CLAUDIA CARDINALE AND BRIGITTE BARDOT

CLAUDIA CARDINALE AND BRIGITTE BARDOT

Just watched the great 1971 spaghetti western Les Pétroleuses, with Claudia Cardinale and Brigitte Bardot, yet again. Erotic, subversive, complex and empowering and so very beautiful, my favourite western! Love, Susie x

CLAUDIA CARDINALE AND BRIGITTE BARDOT

Says AnOther Magazine—

There’s a misconception that the only way to defy gender conventions is by embracing androgyny. That to be a boss, a woman must ‘wear the trousers’, something both main characters take literally in Les Pétroleuses. Living in a house full of brothers, Cardinale wears breeches, and Bardot attempts to fill her father’s oversized shoes. In truth though, their moments of real strength come from moving freely in clothes of their own choosing, thereby rewriting sartorial conventions of power. Wear the trousers if they suit you, but don’t forget that real authority comes from whatever feels right, and that might just be a petticoat. 

CLAUDIA CARDINALE AND BRIGITTE BARDOT