Original Fashion |
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| Written by Nicola Hyland | |
 We've had the Good and Bad Girls of fashion, let's not even touch "The Ugly". There are some trendy dames that don't fit into such distinct fashion boxes. AskBronny visits a few original girls: Sienna, Scarlett, Gwen and Chloe.
Sometimes so right, and sometimes oh so wrong, celebrity fashion “It Girls” are easy prey for the vicious pens of the fashion critic. Plucked from the ranks of ordinary fame, these chosen few starlets find themselves named ‘the face’ or ‘the body’ of their generation, because of an intoxicating and sometimes intangible, appeal. Often despite limited success in their fields, these fashion originals are constantly photographed and critiqued, while being touted as having a true ‘trendsetting’ style of their own. Fashion’s alternative girls are frequently not seen as conventional beauties and generally veer away from conservative or classic tastes. Audrey Hepburn was herself considered an original fashion ‘it girl’ of her time; with her waifish figure a striking contrast in the age of the buxom starlet and her fashion tastes ‘daring’ in their quirky masculine simplicity. The waif of our own age, Kate Moss, broke the mould of the conventional men’s magazine Supermodel [think Elle Macpherson, Rachel Hunter and Cindy Crawford] with her elfin, gangly and consummately “British cool” look. As the true heroine of original style, Kate’s look and influence can be seen as a precursor to the current breed of ‘Alternative’ fashion icons. While we could devote a whole Ask Bronny category to the coolness of Kate, I don’t want to step on my fellow Kate-devotee writer’s toes, so am instead going to examine four very different ‘alternative’ fashionistas. Sienna Miller, Scarlett Johansson, Gwen Stefani and Chlöe Sevigny have little more then hair-colour in common, but each have made a daring impact on the fashion world in recent years. Other beguiling ‘original’ fashionistas include Kirsten Dunst, Christina Ricci and the vamp temptress, Dita Von Teese. Burnt Sienna Think of ‘Boho’ fashion and one name immediately comes to mind: Sienna Miller. Born of New York stock in 1981, Sienna moved to Britain at a young age, where she first established a career as a model. While she appeared on the Shakespearean stage and in a few low-key roles in British television series and films, Sienna only really caught the public eye in her role in the remake of Alfie (with Jude Law, mm) in 2004, and the 2005 retelling of Casanova (with Heath Ledger, mmm). In 2006 she appeared as Andy Warhol’s muse Edie Sedgwick – a true ‘It girl’ herself – in the film Factory Girl, a role that cemented her profile as A-list actress and fashion darling. As a model, Sienna’s look and profile is seen to have pioneered the ‘Boho-chic’ look in Britain, a style which combines a renaissance of hippie influences with French ‘bohemian’ elements. Her high-profile relationship with dirty daddy Jude Law made her hot fodder for the British tabloids, but may have also helped to invigorate her ‘fashionista’ status. Sienna’s pixie-like looks are off-set with her love of vintage pieces, with a distinctive look combining tailored feminine fashion with boyish layers and high cuts. Sienna’s portrayal of Sedgwick led to her embrace of key elements of Edie’s iconic style – opaque tights with leotards, the smock dress, oversized sweater-dressed and heavy kohl eye make-up: all which have been key fashion trends in 2007. In 2004 she appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair in nothing but a cigarette, emphasising her singular and rebellious attitude to style. Her success as a fashion guru led to the creation of her own fashion label with her sister Savannah – Twenty8Twelve. A notorious party girl, Miller has recently come under fire for being involved with Mr Party himself, P /Puff /Diddy/Daddy, along with romantic links to the swoon-worthy Daniel Craig and her obviously forgivable playboy ex. The Scarlett Woman A buxom reincarnation of 1950s starlets like Jayne Mansfield, Scarlett Johansson stands out amongst the bevy of ‘sub-zero’ celebrities for reinvigorating the curvy ideal. A former child star of the stage, Scarlett first appeared in The Horse Whisperer with Robert Redford in 1998 [when we all realised that Robert was no longer a sex-symbol, urgh] which began a string of edgy Indie film roles. Her ‘talent’ was recognised in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation in 2003 - where she spent much of the film lounging in a Japanese hotel room