Romina / The Place Beyond the Pines: the Dream of the 90s is Aliiiiive

I caught The Place Beyond the Pines with some friends on one of our typical lazy Sunday afternoons a few months back. I didn’t expect much, really, but by the time the credits rolled I found myself clinging to the last shreds of the movie, reluctant to leave. I wanted to stay in the theater til the lights came up, soaking in the tragic music, the overhead shots of a bike weaving up a mountain road, and a movie that was like three complicated, swirling, mind-fucking films in one. And this is not to mention Romina and her outfits.

Let’s see here.. Starring opposite Baby Goose? Check. Dark hair that is like a cascading tapestry of sex? Check. A mysterious beauty mark near lip that speaks of a sun-dappled, well traveled life? Check, of course. And the ability to wear CLOGS (as summer footwear!!) with booty shorts, a cornflower blue halter top, and several choker necklaces while basically being able to say you woke up like this (insert Beyonce hands here)? Eva Mendes, kindly see yourself out.

Just kidding, you looked amazing. These outfits could have gone so wrong, so quickly. But instead of looking like something out of an Urban Outfitters ad, they made me think of the girls I idolized as a teenager. Way more subversive and way less calculated. The girls at school who wore their hair ~wavy~ and didn’t notice if their shorts were just a little too short. They had other things on their minds. Like epic life decisions or maybe just tacos? We can’t ever really know.

But that’s what these outfits made me remember: these characters have other things to worry about. And apparently preoccupation is the sexiest thing of all.. next to Ryan Gosling in a torn t-shirt.