Roland Mouret Black and White Dress Killing Eve
Spoilers ahead for Seasons 1 and 2
Having devoured Season 1 of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's brilliantly clever spy dramaKilling Eve, I recently began watching Season 2. If you haven't seen it, you must. The premise is simple: restless MI5 employee Eve Polastri tries to hunt down Villanelle, a skilled assassin who also happens to be a psychopath. But Eve and Villanelle become obsessed with each other, and the consequences are both destructive and intoxicating.
Much has been made of Villanelle's wardrobe over the two seasons. For her, clothes are fun. They are part of what makes her so difficult to typecast. As well as her actual disguises (such as the waitress outfit and wig in Season 1), there are pieces that reflect different facets of her personality, and she deploys them cleverly (and often satirically). During her psychiatric assessment in Season 1, she wears a girlish pink tulle Molly Goddard dress – deliciously juxtaposed with the gruesome subject matter of the interview. A pair of tough Balenciaga biker boots completes the look.
I thought this explanation from the show's costume designer Phoebe de Gaye was very insightful:
"I thought Molly Goddard's stuff was just perfect for it because it has that subversive streak…In that scene, her minder takes her to the psychoanalyst to see if she's losing her edge. It's like she's sticking two fingers up and saying, 'Okay, I'm going to dress like a little girl and act like a mad little girl.' She's quite subversive. I thought that would be great to use with the color and the mixture of the extremely feminine, almost to the slightly perverse point, with those boots, which are a good mix."
So clothes are very fun and theatrical for Villanelle. We see this again in an episode of Season 2, when she declares to Eve that she is wearing black because she has "dressed for the occasion" i.e. Eve's funeral (although of course she doesn't actually kill her). In another episode, she dresses up in a grotesquely girly dirndl and pig mask – and proceeds to brutally murder a man in the window of a brothel, to the delight of spectators who assume that it must be some kind of magic trick or game.
But Villanelle can also dress seriously, and she is not averse to a power suit, as we see in the fateful nightclub murder episode. Here she prefers a more tailored, androgynous style, courtesy of Dries Van Noten:
In Season 2, we see the return of the patterned blazer; this one is by Chloé, and Villanelle pairs it effortlessly with an Isabel Marant blouse. The more masculine silhouette is arguably an example of 'queer coding', and there seems little doubt amongst fans that Villanelle is queer (as well as her obvious attraction to Eve, she has several ex-girlfriends/female lovers). For her, fashion is a form of expression and freedom.
Villanelle recognises the allure of good clothing, and uses it to get under Eve's skin. When we meet Eve, her style could best be described as frumpy. Villanelle's entire existence is intensely intoxicating for Eve, who wears questionable anoraks and lived a quiet life with her husband Niko until she began working for Carolyn. Villanelle begins to show Eve what shecouldbe like: the first time they meet, a disguised Villanelle tells her to wear her gorgeously wild hair down. Later in Season 1, Villanelle steals Eve's suitcase and replaces her dowdy clothes with designer outfits. Eve tries on a sexy black-and-white Roland Mouret dress and stares at herself in the mirror. Villanelle has forced her to confront her own erotic potential – or, in the words of de Gaye, she "wants to manipulate Eve into seeing her own beauty". It is perhaps significant, then, that Villanelle breaks into Eve's home and confront her just as she is admiring herself in the gifted dress.
De Gaye has other insights to offer on Villanelle and her wardrobe. For one thing, clothes are her reward for killing people. Almost everything she wears is designer, and we can also see her expensive tastes reflected in the décor of her Paris apartment. So there is a motive for killing that goes beyond pure twisted enjoyment. And Luke Jennings, who wrote the Villanelle books which inspired the show, said that her "clothes reflect her status and independence. She doesn't have to conform or please anyone's gaze".
Some of Villanelle's most iconic looks
So here's to you, Villanelle. You may be a cold-blooded psychopath, but there's something stupidly endearing about you – and no one can say that you don't know how to pull off a stylish kill.
I thought about what Villanelle might buy if she went shopping today. Here's what I'd recommend to her:
Diane von Furstenberg
Prada
Gucci
Costarellos
Gucci
Source: https://thedudavocado.home.blog/2019/06/21/style-lessons-from-killing-eves-villanelle/
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