Natalie Portman made her triumphant return to the Cannes Film Festival this weekend, turning the clock back more than half a century.
The Oscar winner appeared at the world premiere of her film “May December“She wore a strapless dress with a white bodice and an embellished, scalloped skirt that was encrusted with midnight blue beads.
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True to her form, Portman looked effortlessly chic, and many fashion stores proclaimed her dress as one of them The best of the French film festival. But it was actually a modern reinterpretation of a Christian Dior dress created 74 years ago.
The current creative director of Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri, was inspired by “Junon‘, which first appeared in 1949 as part of the fashion house’s fall/winter collection. The original dress was named after Juno, the Roman goddess whose Greek counterpart is Hera.
It is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, but is not currently on public display. The Met considers “Junon” and another dress created in the same year, “Venus”, as Dior’s “most coveted” designs.
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“The sumptuous skirt of ombré petals, resembling abstractions of peacock feathers without ‘eyes’, indirectly references the bird associated with the Queen of Olympians,” reads the institute’s website says.
Interestingly, it wasn’t the first time the iconic design had been mentioned in modern fashion.
Designer Kim Jones created last winter a sleeveless men’s top for Dior, which featured similar layers and beading. Miley Cyrus’ 2009 Oscars lookThe model designed by Zuhair Murad also showed a striking resemblance.
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While Portman’s stunning style is turning heads, her recent performance might prove to be even more memorable.
“May DecemberDirected by Todd Haynes, Portman stars as Elizabeth Berry, a Hollywood actress who will star in a true crime drama about a 36-year-old woman who becomes a tabloid sensation after she is caught having an affair with a 13-year-old .
To prepare for the role, Elizabeth visits the woman at the center of the decades-old case, Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore), who hopes the film will shed a favorable light on her story after years of criticism.
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The film, apparently inspired by the real-life case of Mary Kay Letourneau, received an award eight-minute standing ovation at its premiere and caused a storm of enthusiasm from critics.
“You can not, can not That would be better than having Portman and Moore take center stage with such juicy roles.” deadline wrote. “Looking back at their game of cat and mouse confirms that these two Oscar winners are as good as it gets.”
