This Penélope Cruz Movie Introduced Me to My New Spring Outfit Formula
Volver changed my opinion on knit cardigans, pencil skirts and espadrilles.
The great thing about movies is that they will have me wondering what I would wear to scrub a gravestone. And that’s great not so much because it’s necessarily a lovely thought but because it’s nice to think about outfits in a context other than those that exist within the confines of my algorithm or a runway. It’s nice to fall in love with a look not because of how pretty I think it will make me look but because of what it would say about me in a very specific moment.
I rewatched Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver this weekend, which is one of my all time favorite movies. It opens with a scene of abuelitas1 in a windy province in Spain, known as La Mancha, tending to the gravestones of their loved ones. They’re wearing shirts that look vaguely Pucci but aren’t with colorful bandanas tied tight in their hair. Penélope Cruz, who plays Raimunda, is there too, in a tweed pencil skirt, purple cardigan and a brown bandana dotted with little green flowers. She’s wearing pink plastic gloves that remind me so much of the Gohar World host gloves but hers don’t have the pearl embellishment meant to mimic a ring or the lace trimmings. I actually own those in yellow and while watching her scrub her mother’s grave I thought, ‘Yeah, I guess I’d wear mine for that, too.’
⋆.𐙚˚ One of my hopes with Cult Classic is that we can talk about things that everyone is watching—like White Lotus or Anora—but also movies that maybe you haven’t seen before! When I’m discussing an older film, I’ll make sure to include a short little synopsis, so you can still enjoy the send without feeling lost. There will be no spoilers, just a look at what makes the outfits so great, so you shouldn’t feel like a previous watching is necessary. And as always, feel free to email me if there’s a movie you’d like me to delve into, I want to write what you want to read: taramariagonzalez@gmail.com ⋆.𐙚˚
-`♡´- A Cult Classic synopsis, if you haven’t seen Volver (2006) before: Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) has to work multiple jobs in Madrid because her creepy husband does little else but drink Cruzcampo on the couch and make eyes at their daughter. Her sister Sole lives nearby operating an illegal hair salon. They both try to make ends meet while grappling with the death of their mother Irene, who died alongside their father in a mysterious fire years ago. Irene’s ghost is rumored to have appeared to multiple neighbors in their hometown. Following a murder and a tragedy in the family, Irene’s spirit appears around them. -`♡´-
The movie opens in a cemetery but there is so much color. These aren’t women mourning death, at least not anymore. They’re cleaning these graves as if they’re just a bed to be made; as though God himself is going to come down for a visit and might scoff at the sight of dust. What they’re wearing doesn’t feel any different than what they get dressed in for their day-to-day amongst the living.
Raimunda’s outfit in particular feels so Prada to me. You have a chunky cardigan and a tweed pencil skirt worn with a bandana in a loud pattern. It’s a look with old lady sensibilities somehow imbued with strange glamour. The chunky cardigan doesn’t feel dowdy when brightened up by the colorful tweed and the pencil skirt doesn't feel so stuffy when anchored with the cutesy bandana. To put it plainly, Raimunda looks like fun, despite us being introduced to her as she stands over her parents’ grave, discussing the fire that they burned alive in.
Every Almodovar movie is a love letter to women and you can tell by looking at the clothing he puts them in. Raimunda is a woman going through a lot. She’s still mourning the loss of her mother, haunted by the whispers from her old neighbors that her ghost appears to them sometimes. She’s worried for her elderly aunt who insists on living alone. She has to work multiple jobs because her husband can’t stay employed, all while he makes oogly eyes at their teenage daughter, which is another issue entirely. Almodovar could have easily made her averse to color or prints. He could have put her in something austere like a sad, ill-fitting button down with a crumpled midi skirt that makes us pity her. But we aren’t meant to feel sorry for her.
Almodovar doesn’t really tell the stories of damsels. His characters are always vivacious, despite their circumstances. And that is really exemplified for me in Volver. Raimunda’s looks are sexy. They’re filled with life. I love to revisit them when it starts to get warmer because they feel like the beginning of spring. They remind me of the hit of serotonin I get when I have my inaugural unbuttoning of a cardigan while outside because I suddenly realize, for the first time all year, it’s actually warm enough again.
She knows how to wear a lace tank top with a slinky little sweater, worn open so you can see the long gold charm necklace dangling at her chest. She mixes patterns and prints so masterfully, as though no one has ever tried to tell her they don’t typically go together. She doesn’t dress like a woman beat down by a series of tragedies despite having experienced the unfathomable multiple times (for those who haven’t seen I won’t go into this further, but to those who have—WHEW). And so I love looking at everything she wears as a reminder that you never have to look like the bad days you’ve had.
`♡´What Volver Makes Me Want to Wear
♡ More cardigans! Specifically with pencil skirts. That kind of look sounds dowdy to me on paper but Raimunda proves it doesn’t have to be. I’ve decided the perfect spring outfit is a little lace tank top worn with a chunky colorful knit cardigan and a bold patterned skirt. The key is to accessorize with lots of gold and bitchy little espadrilles that provide enough height but are actually comfortable…and also maybe a cute bandana and as many prints and patterns as possible.
