Lady of the Afternoon in YSL: Belle De Jour

Director Luis Buñuel set movie screens afire with the 1967 release, Belle De Jour. The classic French film stars Catherine Deneuve as a sexually-repressed, bourgeois wife who spends weekday afternoons moonlighting as a prostitute while her oblivious husband is at work. Challenging and erotic, this surrealist film explores bourgeois life, marriage, bondage, sadism, and the Madonna-whore complex.

Belle De Jour also features some of the most beautiful couture fashion ever shown on the silver screen. The stunning costumes worn by Deneuve were designed by Yves Saint Laurent, so each scene in the film looks like a high-fashion magazine advertisement. From stunning coats and exquisite handbags, to gorgeous hats, dresses and shoes, YSL outdid himself with each expertly designed piece. Deneuve also wore "Pilgrim Pumps" in the film. The famous buckled shoes were designed by the legendary French designer and creator of the Stiletto heel, Roger Vivier.