in Nana underpants – and the costume drama Girl with a Pearl Earring. Realising she had a heaving cleavage fit for the tightest corsets, Scarlett appeared in a string of ho-hum period pieces before striking it rich as creepy old Woody Allen’s muse in the first of several collaborations, Matchpoint. Her luminous looks led to contracts with Calvin Klein – as the model for Eternity: Moment – as well as Louis Vuitton in 2005 and L’Oreal in 2006. Like Sienna, Scarlett has also graced the cover of Vanity Fair in the buff, with fellow it-girl Keira Knightly and it-designer Tom Ford. Her appearance as a trapeze artist temptress in Justin Timberlake’s ‘What goes around’ music video led to speculations of romantic trysts, while she has also been matched with Benecio del-Toro, Jared Leto and Josh Hartnett. Scarlett’s style is vintage bombshell. With trademark red lips, husky voice and out-there cleavage, Scarlett adopts a sometimes sweet/sometimes sexy style that borrows heavily from the 1940s and 50’s. She was a pioneer of the revival of high-waisted jeans, rich reds on the red carpet and the sleek French roll up-do. The smouldering starlet is also actively against conforming to the ultra thin body image, embracing womanly curves and overt sexiness – which is why regular-sized woman applaud her [while their boyfriend’s drool…] Gwen-ever you like Top of the list of Yummy Mummies, Gwen Stefani is the fashion ingénue of the pop music scene. We first saw Gwen when she was the lead-singer of the ska-punk band, No Doubt in the 1990s. The gutsy platinum blonde with the amazing voice was an enigmatic fashion figure, combining bright clashing fabrics with ethnic twists. One of her earliest influences was the red ‘bindi’ dot, a look widely adopted by many western fashionistas in the 1990s. Since her solo career began, Stefani has expanded her profile as an ‘original’ fashion icon, with the release of her labels L.A.M.B (Love, Angel, Music, Baby) in 2003 and ‘Harijuku Lovers’ in 2005. Along with an appearance as the starlet Jean Harlow in Aviator, Stefani has also managed to wed a hot British Rockstar, Gavin Rossdale and give birth to the gorgeous, and already uber-trendy, Kingston. Gwen’s eclectic style is heavily influenced by the Harijuku girls of Tokyo – so much so that she has employed her own [manufactured] posse of them! Along with the bright and quirky tastes of the Harijukus, there are also elements of South American and Jamaican cultures in her designs, with bold floral designs and accessories. Her current style is said to have been inspired by Michelle Pfeiffer’s character in Scarface – a seventies coke-fiend named Elvira –a look seen in her poker-straight hair, lounge style Maxi dresses and mirrored seventies glasses. Day-glo Chlöe Chlöe Sevigny’s story is one of those spotted-on-the-street-going-about-your-ordinary-business stories. Hanging around the skate parks in New York’s trendy East Village, Chlöe was allegedly approached by a Model maker and soon began to emblazon the covers of trendy, edgy magazines. Her big break came when writer Jay McInerney devoted a seven-page article to her in the hob-nob style-bible The New Yorker, declaring her the ‘It girl’ of the moment. From featuring in the graphic Indie film Kids in 2005 and an Oscar-nominated role in Boys Don’t Cry in 1999, Sevigny has established herself as a staple in gritty non-mainstream movies. Her modelling career has also continued, working for Miu Miu, H&M and as one of the faces of Viva Glam for MAC Cosmetics. She is currently appearing as a dowdy polygamist in the television series Big Love. Chlöe’s style is almost anti-fashion. Her unusual, dramatic looks are often complemented by retro, gender-bending styles. She was one of the earliest devotees of the resurgence of pants suits and the short-lived bubble dress. She also wore high-waisted skirts long before Posh dared to. Chlöe seems to have refined her edgy look on the red carpet, along with continuing to take on challenging acting roles. With a string of love-interests including Vincent Gallo and that seasonal bachelor Jake Gyllenhaal, it seems Chlöe will continue to work in mysterious ways to predict the future of fashion. It takes a lot of guts to be yourself in Hollywood, and these ladies have proven that originality pays off. So where do you get your fashion hits from? Are you a good girl like Jen and Cam, a bad egg like Paris and Brit, or a true trendsetter like Sienna and Chlöe? At Ask Bronny, we can only say that, in Celebrity-land, Anything Goes!! |
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