Posted on March 17th, 2012 by
Grace
Damsels in Distress is a movie about girls who are trying to change the ways of their male-dominated campus by rescuing them from depression, teaching them to tap dance, and rescuing them from low standards. The movie looks funny, and the fashion of the girl group is adorable. I think the designer, Ciera Wells, was inspired by the 40s and 50s era and Zooey Deschanel.
Wells received an MFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 2008. Besides this movie, her work can be seen in Sleepwalk with Me (2012) and When Harry Tries to Marry (2011).
Fashion plays as strong a role in this movie as much as Whit Stillman's writing and directing. The girls, led by their leader Violet, set out to change their college campus, Seven Oaks University, from a place of grunge and depression to something beautiful and peppy. One of their main goals is to improve the hygiene of the male populace. The fashion that the girls promote resonates with their personalities and what their intentions are, opposed to the messy attire that many of the other characters don onscreen.
