Get the Look: Carmen Miranda
This week we celebrate the lady in a tutti-frutti hat, Carmen Miranda. Although labeled by Hollywood studios as the “Brazilian Bombshell,” the singer/actress expressed herself through a number of Latin musical styles. Beginning in 1939, her signature look was most of all a glamorized version of a poor black Brazilian girl from Bahia. As the War years went on her image became ever more stylized and glamorous in the Hollywood films that made her famous.
Criticized from various fronts for being “too Latin,” “too black,” and “too American,” what she really was can now be seen as uniquely Carmen Miranda. Elements of her look, to be used singularly or (if you’re ready to rumba!) full-on, are a turban or other headdress, towering platforms, bold jewelry, sequins, cropped tops, golden flourishes and bright and colorful Latin-centric clothing. Oh, and fruit, whether piled onto your head, made into jewelry or in a print. Let bananas be your business this week, for the sake of the iconic Carmen Miranda.
This week we celebrate the lady in a tutti-frutti hat, Carmen Miranda. Although labeled by Hollywood studios as the “Brazilian Bombshell,” the singer/actress expressed herself through a number of Latin musical styles. Beginning in 1939, her signature look was most of all a glamorized version of a poor black Brazilian girl from Bahia. As the War years went on her image became ever more stylized and glamorous in the Hollywood films that made her famous.
Criticized from various fronts for being “too Latin,” “too black,” and “too American,” what she really was can now be seen as uniquely Carmen Miranda. Elements of her look, to be used singularly or (if you’re ready to rumba!) full-on, are a turban or other headdress, towering platforms, bold jewelry, sequins, cropped tops, golden flourishes and bright and colorful Latin-centric clothing. Oh, and fruit, whether piled onto your head, made into jewelry or in a print. Let bananas be your business this week, for the sake of the iconic Carmen Miranda.
?) eye candy!
