Monica Bellucci’s Life In Little Black Dresses

Monica Belluccis bombshell Dolce beauty and Fellini heroine aura are bound up with one powerful fashion signifier: the black dress. Forget LBDs, Bellucci is a gown woman, frequently pouring herself into Alaas signature king of cling looks and Diors hyper-feminine, craft-centric confections. While the step and repeat is an agonizing part of some actors’ jobs, Bellucci lives for red-carpet drama. Her MO is Hollywood, darling! all year round, whether shes lighting up Cannes in dramatic Dolce corsetry, or modeling slinky silk slips for Guy Laroche. Subtle doesn’t exist in Monica’s world and why should it, when online necklines and to-die-for curve-enhancing designs are on the menu? There’s glamour, and then there’s dark gothic Bellucci glamour.

Think young is how Monica sums up her attitude to life and fashion, while her body-positive approach to getting dressed is rooted in a long line of powerhouse Bellucci females. The women in my family taught me that we have the right to love ourselves and create space for our pleasure, which she had previously told Vogue. that [care] is the ultimate expression of our femininity, one that reflects not only in our fashion and jewelery, but also in the way we treat ourselves. No wonder Bellucci has the sort of lit-from-within glow money can’t buy.

As well as an endless youthfulness, Bellucci shrouds herself in an air of mystery. Part lace-bedecked Morticia Addams, part dangerously alluring Bond girl, she keeps us guessing about who is the woman behind that flawless yet ever-so-slightly undone persona is a remarkable feat considering Monica rarely strays from inky black. The way you dress is how you express yourself, she has said. Thats how fashion becomes interesting, the choices [you make].

In celebration of Belluccis singularly fabulous approach to style, a potted history of the Italian pin-ups life in black dresses. the Vogue verdict? Molto bene.