Eat, Pray, Love, Shop: Julia Roberts Film Inspires Urge to Spend

Javier Bardem and Julia Roberts star in 'Eat Pray Love,' based on the best-selling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert.

A sneak preview of Eat Pray Love at an event celebrating the vendors partnered with the film had us salivating over the abundant food, exotic locations and sensuous romance in the screen adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling memoir about her travels of self-discovery to Italy, India and Bali, Indonesia. The lush beauty of each locale leaps right off the screen — and makes us want to book a trip to all three!

Adapting the popular book posed many challenges, from the script to logistical ones involving huge location moves, weather concerns and small armies of translators. First, “You don’t want to take out things. You want to honor the readers,” notes producer Dede Gardner. The 3½-month shoot “was very precisely timed for weather reasons because we were heading into the rainy season.” Filming in the order of Gilbert’s actual journey fortuitously resulted in perfect weather and “really served the character,” she adds.

It also made sense for Julia Roberts, who portrays Gilbert in the movie. She gained 10 pounds eating her way through Rome, “and then went to India and lost the weight, which is what happened to Liz Gilbert,” points out director and co-screenwriter Ryan Murphy. “There’s a scene where Julia struggles to button jeans that I think every woman in the world has gone through.” Later, in India, Roberts wears a more figure-forgiving sari, one of her favorite outfits, according to Murphy.“Not since Scarlett O’Hara has there been a woman who has more costume changes,” he says.

Anticipating a craving from captivated audiences for Roberts’ wardrobe and other things Italian, Indian and Balinese, Sony Pictures teamed up with a raft of vendors for collections of items inspired by the movie, including scents from Fresh, jewelry from Dogeared, teas from The Republic of Tea, sweepstakes travel packages from STA Travel, and everything from Indonesian batik fans to Indian incense from Cost Plus World Market.

HSN.com is currently selling merchandise inspired by the film, and fashion designer Sue Wong has issued a limited-edition collection of embellished silk georgette pieces in the $165–$450 range, available at Bloomingdale’s, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue stores. “It’s sexy, it’s fluid, and it has a cocoon wrap that’s a great coverup,” says Wong.

For her part, Gardner hopes that audiences come away from Eat Pray Love appreciating the value of travel and, for women especially, “the value of going outside your comfort zone and doing what you want to do even if it’s unpopular, or hard or scary.”

For more inspiring female-focused media, check out “A Celebration of Second Acts” in the July/August issue of VIVmag. And tell us: Where would you go if you could travel anywhere in the world?