Style Icon: Emma Stone in La La Land

I've always adored classic musicals, the type with big ensemble dance numbers and catchy songs, and so I've been anticipating the release of La La Land for a good few months now. Starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, the film promised to be a modern romance with an Old Hollywood twist, incorporating Fred & Ginger-esque dance numbers and a fabulous jazz-inspired soundtrack. I can now confirm that it didn't disappoint, having headed down to my local cinema to see it yesterday.
There were so many aspects of the film I loved. I loved the songs, particularly City of Stars which has since been continually stuck in my head. I loved the dancing, especially the sequence between Stone and Gosling on the hill after they've left the party, which easily evoked old school Hollywood numbers of the past. I especially loved Ryan Gosling's performance as Seb, a struggling jazz pianist angered by the lack of popularity that his genre faces in this modern age, a part he played with such warmth and emotion. However for the purpose of this post, I'm going to be focusing on Stone's character Mia, paying close attention to her fabulous wardrobe.

I've admired Stone as an actress for some time. She may have a remarkable talent and obvious beauty, yet she still remains so down-to-earth and natural. In La La Land she plays a young actress, struggling to be successful despite repeated auditions, working in a coffee shop to support herself and feeling pretty disillusioned about her life. Throughout the course of the film we see her determination gradually decreasing as she receives more and more rejections, until she finally reaches breaking point and moves back home. Luckily, Seb brings her round, encouraging her to go to one last audition, and five years later, we see she is a success, although the film may not have quite the ending that the audience would have liked...

The gorgeous blue halter neck

Asides from her sense of humour, her vivacity and her determination, the one thing that I also adored about this character was her amazing wardrobe. Although appropriate for the modern time and setting, all of her outfits had quite a classic, 1940s twist to them which suited the whole premise of the film.

I loved the blue halter neck dress that she wears to the party with her friends, in a sequence where all of the girls are dressed in primary colours. She makes a last minute decision to go out, having been knocked back from yet another audition, and so you get the impression that she is supposed to have just thrown on this outfit, resulting in an effortless, natural feel that suits the LA setting.

Her daywear, like her party clothes, also has a naturally elegant feel to it, from the Audrey Hepburn- style skinny trousers that she wears on her way to work, to the pretty blouse and skirt combinations that she favours throughout the movie. I adored the demure coral dress she wore with the old-fashioned collar, ladylike skirt and unfussy design which fitted her character so well.

Classic and feminine

Then there was the yellow dress that she wore for another party scene and her first proper conversation with Seb. Simple, summery, and with an elegant low cut back, Mia initially teamed the dress with blue heels, again showing her penchant for colour blocking, before changing into more practical tap shoes for my favourite dance number.

My absolute favourite outfit she wore was the green dress. Having arranged a date with Seb to see Rebel Without A Cause, she realises she has double-booked and so is instead dragged along to a meal with her boring boyfriend, to which she wears this gorgeous forest green ensemble. Halfway through the meal, she comes to her senses and runs all the way to the cinema, where Seb is sitting alone. Everything about this outfit was so beautiful, from the rich colour and the cap sleeves, to the elegant chignon she wears with it and the way it billows out during the dance scene later on in the planetarium.

My favourite green dress

Then finally there was the slinky black number that she wears in the last scene, in which she stumbles across Seb's jazz club with her husband five years after the previous events. The tighter fit and satiny finish contrasted with the poodle-like skirts and simple cotton materials she wore elsewhere in the film, reflecting her maturity and the much more polished, refined style she now has. However I still loved the simplicity of the dress, with its slim straps and square neck, as well as the classic black courts and clutch she paired it with.
Overall, if you love a great musical soundtrack, big dance sequences, a bit of romance and, of course, exquisite costumes, you need to see La La Land immediately. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me want to sing along... a brilliant film.