In Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey’s film Chelsea Girls, fashion and beauty are both something to be flaunted. In this near documentary style film, Warhol and Morrissey document the lives of many residents as the Chelsea Hotel in New York City. The split screen element of the art film allows two different stories to be displayed, while only one audio track is played to fit with one of the screens.

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       The film begins with Nico, a singer and actress who wrote an album called Chelsea Girls after being inspired by her work with Andy Warhol, and her family in the kitchen on the right screen. Meanwhile a man and a woman have a very intimate, but argumentative conversation, on the left. Nico is seen discussing with things with his husband and son before going to cut her bangs. While she is cutting her bangs, the man and woman get to know each other before getting into an argument. During this time the woman is seen wearing sunglasses, even though the room is mostly dark. This makes her seem extremely aloof and distant while the man badgers her with questions. This chaotic scene greatly contrasts with Nico’s scene, which demonstrates accuracy and precision while she carefully trims her hair in silence. In both scenes Warhol uses fashion and physical appearance to enhance the mood and tone of each of the scenes.

The physical appearance of both women seems to empower them, even though they are in vastly differently situations.

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       In one of the most pivotal scenes of the movie, the screen on the left shows a group of women sitting on bed and the screen on the right focuses on one of the women who is speaking and driving conversation within the group. She has thick black eyeliner and always wears a severe, aloof look. During the scene she is intimidating another girl within group, repeatedly mocking her and taunting her about how beautiful her mother was, and how beautiful her girlfriend was back home in the Midwest. The other girls sit in silence as the domineering woman repeatedly asks the other woman if they were beautiful and she shrieks “YES!” in reply. This second argumentative scene of the movie uses physical appearance in the same way that the first argumentative scene does;
like the women’s sunglasses in the first, the domineering woman’s dark eyeliner gives her a sense of power and prestige that differs greatly from the woman she’s attacking undecorated face.

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      In Chelsea Girls, Warhol also reveals his interest in drag, which began in the 1950’s. The film features Mario Montez in full drag make-up and costume. Warhol’s films often featured drag, and his and Morrissey’s film Women in Revolt!  follows the escapades of several drag stars. In the film, the man in drag speaks with two men in bed on the right screen, while the left screen shows the same woman who was berating the women in the earlier scene in a crisp shirt and tie. Having both a man and woman cross dress shows that Warhol wasn’t afraid to break the societal rules of fashion in his films, just as he wasn’t afraid to in his own life.

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       Near the end of the film, Warhol and Morrissey play with light in a way that is not seen in nearly the first two hours of the film. During these scenes bright colors such as pinks, oranges, and greens are displayed across two profiles. These scenes differ from the previous scenes in that they are not as chaotic in visuals and audio, but instead enchant and entrance the viewer. The profiles of familiar faces within the movie, such as Nico, are seen in new light as the shadows make prominent features, such as noses and jawlines, even more defined. The lighting also casts Nico in an angelic light of pink and oranges while the man on the right, who is black and white, pretends to be the Pope and repeatedly asks for a confession.

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      Throughout the film Chelsea Girls, Warhol and Morrissey use fashion and physical appearances to assert power and amplify the actors roles within their own scene. Without the often over the top and expressive costumes, makeup, or lighting the nearly endless movie would have a more confusing plot and structure.

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