I stumbled on this movie when I was doing a school project last year and became fascinated with African American style icons from the 50’s. I was looking into Dorothy Dandridge’s work and saw the trailer for Carmen Jones. A movie based on an opera made in 1954 with an all black cast? I had to watch it!
I haven’t watched many movies from the 50’s and only a handful of musicals so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Let’s just say, the plot is what it is. It’s based on an opera from the 1870’s after all. There was also a lot of dubbed singing, which was hard to get used to. I kept watching anyway, mainly because Dandridge was so captivating and I couldn’t keep my eyes of her colourful dresses. I especially love the hooded peach dress she’s wearing towards the end of the movie. Her costars didn’t disappoint either with their glamorous outfits and headpieces.
I looked up Mary Ann Nyberg, the costume designer of the film and learned that she worked on the 1954 version of A Star is Born. I’m a bit curious to watch the earlier versions now that I’ve seen Bradley Cooper’s version. I’ll also add the Dorothy Dandridge biopic starring Halle Berry to my watch list.
![](https://zurizuberi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Carmen_Jones_1.jpeg)
![](https://zurizuberi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Carmen_Jones_2.jpeg)
![](https://zurizuberi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Carmen_Jones_3.jpeg)
![](https://zurizuberi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Carmen_Jones_4.jpeg)
![](https://zurizuberi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Carmen_Jones_6.jpeg)
![](https://zurizuberi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Carmen_Jones_7.jpeg)
![](https://zurizuberi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Carmen_Jones_9.jpeg)
![](https://zurizuberi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Carmen_Jones_10.jpeg)
![](https://zurizuberi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Carmen_Jones_11.jpeg)
![](https://zurizuberi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Carmen_Jones_12.jpeg)
![](https://zurizuberi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Carmen_Jones_13.jpeg)
![](https://zurizuberi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Carmen_Jones_14.jpeg)
Love love love the aesthetic of the 1950’s and Dorothy Dandridge is just beautiful 😍 + have to agree on the peach hooded dress. I’ve been very drawn to peach-colored stuff this spring.
Peach is such a lovely colour for spring 🙂