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Which TV or film character's style do you covet?I think I remember the first time I really, really wanted to look like somebody on TV. It was the late 1980s; the show was Saved by the Bell; the actress was Tiffani-Amber Thiessen; and the relevant monstrosity was this:
Now, you might be saying, that isn’t really so bad. I mean yes, the top is mauve, the jeans are floral, the hair is big and static ... but that Tiffani-Amber Thiessen is a pretty girl, right? No wonder at eight years old you wanted to look like her. Well — yes. I mean, I’m sure the fact that Tiffani-Amber Thiessen is pretty had an impact on it — but I’m afraid I can’t excuse myself so easily. It wasn’t just that when I watched Saved by the Bell, I wanted to have Kelly Kapowski’s hair, or Kelly Kapowski’s smile. No, I wanted to have Kelly Kapowski’s look, her whole gloriously '80s pastel-and-neon wardrobe — complete with a pale orange T-shirt with rolled up sleeves that I remember particularly coveting. And — since it was the '80s — I think I more or less got it. Fast-forward five years, to the premiere of a show called My So-Called Life in 1994. Jordan wore plaid flannel. Danielle wore plaid flannel. Rayanne had a plaid flannel shirt that reached the ground. And Angela ... well, Angela had red plaid flannel shorts that she wore with black tights. To quote a poster on TelevisionWithoutPity.com, “I can’t believe how normal I used to think these outfits were [...] Today, it looks to me like she’s wearing cutoff pajama pants over leggings.”
Did I run from this sea of flannel? Did I say “no plaid for me?” No. I had a pair of plaid green shorts that I hoped would make me look like Angela (they didn’t). Plaid got a different, less grungy and more preppie twist the next year, when Clueless hit the movie theaters:
I think this was the beginning of my love affair with preppie, ultra-girly fashion. Oh, how I longed for a little yellow jacket and skirt suit, with matching yellow vest. Somehow I suspected it wouldn’t go down quite the same in rural England as it did in Beverly Hills. In 1998 came Katie Holmes in Dawson’s Creek, with her more accessible, girl-next-door, denim-heavy twist on clean-cut fashion:
But I think I somehow knew that no matter what I did, I was never going to be able to make just a plain pair of overalls look that good:
I think it must have been at about this time that the classic 1981 miniseries Brideshead Revisited, starring Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews, and set in the 1920s and '30s, re-aired on British TV, thus providing me with my first glimpse of it:
I tend to think of boys’ clothes as pretty boring on the whole, so this was the first time I had ever really coveted men’s fashion. Oh, for a pale fawn three-piece suit in which to lounge about Oxford (where I live, so at least I’ve got a head start in one direction), or a linen shirt in which to sit in a gondola in Venice with my ambiguously gay boyfriend:
But I’ll admit it: My biggest outfit obsession is my most recent. Being in New York this past September, I caught the premiere of the trashtastic Gossip Girl, and ... hello, Blair Waldorf.
Actually, hello to the whole show, because I probably wouldn’t turn down Serena van der Woodsen’s wardrobe either, if it were offered to me:
But it’s uptight, bitchy, secretly insecure Blair’s style that really strikes at a special place in my heart. Whether wearing ruffly Victorian-looking shirts:
Or more ruffly Victorian-looking shirts plus headband that I could not possibly carry off:
Or East Coast–meets–Clueless argyle-and-miniskirt ensembles:
Or doily-type dresses garnished with a little head-bow that makes her look like she’s wrapped herself up as a present for someone:
Or something that I would be better able to describe if I wasn’t quite so blinded by those red tights:
I want her clothes. And I want them irrespective of the fact that I know headbands always leave me looking stupidly flat-headed and helmet-haired when I take them off (a phenomenon that miraculously never seems to afflict Perfect Blair. As a side note, I can say from experience that she and Serena would also never be able to walk down the streets of New York showing that much leg without experiencing some serious, and possibly scary, sexual harassment). I’ll admit that I also want a friendship like the one she has with Serena:
That’s some serious girl-love right there:
Whose style inspires you? Whose style do you wish had never inspired you? Do red-bow headbands make you want to squee, or want to puke? Tell me all below. Submitted by on February 20, 2008 - 6:58pm. |
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News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media
I too LOVE Blair's stylish wardrobe
A Couple...
