Mildred Pierce

Have you seen HBO's Mildred Pierce? My mom and I just finished watching it last night and while incredibly uncomfortable at times to watch (I cannot imagine having such a strained relationship with my mom, you'd think Veda was going to end up killing Mildred or something) it really was a phenomenal series. I am always quite fascinated with how Hollywood is able to bring back the past. To see my dear California in the thirties was crazy.

The acting itself was phenomenal. Kate Winslet can do no wrong. And the way she hides her accent is insane. And Evan Rachel Wood as the impossible Veda, sheesh. She's so pretty and nice in real life, and then as Veda I practically couldn't watch the show at some points, she was so awful and evil. But then there were points where snippets of kindness and innocence bled through and that's what made Evan Rachel Wood's portrayal of Veda so impossibly realistic -and scary too, to think that this psychotic girl could be real.

But plot aside, the one thing I was most impressed about was the clothing. I'm a sucker for period pieces in that I am always fascinated by the way costume designers manage to recreate accurate clothing for the time period but also make that said clothing fresh and updated. Sometimes costumes can seem stuffy and outdated, but the pieces in Mildred Pierce were ones I would want to wear today! Veda, the stuck-up Pasadena snob, of course, had the most magnificent of all the wardrobes, which only added to the conflicting feelings I had towards her.

(images from HBO)