If any of you are musical theatre nerd like me you should recognise the photo above and you’ll also know that this week marks the 50th Anniversary of the release of West Side Story in theatres.
LIFE magazine released previously unseen photos from the filming of the movie featuring legendary actors and actresses such as Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris and Russ Tamblyn, and more can be seen by clicking this link.
Everything about the film is completely timeless. From the re-shaping of the Romeo and Juliet love story to the recognisable New York setting, wonderful musical scoring and ever classic costuming.
In fact it really spoke volumes to me when my old theatre group were able to easily source many of the costumes of their recent production from the baseball jackets, pretty 40’s/50’s style dresses, to the boy’s chinos (if you know the musical I swear no pun intended :P) and turn up jeans were all found on the high street.
A shift towards a better classier style of dressing? Or just another happy accident that the designers for current clothes stores are all feeling a little pretty, witty and gay?
Either way, I’m just happy to celebrate a really legendary musical (and definitely one of my favourites) and all the amazing fashion inspiration it brings.
Happy Birthday, West Side Story!