Letter of Recommendation: PRISCILLA, Wide-Calf Boots, & Fancy Denim
In other words, a recap of my latest work!
Welcome to ‘Letter of Recommendation,’ a segment of VOTED MOST TALKATIVE in which I share the best of what I’ve been consuming lately. My Letters of Recommendation will always be free, but they will include affiliate links! That means I will make a small commission off of any purchases you may make from my recommendations.
I don’t think it would be a huge surprise to learn that Sofia Coppola’s MARIE ANTOINETTE is one of my favorite movies of all time—like, Letterboxd top four favorite. I think it went both under appreciated and misunderstood upon its 2006 release, with people pissed that she hadn’t done a straightforward biopic (it played factually fast and loose! there is a shot of Converse sneakers in it!!! the soundtrack is anachronistic!!!!! the horrors abound!!!!!!!) and believing that Coppola was glorifying the much-maligned Madame Deficit instead of properly punishing her for her crimes. To which I say: WHATever!!!
Most criticisms of MARIE ANTOINETTE reflect either a willful or ignorant misunderstanding of Coppola’s whole deal, which is to say, she was never going to make a traditional biopic. Instead, Coppola was taking Marie Antoinette’s story and using it as a lens through which she could explore the themes constantly present in her work: the poison dripping through the candy-colored shell of late girlhood, the golden prisons we place young women into, the traps we lay for women coming into their own. It’s Marie Antoinette fanfic!
It was ahead of its time and you can quote me on that! Hollywood was making faithfully-written, reverent, Academy Award-baiting biopics like WALK THE LINE and RAY and I don’t think anyone knew how to handle this weirdo film. Had it been made a decade later, amongst the I, TONYAs and SPENCERs, it would’ve been better received. Or maybe not! People are weird about Sofia Coppola. And I’m not saying it’s misogyny but if that’s what you want to believe I’m implying, I can’t stop you.
Anyway, all of that to say: I loved PRISCILLA, Coppola’s latest movie. It reminded me, in fact, of MARIE ANTOINETTE in a lot of ways, and I believe the two are in conversation with each other. There are lots of parallels: A barely-teenage girl given away to a King, trapped in a gilded cage where she has very little control over her own life, women who learn to use fashion as a weapon and a shield. Both are heavier on vibes than they are dialogue; both use lots of lingering shots of fripperies to establish character. But where Marie Antoinette is ultimately dragged down by all these trappings, Priscilla is able to use them and escape. (I don’t think this is a spoiler, it’s a biopic and you all know Priscilla doesn’t stay with Elvis, right?)
I got to see an early screening of PRISCILLA because I profiled its lead, Cailee Spaeny, for InStyle. Guys, Spaeny is a star. When she’s portraying 14 year-old Priscilla, I genuinely could not believe she was really a woman a decade older, and she convincingly pulls off every age we see in the film. And she does so much with so little. In our interview, she told me that Jacob Elordi, who plays Elvis, had more lines than she did—which makes sense, when you take their relationship into consideration—but Spaeny has such an incredible ability to express every single emotion with just her facial expressions. That is not easy. It’s not surprising to me that she won Best Actress at Venice Film Festival, and I’d bet lots of money she ends up in the Best Actress pool at the Academy Awards this year.
(If they happen, that is—SAG is still on strike!—and also, while I think Spaeny is amazing, I do think this year’s clear winner has to be Lily Gladstone in KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON because holy shit.)
Sometimes you see a performance and you think, oh wow, this person is gonna be huge. That’s how I felt watching Spaeny. She’s just in it for the long haul; in our interview, she told me that Coppola was her dream director, and she made that come true in less than a decade working in the industry. I can’t wait to see what she does next. Also, frankly, I just really liked her! I’ve interviewed a handful of actors and I’ve been lucky in that they’ve all been so kind, but Spaeny was special. I’m rooting for her.
PRISCILLA also convinced me of Jacob Elordi’s talent, frankly. I’ve seen 1.25 seasons of EUPHORIA (god it’s just…so much, am I the only one who has a hard time watching??) and I think he’s great, but his take on Elvis…listen, I hate this thing where we have to pitch two actors against each other because they played the same or similar roles, but I think he does a better job than Austin Butler did in ELVIS last year. And I thought Butler was great! Some of this is definitely Coppola’s vision versus Baz Luhrmann’s, because they’re just completely different films from top to bottom, but Elordi brings a nuance and a fragility to Elvis that he needs to feel balanced and real.
I also just don’t feel like Elordi takes himself too seriously. This didn’t make the cut, but Spaeny told me that he spent their entire 30 day shoot in accent—Elordi is Australian so I can’t imagine that’s an easy thing to swap back and forth from—but it doesn’t feel like a caricature. Also, he’s back to his normal accent, so there’s that. I say this to illustrate that Elordi was committed to the role but didn’t go method actor on it to the point where it consumes him, and I think his Elvis benefits from that. Now I’m even more hype to see SALTBURN.
Back to PRISCILLA to wrap this up: I wholeheartedly recommend it, because it’s a beautiful film. It’s MARIE ANTOINETTE but with a ‘60s Americana aesthetic. If you’re into Sofia Coppola you’ll love it; if you’re not into Sofia Coppola, develop some taste and try again. And read my profile of Cailee Spaeny so when she’s a megastar in another ten years, you can say you heard it from me first!
On the fashion side of things, I did a story for Refinery29 about stylish wide-calf boots! I posted to my social media channels asking for recommendations, and people provided—but mostly, people wanted to know if I’d seen “the wide-calf boot TikTok girl,” a.k.a. Laura Hoden. Girliepop was on it! After I watched a few of her videos, I knew I couldn’t do the story without talking to her, so I got her take on how the last few years of hunting for wide-calf boots have been for her. The thing is, you can find wide-calf boots alright, but most of them are, excuse my french, fucking ugly. They’re cheaply made and they are not stylish. Feel free to take a look around the market and tell me I’m wrong. Like, all I want in this world is a pair of Loeffler Randall’s Gia boots but my calves won’t cram in there.
Besides interviewing Hoden, I got on the horn with several brands offering wide-calf options and they were generous enough to send me pairs to try. The real winner, brand-wise, was Vince Camuto, which offers actually interesting styles in both wide-calf and extra-wide-calf; I love the Quacia for its practical, low heel and variety of color/fabrications.
My favorites ended up being the Nomasei Twist, which are not technically wide-calf, but they’re made with a stretch leather so you get the perfect fit. I knew to try Nomasei because the Whisper thigh-highs are one of my go-to styles in colder weather and they’re just the best. The blocky, low heel is so comfortable for trotting around in (seriously, I wore the Whispers on my honeymoon in Paris and clocked probably 15k-20k steps in them) and I love the cap-toe detail. Plus, come on, they’re sexy. (The Nomasei Twist was hands-down my husband’s favorite boot of the bunch, for what that’s worth.)
For the full recap and more picks, read my story on Refinery29!
And finally (I was a very busy bee), I wrote a very fun story for WSJ Off Duty about women wearing denim for more formal occasions. People are being super normal about it in the comments section (I forgot how fun it is to write for places that still have open comments):
For the record, Enid, I’m totally fine with you showing up to my wedding in jeans if you dress them up the way I recommended, you silly goose.
I am SO excited! I just ordered what I hope will be my perfect wide-calf boots from Duo. I never even knew they existed!! I have been searching for tall boots that fit my calf since forever. 🤞🏼THANK YOU!!