Margot Robbie isn't letting us breathe on the Wuthering Heights press tour. By the time we process her last red carpet look (say, her custom Chanel by Matthieu Blazy ballgown in Paris), she returns to Getty Images in an even more impressive pull. On February 4, she outdid herself with a 33-year-old archival coat in London.Robbie and stylist Andrew Mukamal are giving Barbie a run for her money right now: Catherine Earnshaw's looks prove she's just as much a character to watch.
Since the third Wuthering Heights stop took Robbie to London, it was only right she source a British designer's archives. The lucky label? John Galliano. To be more specific, his eponymous label's Spring 1992 runway show. Robbie was unmissable at Westminster's Spencer House in one of the line's most risqué sets: a brocade, red carpet-grazing coat replaced any semblance of a traditional top. Somehow, the pastel green robe married the pale pink shearling collars and cuffs of the Penny Lane trend with the traditional garnish of Victorian bodices. Given Galliano's affinity for avant-garde lingerie, it's no surprise hook-and-eye closures kept it from bursting open.
The coat would've been grand enough, but Robbie doesn't cut corners. She and Mukamal tracked down the rest of the runway look, including the low-rise black mini skirt. Matching garters extended beyond her skirt's thigh-high hem, before grasping semi-sheer stockings.
Robbie's over-the-knee socks were the same vibrant shade of crimson seen on the “Napoleon and Joséphine” catwalk. ("Red is a key color for Cathy throughout the film," costume designer Jacqueline Durran told Vogue.) Plus, Mukamal tied pale pink ribbons around each thigh, as demonstrated on the model. Robbie's only major switch? The Oscar nominee slipped on custom Manolo Blahnik Carolyne Slingback Pumps, in lieu of the Spring 1992 mules.
Fashion historians like Mukamal often mine Galliano's pre-Dior work for red carpets. His eponymous label opened its doors in 1984, before making his Paris Fashion Week debut in 1989.
The designer's Spring 1992 collection drew inspiration from Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoleon Bonaparte's first wife and first Empress of the French from 1804 to 1809. His collection was a rather loose interpretation of the 19th century fashion Beauharnais wore in her lifetime: Models flaunted sheer bias-cut slips, peekaboo underwear, undone suiting, and distressed lingerie, accessorized by tricorn soldier's hats and feather boas.
Sprinkles of Galliano's signatures appear in the Spring 1992 line, including punk patterns, weightless chiffon, and underwear-as-outerwear. He brought this playful approach to undergarment reconstruction with him to Dior. See Carla Bruni in a transparent bodysuit during his 1997 debut Dior Haute Couture show for proof.
Perhaps by picking this Spring 1992 look, Robbie is telling Wuthering Heights readers to expect a NSFW retelling of Emily Brönte's 1847 novel in this adaptation. So far, early reviews hint the film is a real "bodice-ripper."
