Friday, April 5, 2013

Casual Friday: After the Ball

Friday, April 5, 2013
Loretta reports:

I happened on this little bit of early filmmaking, clearly made to titillate.  There seemed to be a good deal of that happening in the early days of cinema:  lots of scantily clad women.  There are certainly some oddities in this one—like, what is that stuff the maid is pouring on her?  But ye persons of historical nerdiness will appreciate this golden opportunity to see what layers a woman would be wearing in the late 1800s, and what went over and under what.



Après le Bal is a film by George Melies, whose name film buffs and anybody who's seen Hugo will quickly recognize.

Illustration is a possible image for during the ball:  Albert von Keller's Lady Dancing, 1900.

Readers who receive our blog via email might see only a rectangle or square where the video ought to be.  To watch the video, please click on the title to this post.

7 comments:

Ana said...

Dark sand?
Ha, good use of 'looks like water on film*, but isn't'.

* Well, kinda. Special effects have come a long, long way :D .

Gerri Bowen said...

I agree with Ana. Looks like it was supposed to represent water.

Mary Jo Burke said...

Amazing what people think of to simulate something else. Hitchcock used Hershey's chocolate syrup for blood in the shower scene of Psycho. Love Loretta's books and Isabella's look stunning.

LorettaChase said...

I wondered why they didn't use water, then realized it was probably hard to film. I thought it was funny that her garment was tossed into the bath. Mary Jo, thank you!

Kathy said...

She's still wearing some sort of leotard, or something, after undressing. Getting it wet might have shown a bit too much? All those layers, how HOT they must have been.

Genghis Mom said...

I'm amazed at how little time it took! That's a lot of clothes! I always imagined it took longer.

Beth W said...

Wherever that actress is considered voluptuously attractive, I must go! The perception of beauty has surely changed. Maybe this is why I love retro fashion.

 
Two Nerdy History Girls. Design by Pocket