A lot of what Shane wears from the L Word, and I would totally wear every outfit Sydney Bristow wore from Alias.
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those were the days
oh angela chase, how i love(d) you. i was 13 and in a small alabama town when angela ran into my life whispering "go now" in all her flannel glory.
i swear she changed me forever.
I love Blair's style, but
I think I covet Brooke Davis' on One Tree Hill. She's got great sassy, sexy clothes. Blair's style is sexy, but kinda repressed (which I'll admit, would probably look better on me realistically speaking), but man.. Miss Davis and her Clothes Over Bros line makes me happy. I kinda like her bff's style, too. Peyton Sawyer has skinny chick rocker chic down. But I don't think that'd work on me.
Plus, if we're talking about great friendships that could TOTALLY be queered, Brooke/Peyton does work ever so well. And their friendship is just as incestuous as Serena/Blair. More so, even. In fact, I propose a foursome!!
Saved by the Bell
I gotta say, I do remember really wanting to be able to pull off the Saved by the Bell Kelly Kapowski off the shoulder sweatshirt look from the prom episode (you know the one!)--but then again while I was watching that show all my seven year old energy was committed to my first ever crush on a real live girl (She-Ra doesn't count), Jessie Spano. Man, when she chained herself to that oil derrick in the middle of Bayside's hallway, I'd never felt so committed to social justice in my life. Or so jealous of an oil derrick.
I'm more into Serena's clothing than Blair's, I think because I just cannot pull off that many ruffles. And I love much of what Alice wears on the L Word. Even the rainbow unitard-short-tube-top question mark question mark question mark thing she wore to pride.
Oh, and Lindsay from Freaks and Geeks. I've tried, but I just can't look that cool.
Jessie effin' Spano
Wow. Your SBtB comments were so disturbingly right on for me. Jessie was so annoying and loud mouthed in so many ways but she was tough and insane and socially conscious and, well, kinda stereotypically gay for a 7 year old kid. No wonder I loved her. Kelly was hot and I always wanted to look much more like Kelly, but I actually wanted Jessie. Saying that now, is weird, though, because when I've caught the reruns, I just cringe at how horrible the show really is.
And Browne - you hit every single point of my childhood/adolescence. It was almost creepy to read.
When I was young I wanted
When I was young I wanted to be Wednesday Addams, I have possibly mentioned that on these boards before. I wanted to look like her, dress like her, just be her! I have always had long brown hair, so it was always in 2 plaits, and I had some dodgy, semi-dark clothes (as much as my mother would let me have at 7/8). I still would love to do it now, but I could never make it look cool!
For a brief period, after I saw the Dennis (the Menace) movie I wandered around in dungas without a top underneath like he did through most of the film (I was maybe 9, possibly even 10, I don't think any girl that age would do that now, and I possibly shouldn't have then, but I did!)
I would love to look as cool as Willow in the later seasons of Buffy (or even as adorkable as her in the early ones!) She has awesome style!!
But I too love the preppy look. I would love to pull off the preppy look, but I just don't think you can do it when you get up 10 minutes before you need to leave the house!! Also, I don't think I have the right, I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but I dress in boy jeans and wear boxers and sit slumped in the back of the lecture theatre, I don't think this would constitute a good prep. Although perhaps preppy clothes would bring the prep out of me? I know it's in there, deep down!!
I also want a job when I'm older where I can power dress, I love the idea of wearing a suit, I think it comes from admiring characters like Dana Scully, Nelle Porter and, of course, Bette Porter. Women just look damned fine in a suit!!
