THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT. Online Course on Fashion and Cinema
Film and fashion have always and often surprisingly co-existed and interacted with each other from their very beginnings. As far back as 1931, Coco Chanel declared: ‘It is through cinema that fashion can be imposed today.’ Films, therefore, have not only served to create fashion trends and icons, but also to allow us to explore, at any given time, ideas such as modernity, gender stereotypes or sex appeal.
If we look beyond the myths that surrounded them, women like Katherine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich or Marilyn Monroe have enabled us to explore the society of their time and address issues such as the evolution of women’s social role, or the importance of the emancipation movements which were, inevitably, mirrored both on screen and on the catwalk.
The creation of costumes and films necessarily required the participation of professional directors, actors, dressmakers and designers. All of these movie industry workers have contributed towards building an aesthetic that has spilled over into everyday life, to be admired and emulated by ordinary people, up until the present day.
Can anyone detach themselves from the image associated with Audrey Hepburn’s charm, Gloria Swanson’s glamour, Marilyn Monroe’s eroticism or Joan Crawford’s strength? The answer is clearly no. Has fashion been a fundamental element in the creation of all of these iconic qualities? Obviously it has.
The great stars make their mark on film frames through the fashion designs that uniquely identify different archetypes of women that were, are and will be immortal. We are going to take a closer look at them in this course.
PROGRAMME
26 FEBRUARY
Creations of femininity: from Clara Bow to Gloria Swanson
27 FEBRUARY
Women on the altar of fashion: Davis, Dietrich, Crawford…
5 MARCH
Sex and wars: Hepburn, Hayworth
6 MARCH
Housewives, gazelles and sex appeal: Doris Day, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe
13 MARCH
To be or not to be... blonde: Alfred Hitchcock time
BLANCA PAULA RODRÍGUEZ GARABATOS (Santiago de Compostela, 1973) is a professor of Geography and History, a researcher and a teacher. She graduated from Santiago de Compostela University with degrees in Law and History, specialising in Contemporary History and American Studies. She has a PhD from A Coruña University in Literary Studies, and her thesis was titled `Moda de la belle époque e indumentaria en la obra de Emilia Pardo Bazán.' She has given conferences on fashion in different seminars organised by the UCD and taken part in the Fashion and Design Conference, organised in 2020 by Galicia’s School of Textile Design and Fashion (ESDEMGA) in Pontevedra. She has directed the courses Dressing the Era: Fashion, the Eight Art (2021), Feminine Plural: Four Fashion Evangelists in Contemporary Art (2022) and Avant Garde Dialogues (2024), organised by the CGAC. She has also authored the books Emilia Pardo Bazán y la moda and Emilia Pardo Bazán: visiones del dandismo, both published by Hércules Ediciones. In 2023, she received the XIV Manuel Murguía essay award for a text titled Catro exemplos da arte dexenerada galega fóra da España saudable. She collaborates regularly with the film magazines Versión original and Icónica and has written a series of articles on the relationships between fashion, literature and art in publications such as Tropelías, Boletín galego de literatura, DeSignis, Cuadernos hispanoamericanos or La tribuna.
TARGET GROUP
People interested in the history of fashion and the history of cinema.
REGISTRATION
Registration is open from January 14 to February 24, 2025. If you are interested, please email cgac.educacion@xunta.gal with the following information: name and surname(s), national ID card number, academic record, field of work or interest, email address and telephone number.
Once their application is accepted, registered applicants will receive information on method of payment and how to join the sessions online.
CERTIFICATION
The CGAC will issue a course completion certificate to those who attend at least 70% of the sessions.