Casablanca

Oh, to be Ilsa Lund, in the 1942 classic black and white film Casablanca. To be swept into high romance, with just a step into Rick’s Cafe Americain. Played with smoldering wariness by the incandescent Ingrid Bergman, Ilsa epitomizes passion and confusion in the midst of war. And manages to look glamorous while doing so. But, her refugee wardrobe is always a puzzle. Starched linen jackets? Picture hats and white gloves? A ruffled silk cocktail blouse, a faultless suit, a full-length evening coat? OK, it’s the movies. But, nevertheless, it is tempting to imagine dressing Ilsa a bit more realistically. Jane’s Vanity is waiting in the wings with a suitcase of road-worthy possibilities. Cut to...  

“Rick? Who’s he?” Ilsa makes her unforgettable nightclub entrance, this time wearing the packable Dana Pisarra Romantic Natural Sweater in ivory, accented with floral lace at wrist and hem. Its semi-transparent mohair knit matches Ilsa’s wistful mood as she softly requests, “Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By.”  

“I’m really not interested.” Daytime, a sunny bazaar. Klements conveys Ilsa’s cool nonchalance in their floor-length Committee Print Aurora Dress with ¾ sleeves. Modest, exotic, and satisfyingly mysterious, it whispers, “no pressing necessary.”

“You’ll have to think for both of us...for all of us.” A midnight rendezvous. The chill of the desert mitigated by love and the Dana Pisarra Ram Cashmere Top in a resonant, curve-hugging grey knit. Close-up of the embroidered sleeve inserts.

“Goodbye, Rick. God bless you.” Murky airport scene. Ilsa flies off to Lisbon wearing a Zynni Lapis Ribbed Knit Sweater and matching Striped Pants, both candidates for travel-wardrobe stardom.

One can almost hear a voice calling through the mist, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...” with Jane’s Vanity!