Being completely out of the
Being completely out of the loop during my pre-teen years (well, I still am), I didn't discover the wonderful Angela Chase until 1996, when a tv station here showed reruns of MSCL. I was 13, and while I didn't feel like I needed plaid shorts, I needed SOMETHING plaid. I begged my mom to buy me a plaid shirt and she finally gave in - I wore that thing until it fell apart! I've loved anything plaid ever since, although I didn't start wearing plaid clothing again until recently (also, this was when I became obsessed with button-up, collared shirts... I spent MANY years learning what does and what does not work for me when it comes to those!)
I've been tempted to watch Gossip Girl purely because of the insanely amazing clothing. I haven't yet, because I'm convinced it's a bad show.
I've liked Alice's style throughout all five seasons of The L Word - every haircut, (almost) every outfit. But recently her style has become so breathtaking that I find myself ignoring the storyline and just focusing on Alice's clothes. I'd do anything to be dressed by her wardrobe person!
I totally loved Kirsten from
Faith from BtVS. God, I
She's awesome
I don't so much want to have her clothes (as they would look silly on me), but I want to be her....
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-It's called sarcasm.
Who doesn't blog these days?
Faith
Oh yeah. I really wanted to look like Faith. I wanted to be her (apart from the killing-the-human-thing obviously). And I wanted her. I also wanted her to be with Buffy. I was 12 or 13 at the time.. For these and other more personal reasons I got Faith's tattoo tattooed on my left wrist when I was 18. I'm 21 now, and still not sorry I did it.
http://goldenskye.hyves.nl/ (It's a Dutch version of MySpace)
how about these two
every single outfit on Gossip Girl
Excellent topic!
hmmm....
where to start?
As a child, I was a serious tomboy, I wanted to be like She-ra (He-man).
I'll fast forward... any of the following are still wardrobes I would love to have today... if only I looked 1/2 as good in them as the gorgeous ladies who made me crave them:
Faith in black and/or leather
Bette in a suit (mostly from CAC days, Dean Porter is HOT but some of her clothes were not...) also, Tina in S4-5 TLW has a pretty stealable wardrobe too.
Ellen (now, not back from her sitcom)
Lorelai and Rory
Miranda (SiC)
hmmm... must go look at some screen caps now, I will return ;)
I love Rose McGowan's style
freaky... started to read
I dressed like Annie Hall in high school.
And kinda-sorta like Jennifer Beals in Flashdance in my early years of college. Plus there was a Fame thing going on with leggings and such. It is kind of a blur and I don't think I have any pictures as evidence, thankfully. lol
Now, I want Bette's wardrobe. :)
Closet full of flannel....
Angela Chase, I had your hair cut, your hair color, your fashion sense. I was sixteen and I needed a role model and there she was in all her glory! In college it was Buffy who influenced my style. Now, minus some of those huge ruffled shirts, I want Bette's wardrobe, preferably from season 1, the powerful, sophisticated lesbian.
My friends call me andro
And....
So Andro, did you re-dress her boyfriend? Was it a sucess?
Watts aka Drummer Girl
I LOVED, I still love Watts in Some Kind of Wonderful. I obsessed over her red tasselled leather fingerless gloves, her white singlets and her leather half-jackets, her 80s denim holey shorts and little men's vests, her little black cap and the drumsticks permanently wound in her belt loops, and the multiple earrings and double dog tags and her stretchy metal watch, her metal-studded black shoes with the half-bleached pixie haircut and the star tattoo on her neck. Okay okay, I didn't want to dress like that, but I just wanted to have the same cool personal style she had - she dressed like a BOY! and she never needed to do a whole cinderella-type thing to get Keith. (Not that I want Keith...)
I really love Ellen's outfits now, as someone mentioned earlier. But I admit I'm still into flannel, but it's warm and ugly and looks just so comforting. Juno, that's who I dress like! converse, flannel, baggy jeans and really old tshirts.
Oh Watts!
