Character study

With the help et hevvciemer Lily Collins, Star et this m0hth's Sriew white remake, Creative Director Joe Zee transforms the princess's costumes into clothes  fit for a mederh heroine

when I was four years old, I was allowed to go to my first movie, which, for me, was an ultraglamorous outing. I dressed up in a spiffy shirt and 1ny best brown polyester slacks and went with my grand mother to the local Toronto theater, where she bought me but tered popcorn and a large Coke, and I watched the story unfold on the giant screen. The movie was the Disney animation Snow White and the seven Dwarf,, and I loved the plot: A girl-the fairest in the land, of course-having been mistreated by her evil step mother and forced to flee, finds herself living among a community of dwarfs until she is rescued with a kiss and rightfully returned to her home. On paper, it reeks of a TLC reality show or even a Life time Sunday drama, but this cartoon was my uber-fantasy. It had all the mov1-perfect elements: A pretty princess! Singing! Dancing! Romance! It became the benchmark against which all future movies would be measured. This was my original rom-com, complete with the requisite final kiss and happily-ever-after ending

So imagine my excitement when l learned there would be a new take on this classic fairy tale. Director Tarsem Singlf's Mirror Mirror (out this month} has everythingl adored from my first movie and more: colorful costumes (think Bjork rejects!), insane glam our (julia Roberts as the chicest Evil Queen everl), and witty one liners, all headlined by my new favorite heroine-in-distress, Lily Collins, another dark-haired beauty who will, no doubt, cast her own spell in our earthly kingdom very soon.

 She radiates charm in every scene, rivaled only by Julia’s laugh-out-loud retorts. The movie’s dynamic and dramatic costumes, designed by Eiko Ishioka, prompted a fashion deja vu, and Lily was game to help me as I reimagined those princess looks: Think Snow White as a supermodel-cum-street-style icon, I show how even the most over-the-top cartoon ideas can translate to the runway and, ul-timately, to everyday wear. Because in the end, and this is from many years of movie watching, I’ve realized that all princesses-real or not-need plenty of options.