I’ve been thinking about Dick (1999) lately.
No, really, I have. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the satirical take on the Watergate scandal that doomed Richard Nixon’s second term as president and, well, since we are in another election year, I figured it might be fun to revisit the film for shits ‘n giggles. And while I know I will get some side-eye from Trystan because yet again I am breaking the sacred no-films-set-after-1969 rule, I really think it’s worth checking out the costumes in Dick.
Michelle Williams and Kirsten Dunst play 15-year-old best friends Arlene and Betsy, respectively, who wind up becoming embroiled in the Watergate scandal and accidentally winding up in the center of it through a series of increasingly ridiculous misunderstandings. Written and directed by Andrew Fleming (who had only three years earlier directed the cultural touchstone film of my youth, The Craft), the film features an ensemble cast made up of comedy greats Will Ferrell, Bruce McCulloch, Teri Garr, Dave Foley, Harry Shearer, and Dan Hedaya as the eponymous “Dick.”
The costumes were designed by Deborah Everton. Williams and Dunst are given bright, kitchy, and youthful outfits in stark contrast with the drab suits and dresses of the adults who all play third tier roles in the lives of the teenage protagonists. The film also is the last of the great 1990s retro-nostalgic films to look back at the 1970s with literal and metaphorical rose-tinted glasses. Their clothing is intensified and somewhat distilled from the original fashion of the time — it’s highly unlikely that most people who lived in the early 1970s wore the riotous outfits depicted in this film on an everyday basis, but then again, neither did teenage girls in the 1990s dress like Cher in Clueless every single day (well, I sure didn’t, don’t know about the rest of you 40-somethings reading this).
As the girls grow more and more disillusioned with the President, their costumes become darker and more somber, ultimately blurring the line between 1970s and 1990s fashion.
Do you love Dick (1999)? Tell us in the comments!
Find this frock flick at:
Well now I desperately need the outfit Michelle Williams is wearing in that last photo!
I would do some illegal things for the kitchy 1960s/1970s babydoll dresses, worn by Dunst and Williams!
And tomorrow (August 9) is the 50th anniversary of Nixon’s resignation.