Casablanca: 75th anniversary and timeless fashion inspiration

Today, the three-quarter century anniversary of the film Casablanca is a cinematic celebration around the world, commemorating its world premiere that took place back in November 26, 1942. Becoming one of the most beloved Hollywood classics, this romantic melodrama has transcended generations with its incredible settings, complex characters and fascinating storyline. Personally, this film ranks in my all-time top 5 favorites in no other than place number one.

Casablanca wasn't actually released until January 23rd of the following year. The film was nominated for eight awards at the 1943 Academy Awards, out of which it won three: "Best picture", "Best director" (Michael Curtiz), and "Best adapted screenplay" (Howard Koch & the Epstein brothers). Moreover, in 1998 the American Film Institute selected Casablanca as one of the movies in their "100 years, 100 films" list, featuring 100 of the greatest films of all time, and setting Casablanca in the second spot.

This film's plot perfectly combines action, drama, history and romance, taking us on an exotic voyage to the bewildering city of Casablanca. The characters have amazing personalities that entwine throughout the story, and you have pretty much everything you could expect from a movie: Beautiful scenery and costume design, good guys and bad guys, thrills and excitement, love scenes, scapegoats, a great soundtrack... You name it! The melody of "As time goes by" has been playing in my head all month long just thinking about those 75 years of the world being blessed with this movie.

While Rick Blaine is mysterious and captivating, it's easy to develop a love-hate relationship with his counterpart Ilsa Lund, essentially because of a frustrating feeling for what she did to Rick, and for how she approaches him throughout the film. However, she's still quite a charming woman, with an impeccable taste for fashion. Ingrid Bergman, the Swedish actress who portrays this character, did a wonderful job bringing Ilsa to life, but she was also able to deliver her a sense of elegance and poise. Not only are her outfits delicately chosen; (I'm surprised the film wasn't nominated for "Best costume design"); they are exquisitely flaunted by Bergman's enchanting figure. Below you can find a selection of Ilsa's beautiful wardrobe from several scenes pictured in Casablanca.

Taking her outfits as inspiration, and honoring one of my all-time favorite films, I put together a couple of ensembles to recreate Ilsa's divine and adorable looks. I am wearing a vintage white button-up blouse paired with a dark gray skirt and a black belt. I also added a head scarf, a gray-ish hat and a black trench coat (by Exotik) to complete the look and encompass a broader glance at her style. Also, following the black and white pure aesthetic of Casablanca, the photos were taken with B&W selective color. I've wanted to do a Casablanca homage since a long time ago, so what better moment to do it than today?

If you want to join the celebration of Casablanca's 75th anniversary, remember to tune TCM during November for TV screenings of this timeless film. If you haven't watched Casablanca yet, today's the day! I promise you won't regret it.

Come back later for more posts about fashion, crafts, and other curiosities! 

Nude colors & a touch of purple

Uniforms usually bring together mixed opinions. Some say they're fantastic because you don't have to waste a whole hour each morning choosing what to wear. Others say they're a blasphemy because they suppress your identity through endless matching outfits for everyone. Debating this argument, there are people who state that uniforms are a way of showing equality and not discriminating anyone for what they wear. I personally think two things:

1. There are beautiful uniforms, normal uniforms and ridiculous uniforms. (Have you seen some of the prettiest stewardess uniforms?)

2. If you ever wear a uniform, you should definitely find a way to pump it up while sticking to the dress codes.

My daily uniform consists in a white shirt and khaki bottoms. I personally dislike it because these colors do not match with my skin tone (especially khaki, beige or whatever... yuck!). So from day one I started off by asking if it was allowed to wear skirts instead of pants, seeing as no one ever wore khaki skirts. I was told YES, so I immediately proceeded to buy khaki gabardine to make myself a jumper and a skirt/jumper (or pinafore dress). I also found a pair of old khaki jeans stashed in my crafting room, which belonged to my brother a long time ago... and guess what I turned them into?

In these pictures I am wearing an a-line skirt made with old khaki pants. You can even see some fading in the fabric caused by the sun. As I was saying before, I like to pump up my simple uniforms. In this case I chose to combine it with a plain white long sleeve tee (by Fru Fru), my favorite purple and black scarf (it was a gift from my boyfriend's sister, who bought it somewhere in Spain), my "The Haunted Mansion" bat key necklace (from Disney's Magic Kingdom park), a pair of palm-printed slip-ons (by Refresh), and I also threw in some Leia buns to improve my hair game.

 Stay tuned for more fashion posts!