I finally saw Julie and Julia! I know, I am WAY late. I have been sidelined for a bit over two weeks with double knee replacements. I think the film was out for quite a while before that, but truth be told, I was just getting back to Weight Watchers, determined to lose the 20 pounds I've gained since my knees went bad. I was a bit frightened to have to sit and see all that butter and bread and luscious food! So, today, I took myself on a movie date and drooled through the whole movie.
Turns out, however, it was not the food I was salivating for.. it was the clothes! Sure, the food looked good, but I'm well into my WW routine and already five pounds toward my goal, and what happens when I eat WW style is that butter and sugar start to look really gross. So, I was OK there. But I have always adored clothes from the 1940s and these outfits that Meryl Streep/Julia Child wore in the film were just gorgeous! Look at this:
And this:
It could be the fact that my mother was a beautiful and very fashionable woman of the forties. She was born in 1916, so she would have been just in her early thirties then, and she had the most astounding suits and dresses and hats and shoes. Her hair waved so perfectly, her lips were deep scarlet, and her skin was flawless. Of course, she smoked, and drank, but somehow both of those things made her look more glamorous back then! I think she knew she was stunning, because she had lots and lots of photographs made of herself. And I am so glad, because I barely remember her in my conscious mind. I was only five when she passed away. But I wish my father and step-mother had kept some of her dresses and hats for me. So my obsession with that era could be all those pics of Marjorie Patton Cain, but I also think that fashion of the forties was just the best designed, most flattering, and sexiest of any time so far!
Those waistlines! The draping! The gorgeous fabrics and small print patterns. The earthy colors. The pearls! The collars and necklines, the belts. OOOH! And they even had pants for women by then, big trousery pants with high waists, very flattering.
You know, comfort is important, but you don't need to sacrifice quality or good taste. My mother was very tall, not as tall as JC, but taller than I. She was 5'10". I know she had to watch her weight,especially after having a son at 37 and then twin girls at age 38! But even with some extra weight on, she still had a waist and she still had these great legs.
I just have one nagging concern. My mother died when she was ten years younger than I am now, so she didn't have to live through bone-on-bone knees or the weight challenges of the 50s. I just have a hard time reconciling how these two loves, delicious food and fabulous clothes. I know all about the French women not getting fat and what not! But it seems to me that if one were to cook and eat the way JC and her followers like Julie Powell did all the time, it would be hard to keep that waistline trim!
My parents also taught me a great deal about good food, home-grown vegetables, plain and fancy cooking, and the treasure of an inviting kitchen and luscious meals. I don't plan on giving up good food, but I do want to get my waist back!In the movie, Julie Powell says if the world were going to end in thirty days, she's eat nothing but butter! I might do that, but I'd also take all my savings out and travel... but first, I blow thousands of dollars on some awesome forties-type clothes! Bon appetit!
