Monica Bellucci is a true muse and icon of our times, considered as one of the most beautiful women in the world. Her charm comes from a magnetic aura and the way she subtlety expresses the depth of her character in her eyes and body language. Those traits were most useful for her acting career !

She most famously played “Malena”, Cleopatra in French movie “Astérix et Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre”, the mythological character of Persephone in “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions”, the touching role of Mary Magdalene in “The Passion of the Christ” and the oldest James Bond girl ever in “Spectre”.

A person:

Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci was born on September 30, 1964, in the small town of Citta di Castello in the Umbria region in Italy. Despite doctors previously stating that her mother was infertile, Maotia Gustinelli miraculously became pregnant, and the birth of the baby girl was considered a wondrous event. She had a modest but very loving upbringing with her mother who was an artist and her father who worked in agriculture.

Monica had her first modelling experience at age 13 with a local photo enthusiast who was a friend of her father. At the age of eighteen, she enrolled in the Law Faculty at the University of Perugia and had the opportunity to model again as a side job to pay for her studies.

A Place : Milan

I chose Milan as a place to represent Monica because that’s where her career as a model and actress was launched. Indeed, in 1988 she left Perugia thinking it was too provincial and the prospects too limited for her there and moved to Italy’s capital city to pursue a career as a lawyer and continue modelling to earn money.

She was signed with international agency Elite Model Management and her stunning appearance and figure were rapidly noticed in the fashion world. She modelled for some of the most prestigious fashion magazines and brands including most notably Dolce & Gabbana which was the first luxurious brand she walked the runway for incarnating classic Italian beauty.

At the time, director Roman Coppola saw pictures of her and introduced her to his father Francis Ford Coppola who gave her a small role in his film “Dracula” in 1992.

In a recent interview for Vanity Fair she stated “This cameo appearance was very important for me because it made me realise I wanted to become an actress”. After that movie, she went to Rome and started taking acting classes and her acting career gradually grew bigger and bigger.

A Fashion Show: “Dolce & Gabbana” 1995

This Dolce & Gabbana 1995 show features Belluci’s womanly grace with her slow demure walk representing a confident mature woman in her business suit wearing a long pencil skirt and blazer with just enough plunging neckline to bring a touch of sensuality. She is followed on the catwalk by 90s supermodel Shalom Harlow famous for her exaggerated hip swaying and fast paced stance wearing a mini skirt, blazer and tie referencing a school uniform but made sexy.

The contrast of their dynamics and looks really caught the eye and made the show iconic. It showcases the beauty and different dynamics of two generations and how each one can be feminine and sensual in their own way.

A quote:

“I feel fine and comfortable with myself, but not because I'm beautiful. I know many beautiful people and their lives are just so terrible. They feel so uncomfortable with themselves. Being comfortable is not about what you look like, but how you feel. I'm a lucky person because I've been loved a lot. I have a great family.”

“Beauty becomes alive and interesting when it's habited..”

Monica Belluci

A movie: “Malena”

When Monica smoked the cinema screen and hypnotised everyone

I chose the movie Malena because the scene pictured above is one of the most iconic and visual scenes in recent movie history in which Monica as Malena puts a cigarette in her mouth and all the men rush to offer her to light it while she stares into the distance with tears in her eyes… In the previous scene, she is seen walking in the public square while everyone is staring at her, the men with lust and desire and the women with jealousy and hatred.

The movie Malena is set in an old fashioned and traditional Sicily at the beginning of WW2. Renato, a 13 year old teenager on the day of the announcement of the war, far from everyone else’s fears, feels ecstatic because he has been gifted a bicycle from his father and is enchanted by the beauty of Malena (Monica) who he has seen for the first time. Under her spell he follows her everywhere. But Malena, alone because her husband is at war, is the victim of repression and the desires of the inhabitants of the small town of Castelcuto and goes through many tragedies and tribulations throughout the movie; The teenager finds small ways to help her and learns important life lessons.

Fashion Staples:

Monica is a woman who is proud of her beauty and who embraces her divine feminine energy by dressing with clothes that flatter and enhance her natural curves. In the 80s and 90s, she was often seen wearing black body con dresses in different shapes and fabrics for sensual evening looks. She also loves palettes of warm pinks and reds that compliment her olive skin tone. As for the cut of her clothes, she often has a plunging décolleté and likes them fitted at the waist, she is comfortable in both mini and maxi lengths. Not scared of other’s opinions, she dares to try different shapes and patterns.

She is famous for her makeup that perfectly enhances her facial features and gives her a charming mysterious femme fatale allure. It consists of a smokey eye with earthy tones that elongate her eyes, a dark line under the bottom lashes, blush on the cheeks and nude lips drawn with a darker lip liner and filled in with a lipstick in a slightly lighter tone.

I hope you enjoyed reading a little about Monica Bellucci’s life and modelling and acting career and what has made her such an iconic woman in our society up till now.

I’ll also be creating complimentary video(s) in which I talk more about her on my social media. If you’d like to check them out, my account is @thewilsonsvintage.

Feel free to answer this email with the next fashion or cinema icon you’d like to read a newsletter about !

Have a beautiful week,

Jamila xx