My mom is a huge stickler about teaching my sister and I how to become more cultured. Last summer she had us learn all the different art periods and the top 100 paintings and artists. Having to learn this was a major bore and I threw a fit every time she called us into her room to learn more. She also had us read a huge book on mythology which I actually enjoyed because I loved learning about the different Greek gods and the stories associated with them all. This year my mom has decided to have us learn all the classical music periods. I have really enjoyed listening to all of the different styles of music but could pass up the music lectures any day! My mom also decided that she is going to have us watch the 100 greatest american films of all time. She wants my family to finish all 100 of them before I go off to college but at the rate we’re going at we’ll probably be done by the end of the summer. Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit.

The 100 greatest films of all time are movies that have been chosen by an American Film Institute’s panel which includes more than 1,500 leaders of the film industry. When I first heard about my mom telling me that she wanted to watch all 100 movies I was super excited because I don’t have to go through any boring lectures and I get to lay back and enjoy movies that have been picked by many actors and directors. My mom had me watch the movie that was rated number one on the list, Citizen Kane. I kid you not when I tell you that it was difficult for me not to daze off. It felt like the movie lasted forever and as if it was going nowhere! It took place in the 1940’s so the effects were pretty cheesy and I can’t stand cheesy effects. Plus the movie was in black and white and I like being able to see my movies with color. It adds more life to the movie and even personality. I do understand that this was a gigantic achievement for the film industry when it came out but I’m 14 and let’s face it, all the movies from my time are in color and with way cooler effects.

I didn’t like the movie but I do remember that afterwards my dad, sister, and I started making fun of it. In the beginning of the movie we get Citizen Kane’s last word which was “Rosebud”. We laughed because it was a really odd choice of words to say when you die and of course we couldn’t stop from thinking of a certain biological need (if you catch my drift). I also remember that after the movie ended my dad and I were so bored that we took a champagne bottle cork and his flip flops and started playing a ping pong like game that we called flip flop pong! Every time we hit the cork we got a point and the points where scored in “rosebuds”. I know, it is stupid but we needed some sort of exercise to wake up. 🙂

Of course as a little fashionista, I had to pay attention to the clothes that the girls were wearing which was pretty much the only fun I got out of the whole movie. There was not a lot of fashion as the movie concentrates mainly on the main character, Mr. Kane.  However, because Kane was pretty rich, he was able to buy his wives a lot of things. Some of the things they got were nice looking clothes and accessories for the era and I can always appreciate nice vintage pieces. In the first picture, his first wife Emily is wearing a dress where the sleeves come down to her shoulders with lace and flower details. The other two pictures are his second wife, Susan Kane. In the first picture Susan was wearing some sort of shawl with a fur detail  and a hat with waves in the front. The second picture shows her in a sheer shawl with crystal embellishments. This last outfit was my favorite outfit that came out of this movie because of how elegant it is.

And here I am as Mrs. Kane!

Me as Mrs. Kane