Scripted yet Independent Style
The impending end of winter and the imminent arrival of spring is my favourite time of every year.
On this occasion two of my great passions; film and fashion, come together to celebrate the most talented in both industries on and off the red carpets. It started with last week's Golden Globe and Screen Actor Guild awards, continue with the relaxed Sundance film festival, upcoming Bafta, and closing the season in March is of course the highly anticipated Oscars night.
More than ever before, these two highly stylized art forms are linked, and inspiration that once originated from catwalks alone can now equally be found on screen; principally the small screen.
Contemporary TV drama has never looked so good. While the scripts attract powerful film directors like Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg into the producers' seat, the fashion is lead by renown costume designers Janie Bryant, Jenny Miles, BBC's Sue Thomson and others like BBC production designer Anna Higginson. With their sumptuous fashion in sight , design talent and the use of rich, opulent colour and accessories they manage to captivates the viewer's imagination.
In my professional opinion, the more sophisticated and accessible the images become, the easier it will be for individuals who search for personal signature style to identify their needs, while no longer depending solely on the catwalk phenomenon. Here is how to use the screen as your own personal fashion guide:
The sexy or demure 60's both styles portrayed to perfection by Christina Hendricks and January Jones in AMC "Mad Men"
Florals, colourful, fitted geometric, full skirts, strong colours and a bit of sheer are all in this spring.
The fashionable, glossy, up to trend professional Shelley Con as Jessica in BBC “Mistresses”
The urban professional; there are so many...
Emilia Fox in BBC “Silent Witness”, Julianna Margulies's in CBS" The good wife", Lisa Edelstein as Dr Caddy in FOX “House” and Sandra Bullock in "The Proposal" and Hermione Norris in BBC “Spooks”- Ladies, it is possible to be feminine yet corporate. The heels look a killer though so find your own comfort zone.
The day2day look or what I call "the forever forty women" as seen by Meryl Streep and girlfriends in the film "It’s Complicated".
The working mum style - if one can call it that - as seen by Julia-Louis Dreyfus in CBS "The new adventures of Old Christine". I know some of you have seen it for real and fully understand her.
Cross Decade fashion brilliantly executed by Tony Collette's various looks of her multi personality characters in TV "United states of Tara", whereby in twenty five minutes she transforms from a prim, hot red lipped 40's / 50's housewife - like in John Galliano's show - to an 80's rock chick teen, a modern mother and a very seasonal her in a boyfriend look.
I am happy to see that my motto of “dress your way while considering your lifestyle and work milieu”, is alive and well at least on screen. It gives creative freedom to the audience to recreate those styles in real life, and with the help of professionals like me, one's desired look is now more achievable than ever.
The list of good looking media personalities is long, but the ones with real staying power are those who manage to maintain their sense of individualism throughout their career. What sets them apart is not what they wear, but how they choose the garments to reflect who they are as artists.
There is still far to go, especially in Britain, but when I look at young media newcomers like Kirsten Stewart , Natalie Portman and closer to home, Don Gilet, Romola Garai, Holly Fulton and others, they project the feeling that they are here to stay.
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