time, tchau!
"I have never followed what people say it is 'fashionable'. I think that a woman must wear what fits her. That is why I created a style appropriated for my type and my artistical genre." Carmen Miranda
I found a collection made by a brand in memory of the late Ms. Miranda. They are colorful and fruity and eye-catching like she was, I put it down below.
Note: This pictures are not my own and belong to their respective owners.
That will defently be my style this summer. You can't get more summery than that.
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