Notes about styling: Self sufficient beauty. Leo Tolstoi "Anna Karenina". Book and Film Images.

Tolstoi defined clearly the style of Anna Karenina, he said: "less is more":

“Kitty had been seeing Anna every day; she adored her, and had pictured her invariably in lilac. But now seeing her in black, she felt that she had not fully seen her charm. She saw her now as someone quite new and surprising to her. Now she understood that Anna could not have been in lilac, and that her charm was just that she always stood out against her attire, that her dress could never be noticeable on her. And her black dress, with its sumptuous lace, was not noticeable on her; it was only the frame, and all that was seen was she--simple, natural, elegant, and at the same time gay and eager."

The above means that Anna was very well dressed, exactly as Chanel wanted, i.e. when you remember the woman and not the attire. Anna belongs to women who create a special atmosphere around them without doing anything. She is more of Sophia Loren type. Usually this kind of women do not go in line with fashion, they have a self sufficient beauty. Such a beauty needs a minimum to support it.

If I had to dress Anna Karenina today, I would've chosen something "simple".

That is why I prefer Anna Karenina on the right, picture. Out of all Anna Kareninas that show up in Internet I prefer the one on the right picture, and I also came to the conclusion that Jane Austen should be filmed by the British, Guy de Maupassant by the French, Tolstoi by the Russians and so on.

Anna Karenina 1967

Anna Karenina 2012

Jacqueline Durran (stylist of the latest film on Anna starring Keira Nightly) said: “Never in my experience on film sets have I seen anyone with such a range of diamonds and pearls. But I have to say it was very useful for Keira to have at her fingertips all this fine jewellery, as Anna would. It was the aura of Anna Karenina that we were creating…”

Anna Karenina is neither a fashion maximalist like Marie-Antoinette nor she is a friend of diamonds like Marilyn Monroe. Instead of decorating bony Keira too much, Jacqueline could have expressed her designer talent on other women characters from the the film.

Betsy, a "friend" of Anna, a representative of the highest society. She is exactly the one, whom a Costume designer would want. Betsy is materialistic, glamorous, rich and stylish. It is Betsy who should wear all the expensive jewelery of the world. Out of two Betsys I prefer the second one, a more stylish one (I am still comparing the same two movies).

Betsy from "Anna Karenina 2012"

Betsy from "Anna Karenina 1967"

Lastly, as I have already started discussing styles of women characters I have to mention Kitty (whose almost fiancée falls in love with Anna). Her line is as important as Anna’s.

Tolstoi says the following about her :

“It was the first winter that she had been out in the world. Her success in society had been greater than that of either of her elder sisters, and greater even than her mother had anticipated. To say nothing of the young men who danced at the Moscow balls being almost all in love with Kitty”

Kitty on the left lacks any sophistication. She could have been more decorated. I have an impression that Kitty together with Betsy donated everything to Anna.