Isn't she wonderful? I have to say, I personally have never aspired to dress like her (or even a less 80s, more contemporary version of her) but I would LOVE to date someone who dressed like her. What a stud. I loved her gloves. When she finally puts the diamonds in her ears at the end, and you look at those paired with her unique style, it's such a cute, unexpected combination, just like her with keith (which was only "unexpected" in the sense that he had been pining for the super fem Amanda Jones all movie long). awwwww
Ok, ummmmm I would never, EVER want to dress like this Blair girl from Gossip Girl. I haven't seen the show really, but even in the screen caps she looks soooo uncomfortable and uptight. Yuck.
I'm having a hard time thinking of any character I've ever actually wanted to dress like. My style is a lot more, like, urban maybe? than most of the characters I can think of who had an iconic or distinct style. There must be someone, but I'm having a hard time remembering...That's kind of interesting in itself.
Well, a couple pictures
Well, a couple pictures never hurt anyone. Oh, Watts. "Ray, this is 1987. Did you know a girl can be whatever she wants to be?" She was the first girl whose name I scrawled on my notebooks during lectures, not a day went by for months where I didn't think about her at least once. "Cause I can't afford to have you hate me, Keith! The only things I care about in this goddamn life are me, and my drums, and you!" She still breaks my heart.
the lovechild.
i dress like a cross between L Word Shane and KD Lang.
Quirked, where do you get clothes? I love men's clothes, but I'm tiny as well (but with really long arms) and man shirts are too big (even the 14.5), but boy shirts' arms are too short.
I got a dick like a mule...with a big dick.
exactly
the same problem in my wardrobe
;)
tiny person with chimp's arms
a hell to find shirts or suits which are not a feminine cut
;)
Memories...
i remember loving saved by the bell when i was a kid. in fact, tiffany amber thiesen's character was my favorite. i remember it was a trademark style of hers to wear one of the straps a loose when wearing overalls...or overall shorts which look severely hidious to me now. i remember trying to mimic this style and being scolded by my grandma and mama to fasten both the straps on my overalls and wear them properly. so much for life imitating art. lol. but i do remember thinking that i was really really cool when i wore my overalls like that (somewhear along in the 2nd and 3rd grade or so...). i now realize that i looked like an idiot. lmao!
thanks for the trip down memory lane!
(oh, does anyone remember stirrup pants? i remember in elementary school (like second to fourth grade) they were all the rage. looking back...i have no clue as to why
~like a heartbeat, love keeps us strong...~
Blazers and power suits...
When I was 10-12 or so I was really into Laura Holt of Remington Steele (this would be from re-runs in the early 90s). I didn't then (nor have I ever since) owned a hat, but dang, I wanted one so I could be a glamourous city-cowboy like Laura.
The first time I've been aware of an entire outfit was probably Maria Bello in Mr & Mrs Smith, that TV-show that just disappeared after 13 episodes. She wore blazers and slightly flared pants with high-heeled boots, and I thought it was the greatest outfits I'd ever seen. (Of course I could never emulate them, considering I loathed (still do) clothes shopping and mainly dressed in my cousins' out-grown stuff from the 80s.)
After that, enter Dana Scully (from season 3 and on, or so), and there were years where I dreamed of power suits. Reyes wore really great stuff once she appeared in season 9 as well (regardless of whatever else I thought about season 9).
Then Tina Fey's Weekend Update years sold me even more on the concept of blazers, preferably accompanied by nerdy glasses (which I already had two pairs of).
These days I'm really into Ellen's outfits (as are others, I notice), she wears so much great stuff on her talkshow. Sneakers, jeans, layers of shirts, t-shirts, and vests, blazers, and the occasional tie. I've never been into girly outfits, but I'd never dared venture all the way over to vests and ties either because I didn't know if I could carry it off. However, lately I've been wearing more shirts and ties, the occasional suit, and I feel more comfortable than ever. (Of course, now that my straight and clueless aqcuaintances have finally learned that no, I won't wear skirts, or anything that glitters, I'm toying with the idea of dressing up really girly some time just to mess with their heads - I finally learned that it's all in the attitude, I can darn well wear and be comfortable in anything I please.)
