Romance in Style Review: Oh So Outmoded!
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Director: Michael Robison
Writers: Karen Berger, Luther M. Mace
Only recently, my mom and I walked into a couple of branded stores to shop for clothes, but we left empty-handed because most collections were extremely boring and plain. The so-called “hand-sewn” dresses featured in the fashion-themed movie Romance in Style were even worse. Why make a romance about a fashion magazine and unique clothes if you don’t have the budget to do better than outfits that look like they sell for less than $10 on the street?
Look, I’m no fashion expert, but even a novice like me could tell how basic the dresses worn by protagonist Ella (Jaicy Elliot) in Romance in Style were. The movie is about Ella, a homegrown designer who temporarily helps out at a major fashion magazine and inspires the new head, Derek (Benjamin Hollingsworth), to make space for plus-size fashion. However, magazine editor Claudia (Laura Soltis) and her minion Liza (Jorja Cadence) oppose making any changes, even though it would make their magazine more inclusive.
Derek and Ella first meet as strangers at a coffee shop and start off on the wrong foot. When they realize they work at the same place, a romance brews. While Jaicy Elliot is adorable as the confident, straightforward Ella, who isn’t afraid to speak her mind, Benjamin Hollingsworth brings little charm to the role of the handsome Derek, and there’s very little chemistry between the characters. The story is completely clichéd, with a silly conflict at the end.
For a film heavily focused on fashion, the costume designers for Romance in Style don’t seem to have done any homework. Even Ella’s notebook of designs lacks interesting drawings. A character goes gaga over one of Ella’s designs in the film, but it was very similar to a dress I bought in 2014 from a street shop in Bandra for Rs 500 (about $6). A lot of fans complained about the wardrobe choices in the new Mean Girls movie, but its high school protagonists were definitely dressed better than anyone in this film that’s supposedly full of fashion experts.
Romance in Style tries to be a mix of The Devil Wears Prada, The Hating Game, and basically any romantic movie where the ‘average’ employee falls for a wealthy heir. And even though it’s only 1 hour 24 minutes long, the film is steadily bland for most of its runtime.
Rating: 3 on 10. You can watch the film on Netflix.
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