The Daisies Dimension of New Year's Eve
The Daisies Dimension of New Year's Eve
This style pairs well with champagne, chaos, and lighthearted nihilism.
Originally posted to the Human Repeller blog.
I haven't been to a New Year's Eve party in the better part of a decade, but if I were going to one, I'd sure as hell want to dress as one of the two characters, both named Marie, who feature in the 1966 film Daisies (or Sedmikrásky in its original Czech) by Věra Chytilová.
With its nihilistically sumptuous parodying both of bourgeois excess and of its opposite, spartan tradfem posturing, not to mention its easily replicable and low-effort but captivating styling, the film is the perfect inspiration for dressing with levity on the often-mawkish holiday without simply giving up and wearing something boring.
NYE is a holiday that is both lighthearted and dark-souled, marking the passage of time as if a holding funeral for the year past at the new year's Bris, and I can't think of a more apt aesthetic than the Maries' to honor that vibe.
If you like these posts, please let me know by sharing (tag me if on IG so I can see and thank you!), liking, saving, and commenting on HR’s Instagram, subbing to the HR Patreon for as little as two bucks a month (extra posts, personal styling, and more available on there!) or throwing me a few shillings on Ko-fi if you’re able.
Thank you SO MUCH for your support, whatever you are able and willing to do to help is extremely valuable to me and I’m honored to be a small part of your life on the web.
Note: I may make a commission if you purchase items using some of the links below, which costs you nothing and might actually save you a few bucks in some cases, so thanks if you do, and please let me know what you copped!
The best part of this look is that it hinges on two extremely simple accessories: a flower crown (fresh flowers or dried real flowers, and in a circular halo as above, not on a headband, lest you accidentally give Rookie Mag reader from 2013) and eyes completely surrounded by teardrops of black liner (also as above).
The rest of the outfit can remain extremely plain, as the eyeliner and flower crown will provide enough charm and mystique to your look that even a plain dress or a shirt and pants would be alluring. However, below is some inspiration from the film of fits that pair well with flower crowns, champagne, and chaos.
A running theme of the costumes in Daisies is comfort at the cost of propriety. Thus, a mini-skirted babydoll nightgown (preferably one actually from the '60s) is perfectly suited for a fancy NYE party, with tights or thigh-high stockings if it's cold out. These pair well with chiffon scarves, like the one Marie II (in the dark dress) wears out to get drunk.
I will note: dressing as a Marie is most fun if you convince a friend to dress as a Marie with you, maybe even in dark and light versions of similar outfits, like the first two nightgowns below:
This tableau offers two potential accompaniments to your flower-crown-and-eyeliner baseline: either a darkly floral fit that smacks of winter and decay, possibly in velveteen burnout (you want to look like a still life of a rotting bouquet), or a plush gray bathrobe/quilted coat layered over a skimpy slip dress (or one of the above nightgowns). With the crown, even a bathrobe will look festive, especially if you're NOT the host of the party (in that case, it might just look like you haven't gotten dressed yet). These looks can be combined and pair well with bare feet past midnight.
This look pays tribute to the physical arbiter of time that is the near-obsolete newspaper, as worn by the Maries prior to their *spoiler alert* chandelier-induced demises. Featuring a melange of newsprint-adorned items, paired with a pair of pointy-toed pumps (possibly Prada?), this look is temporal and triumphant.
The overall effect of adapting a Daisies-forward sartorial attitude towards NYE is one of insouciance laced with drama. Let me know if you take this tack. Here's a photo of my imperfect (artificial flowers, could have gone harder on the eyeliner) adaptation of the look that I wore to a random, un-fun party MANY years ago:
I could just as well have been wearing a tee and jeans, or newspaper bundled onto me with twine, and I would have still looked delightfully insolent, I think.
Let me know if you are inspired for NYE or beyond by this film (which you should watch, if you haven't already—I believe it's available with an HBO Max subscription or on the Criterion Channel).
More soon.
<3 HR