MovieChat Forums > Another Woman (1988) Discussion > Yikes, did everyone in the '80s wear suc...

Yikes, did everyone in the '80s wear such dull coloured clothing??


I'm sure it was intentionally placed (like in Interiors) but every character was wearing such dull grey/subtle green coloured clothing and jackets, look at the engagement party near the beginning! Between their clothing and the interior design, I was on the verge of suicide by how depressing everything looked.

The Social Network/David Fincher/Annette Bening/Colin Firth/Christian Bale/Jacki Weaver

reply

No, in the 80's everyone was into neon and pastels and shiny things. Which is why, if you a young person trying to demonstrate uniqueness, you dressed all in black, and if you were part of the Upper East Side intellectual illuminati, you wore quiet beiges and greys.

In Allen's "Husbands and Wives"< set more or less around the same time, there's a aerobics instructor character who invades the muted earthtoned Park Avenue set with lime green tights and striped leotards and whatnot.

reply

[deleted]

HAH! I just tuned in on TCM, and within 3 minutes I felt so sick - Earth Tone Poisoning took me down.

I can also tell you about the '70s. I was there. Earth tones were popular, certainly among the preppy set. Woody thinks he's an Upper East Side anthropologist, and he is, but only the surfaces (tweeds, cadences, unearned income) interest him. He shops WASP and it gets tedious in a hurry. Back to fashion . . . black and jewel tones came along in the '80s. I'm still watching the movie because Gena Rowlands is my spirit animal, and Blythe Danner's not far behind (tho I haven't seen her yet). Martha Plimpton too.

reply

Agree, lots of mustard, beige and gray. Maybe Ralph Lauren"ish". I was on my own in the 80s so it was stylish to wear all black to wine tasting fairs or theatre plays. Lots of blazers, jackets, pantsuits. But what Gena Rowlands and Sandy Dennis wear is very classic. First time I've seen this film. Kind of a treasure to come across. Going through kind of mid-age thing myself, so can relate.

reply

Those drab "colors" are Woody Allen's shorthand for academia. I've seen it in some of his other movies.
He sure is fascinated by a certain Upper West Side sensibility.

reply

Yes, the color palate is quite depressing - overbearingly so.

reply

No, everyone did not.

I think it was intentional, by the production designer and costumer.

I noted that at the very end, when the mystery patient has gone and Marion has had her breakthrough, she wears all black.

And in the flashbacks to her youth, they are wearing color.

reply