Today, we seem to take it for granted that movie stars are often going to look very glamorous, with great-looking costumes, designer dresses, amazing shoes, awesome hairstyles and so on. But what most people don’t realise is that this was really not always the case. We are so used to seeing Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw wearing ridiculously expensive designer gowns, or classic movie stars of the past wearing glamorous dresses that we don’t think at all about the very beginnings of the movie industry. In the first few years of the movie business, actors and actresses usually just wore their own clothes. Costume design was non-existent. Although nowadays we take it for granted that the costume designers will have a substantial effect on the ‘look’ of a movie and therefore on the audience’s perception of it, for the first years of films, the concept of costume design did not even exist!
Category Archives: Classic
Classic Hollywood Style Icons
Today, Hollywood as an entity is the thing that most influences our fashion choices. Whenever a famous actor or actress is photographed styling a new, interesting look, you can bet your bottom dollar that it will appear the next day in all of the fashion magazines, all of the newspapers and, dare I say it, all of the fashion blogs – and pretty shortly everybody will be adopting the style. The same is also true of other celebrities, but for some reason, the stars of the film industry usually seem to be the leaders of the pack. Hollywood has a strong history of this influence – the classic stars of Hollywood have always set more fashion and style trends than other celebrities. Just think about Vivien Leigh, Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly and of course Marilyn Monroe and you can see why Hollywood has managed to become the situation for setting fashion trends.
Sex and the City Fashion
The world of popular culture at the moment seems to be dominated by sex, celebrities and fashion. This is why there are so many magazines, television shows and movies that feature these themes heavily. The television show Sex and the City, for example, was a hugely successful production (mainly amongst women), because it contained a lot of sex and a lot of truly beautiful fashion apparel. A huge number of pieces from the biggest and best fashion designers were featured in the show and in the spinoff movies, including items from Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Dior, Chanel, Gucci and many, many more. In the movie, Carrie Bradshaw, the writer portrayed by Sarah Jessica Parker, wore, amongst other things, a stunning D & G dress with a studded belt. No wonder we eat all of this up and ask for more!
Lingerie Museum
In Los Angeles, or more specifically in Hollywood, just a few blocks away from the famous Chinese Theatre, there is a rather garish and large building. It is painted grey and pink, and stands out rather distinctly from the surrounding buildings. This unique building is called Frederick’s of Hollywood, and is a very famous and very distinguished lingerie store. Here you can buy an extremely wide range of different lingerie styles and types. But what is particularly cool and unique about this store, and what makes it suitable for this blog, is the so-called ‘Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame’. Here one can walk about and view their exhibits, which consist of lingerie worn by the rich and powerful at important events. Some examples include a top worn by Madonna, the boxer shorts worn by Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump and a corset worn by Ingrid Bergman. Check it out if you’re ever in the area.
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is one of the most famous actresses working today. Actually, scratch that, she is one of the most famous people alive today. As well as her acting accolades, she has also been called the world’s most beautiful woman, a title which has only added to her fame. This is at least partially due to the excellent fashion and style choices that she makes when she appears in public. Her marriage to Brad Pitt, a man regularly featured on ‘sexiest men’ lists and articles, has also contributed to her massive public image and presence. Jolie and Pitt have recently appeared together at the Producers Guild Awards in Beverly Hills. Angelina dressed in a full-length black gown with floral patterns and a thigh-high slit. She also wore some great rose gold jewellery.
Interview with Olsen
Ashley Olsen, along with her twin sister Mary-Kate, has come a long way from her early days of acting. She is now a bona fide giant of the fashion world, with many holdings in various fashion niches, including designing the really excellent fashion line ‘The Row’. I just read an article in which she talked to a website about her recent favourite fashion items, and it was really interesting to gain a small window into the mind of a real fashion expert. She mentioned a bag from ‘The Row’ – maybe a little big of self-promotion, but hey, I don’t think that’s a crime, and it is a really nice bag. She also mentioned that she loves to wear vintage pearl earrings – perhaps a surprisingly classic choice given her position at the forefront of fashion today.
Meryl Streep and Vogue
The people that generally grace the front cover of fashion and lifestyle magazine Vogue are superstars in a number of different areas of life. Sports stars, models, musicians, actors and actresses – in other words, some of the most prominent people alive today. The most recent issue of the magazine breaks none of these trends, but there have not been too many people aged over 60 years on the front cover. And this time there is. Meryl Streep, the highly talented mega-star graces the January 2012 issue, looking as beautiful as ever. It always amazes me that Streep is able to continue to look so good. In her cover picture she looks carefree and happy as she relaxes on a rock in front of the ocean. She wears a long blue/grey coat or dress, with a chunky belt.
Another Kate Middleton Article
Yes, ok so this is yet another article about Kate Middleton. I know you are all probably completely bored of seeing her name pop up in fashion blogs and articles all over the internet and all over the celebrity gossip magazines. But! There is actually a good and justifiable reason for writing another article about her. The popular fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar has recently named Middleton as ‘Britain’s Best-Dressed Woman’. She beat out a long list of fashion rivals, including actress Keira Knightley, Stella McCartney and her sister Pippa. Of course, she has been very popular as a fashion model for a while now, and since her extremely high-profile wedding to Prince William her public profile has only continued to soar to ever-dizzying heights. Congratulations Kate.
Constant Scrutiny
Celebrities are always in the public eye. To be honest, I don’t think I would be able to deal with the constant photographers, paparazzi, fans and just the huge amount of attention that they have to live with every day. Not that I’m saying I feel too sorry for them – if you make as much money as some of the high-profile celebrities out there, there has to be a down-side, right!? Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that they are constantly being scrutinised, even if they’re just popping out to do a bit of shopping. So they need casual clothes that still look great – they can’t afford to just throw on some old, dirty clothes because they know the picture will be in the gossip magazines the next day. This is why the pencil skirt is popular amongst many celebs, like Anna Paquin or Renee Zellweger. It looks very smart/casual, which is perfect if they don’t want to seem too dressed up, but also don’t want to look too shabby. And of course, it’s not just for celebrities!
Air Jordan
One of the most popular items of casual footwear ever has to be the Nike product Air Jordan. Of course, these shoes were originally designed for, and endorsed by NBA basketball superstar Michael Jordan, not only one of the most successful basketball players of all time, but also one of the most successful sportsmen of all time. And I guess this is why the shoes have been so popular, and sell so well whenever they are released; they are just perfect, not only for basketball, but also for most other sports, especially paired with some good sports men’s socks. Indeed, just this past week, a re-release of one of the versions of the classic shoe from 1988 sold out in less than two hours! That’s just shows what an enduring, classic and popular design the shoe really is. After all, what is good enough for Michael Jordan is surely good enough for the rest of us!