It’s practically impossible to concentrate on the subtitles in La Dolce Vita. The 1960 comedy drama won an Oscar for its costume design, and rightly so. From start to finish it features a dizzying array of impossibly glam starlets and their vampish ensembles. Think flowing gowns, vintage swimwear and miraculous hair. Written and directed by Frederico Fellini, the film charts seven days in the life of an Italian journalist who tags along with the aristocracy whilst trying to carve out a career in journalism and simultaneously fight the ever present paparazzi off his fabulous, jobless friends. The good news is you too can channel the La Dolce Vita vibe, as high street brand Reiss took inspiration from the stylish film when designing its SS14 collections – available to view here at reiss.com. Here, we chart La Dolce Vita’s key fashion moments – Seven Wonders style.
1. Girls from the opening scene in retro swimwear, preparing for an uncontrollable urge to spend all their money on gorgeous bikinis.
2. Marcello throughout the whole film, wonderful suits, even better sunglasses.
3. How can we forget the iconic Trevi fountain scene? The fountain is now guarded by a special bar to stop pesky tourists trying to emulate Anita Ekberg going for dip at midnight in her stunning black ball gown.
4. Anouk throughout – one of Marcello’s girlfriends who has eyelashes as long as spiders’ legs. She puts Audrey Hepburn to shame in knee-length LBDs.
5. Sylvia wandering aimlessly through the streets of Rome very late at night, draped in white fur.
6. Emma, Marcello’s other clingy girlfriend attempts suicide under very chic circumstances.
7. Sylvia bewitching paparazzi in a black lace ensemble.