♡ And on that note…also more espadrilles! I used to hate espadrilles. I can’t even tell you why. I just didn’t like the look of them. But I think maybe it’s more the traditional way they are styled that I don’t like. When people wear them they often feel like an after-thought on vacation, bought at a store on a boardwalk and paired with beach cover-ups they feel they have to wear but aren’t excited to.
Raimunda, though, clearly loves the shoe! She treats them with respect and styles them with intention. She wears a black lace-up pair and a little woven white pair throughout the film that works so well with her signature colorful-cardigan-printed-skirt combo. When worn right they still remind me of summer vacation and the braided canvas sole adds some nice texture.
♡ The “wrong” color. All of the colors Raimunda wears feel like they shouldn’t work together but they do because they’re unexpected. That’s the fun. I think the highest compliment I get is someone telling me they would never think to pair the items I’m wearing together. And so that is exactly what I always aspire to do: create clothing combinations that feel so wrong they’re right. That’s more fun than the more obvious and predictable.
♡ A plain t-shirt with all my jewelry. She reminded me how juicy a plain tee can be when you layer on some gold and wear your hair in a messy updo with the right amount of strands framing your face. It’s a classic I-don’t-really-care look that still has personality thanks to all the necklaces and earrings.
♡ Statement shirts that’ll clash with my statement skirts, but in a good way. I love a statement skirt, and clearly Raimunda does too, but I also loved her cheeky and loud patterned tops. I tend to go more simple with tops, but she’s inspiring me to think outside my comfort zone. Why wear a white tank top when you could wear a black v-neck with palm trees and hibiscus flowers?
♡ More collars. At the very beginning of the film, Raimunda, her sister and her daughter are all walking into her aunt Paula’s house. What struck me instantly was that they all have prominent collars on their shirts. Those of us who came of age in the 2000s are traumatized by collars. I used to wear multiple polos layered at once, their collars crushed underneath each other and then popped against their will (and my better judgement). It wasn’t a good look. I do not understand how we all collectively agreed stuffing your bra was lame but doing that was the epitome of cool.
Enough time has passed since that I can now see this film and appreciate using a good collar on a shirt as a fun way to create shape, accentuate a statement necklace or provide a bit of contrast, through either color or pattern, to add some more dimension to a look.
`♡´A couple things I think Raimunda would buy in 2025…and thus that I would also buy in 2025
`♡´-Cou Cou Intimates, in general. She loves a dainty little tank, and there are few as darling as Cou Cou’s long pointelle cami with little bows at the straps. I could also absolutely see her in the cami slip in english rose, worn with some espadrilles. And the corselette in cherry red feels so saucy and so her.
`♡´This perfectly purple striped tank top by Gimaguas.Also its pink striped leo polo reminds me of the short-sleeve one her daughter wears at the beginning of the film!
`♡´She’s Spanish and she’s on a budget, so she’d shop at Mango and get this on-sale $60 polka dot midi skirt set and never wear them together, but separately, with stripes or florals. She’d also get this green mini-flower satin scarf for $20 and this adorable $49 flower embroidered mesh bag.
`♡´If it wasn’t basically sold out, the Ciao Lucia valeria sheer plaid organza midi skirt (I want so bad). But also its reed cardigan and sheer stone skirt, pictured above. To make the look more her, I imagine she’d wear it with large hoops by Jennifer Fisher, that Mango bandana and espadrilles.
`♡´This layla skirt by Reformation, I could see her in either of the three colors but definitely the yasmeen.
`♡´This floral smocked short-sleeve by Vince, the texture reminds me a lot of the one she wore for her all-black outfit and Burberry dupe shopping cart.
`♡´The above look by Maryam Nassir Zadeh, a brand that to me just absolutely embodies the energy of Spain in the summer. Also its destiny skirt that’s currently on sale for under $250, its rheia dress that’s also on sale for under $350, its fatima top on sale for under $150 and its thea top for under $150.
`♡´This Cecilie Bahnsen clear allegra skirt.
`♡´The MNZ carnation scrunchie (one of my all-time favorites) in every color. Also this Good Squish spaghetti pleated scrunchie and an under-$50 Pucci hair-tie or two.
`♡ I’m fairly certain her espadrilles are the best espadrilles ever by Castañer. She’d own multiple, of course.
`♡ This polka dot Miaou Maria skirt I’m surprised isn’t sold out.
`♡ The Sézane Emile cardigan in red.
`♡A Nikki Chasin cardigan (the best).
`♡And so much vintage from The Real Real. Since watching Volver I’ve subconsciously added a ton of Raimunda-esque pieces to my wishlist like this Simone Rocha skirt, these Prada leather floral pumps, this off-the-shoulder JPG crop top, this under-$50 plaid Valentino skirt, this plaid Miu Miu pencil skirt,this silk animal-print Blumarine skirt, this Veronica Beard sweater,and these 90s Prada pumps I really, really wish they were my size.
Abuelitas (noun): The Spanish word for cute little grandmas, who often love to wear patterns, always carry a folding fan, and never leave home without their rolling carts. Mine are neighbors in Queens and they watch telenovelas together on an ipad while overfeeding my pug Björk and struggling to pronounce her name.
+1 on bringing pencil skirts back
I love saying the word “espradrills”