Patty Duke
I loved the Patty Duke Show when I was ten years old. I used to beg my mother to give me (direct quote) "flippy Patty Duke hair" which of course never worked because I was too restless to sit with curlers in my hair.
Now I want Tim Gunn's wardrobe.
"Luce" (Lena Headey) in
"Luce" (Lena Headey) in Imagine Me and You has the most fantastic wardrobe!!!! I also like the way Alice L Word can wear just about anything and everything. L x
Luce's wardrobe is me to a tee...
but i sometimes don't get away with it with the climate here in sunny/smoggy LA ;)
love love love lena (but I guess you knew that already!) ;)
xo Han
Avril, Amanda, Jenny
Bring back the eighties...
I thought no one looked cooler than that chick from the eighties movie "Some kind of wonderful". I also remember being thoroughly impressed and intrigued by the fact she wore boxers....
Edit: I just finished watching SKOW. I had not seen it in years, and I must say it is still a great movie. Also, I still think Watts is awesome. And soooo gay.
- - - - - - - - - -
-It's called sarcasm.
Who doesn't blog these days?
Some Kind of Wonderful's
Juno's style. I'm going
Juno's style. I'm going Juno crazy and looking for anything she has.
That aint no Etch-a-Sketch...
Hmm...
"Think Sideways"
Jo from Facts of Life
Oh, so many choices...
The first time I remember wanting to be able to "pull off" something, it was a desperate urge to be able to rock the 50s look - pedal pushers and keds and that whole clean, preppy Doris Day look. I wanted nothing more than to look like Gidget. A few years later, I moved towards teh "darker" version of that shiny, happy goodness and had a mad jones for Audrey Hepburn's gamine, vaguely beatnik-y version (dark capris and ballet flats).
As a grown-up, I still love both of those looks - and so many more, from Stevie Nicks' crazed gothic gypsy to Nina Hagen - but the ones I actually try to emulate are a cross between Lorelei Gilmore and Bette Porter. With a little Annie Hall.
... none of which I actually pull off, it bears mentioning. It is also interesting the sheer number of y'all that note Watts - who I wanted but didn't want to look like - but whose nickname I have in my company for my generally vaugely girly tomboy style.
Willow from BTVS
Cashmere
Oh! I thought of two
I envy Canadians...
Christina Cox (aka Vicki Nelson)'s outfits from Blood Ties. I couldn't pull it off, but if I could, I totally would. Leather jackets, jeans, and boots all the way. That extendable night-stick doesn't hurt either...
Another style I envy is Melissa McEntire (aka Ashley Kerwin)'s clothing from Degrasi: The Next Generation. Jean jackets have never looked so good.
where to start...
Well, there is only one character on TV that actually succeeded in changing my style: Angela on My So-called Life. I was obsessed with the show - I even colored my hair red though I am not sure who did it first, she or me?;)
Other styles that I really loved are: Anna Reilly (Jenna Elfman) in the movie Keeping the Faith (elegant, simple, classic, chic) and Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) on Sex and the City (again elgant and classic design).
gossip girl
never seen it, but a friend of mine (who did work for the show for a second) loves the white ruffles too-- if you live in new york, maybe check out anne fontaine. she's got a lot of really fresh and amazingly tailored white shirts.
i know it's kinda cliche'...
but gwen stefani's style totally inspires me :D it's still so different from anything i've seen :] and also, mischa barton! :DDDD but maybe that's just because she's the most gorgeous girl ever and can pull anything off o.o lol and of course, ellen page's wardrobe in Juno. :] that's simply radiant haha <3
"I'm drowning in assholes."-Igby Goes Down
Brideshead
Brideshead Revisited is what its all about. Bespoke suits, tweed scarves, top hats, and Jeremy Irons effeminate self, is what made me want to wear suits all day long. I apologize ahead of time to those unaware of Brideshead the evident, now gratuitous posh-loving craziness that envelopes the series, it's a bit too pretentious in some cases, but I blame Evelyn Waugh for that. Aristocracy during this time (the allotted 1920s) was blinded and cruel as always, but when you look at the fashion empires of today, is there any difference?