Fashion finds muses in everything from the ordinary streetwalker to the famous Hollywood beauty. Fictional movie characters are definitely not left out of that equation. Last week I wrote about ways to find dark pieces to edge up your wardrobe, courtesy of Lisbeth Salander from "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."
High fashion seemed to have also taken the Dragon Tattoo memo and created rebel-like fashion that harnesses the core of the gritty, tough-hearted punk. Call in the Lisbeth effect.
Photo courtesy of Movie's Pad
Givenchy's Spring 2012 Couture collection was a 1920s-inspired collection that featured long, flowing dresses that explored the possibilities of haute couture embellishments. One of those embellishments is, of course, the piercings the models donned in the photos. Riccardo Tisci is one of the many people, like myself, who has been inspired by the movie character's harsh looks.
Picture courtesy of Vogue
Lisbeth is not the first fictional movie character to inspire fashion trends, nor will she be the last. In fact the idea of using an iconic character for fashion inspiration is a trend in itself.
Fashion and movies have probably been synonymous since the dawn of the star system in Hollywood. The fascination with movie stars and their characters have created some well known fashion pieces.
In the 1960s — the age where classiness was cool and Kardashian-like attitude was drool —there probably was not any woman who did not admire Audrey Hepburn. "Breakfast at Tiffany's", the film adaption of Truman Capote's novel, is timeless and will be forever known for that Givenchy little black dress.
Yes, Chanel may have invented the black dress, but as many may argue, Givenchy perfected it. This one film made the famous little black dress a must-have staple for every woman's wardrobe.
Hepburn has inspired numerous high-fashion labels and many commercial ones. I could give you a whole list, but it would be easy to just say that next time you go shopping, the little black dress you see, such as this Jason Wu for Target one, probably wouldn't look like it does if it wasn't for classy Audrey.
Photo courtesy of IMBD
Photo courtesy of Fashionlogie
In the 1970s, "Annie Hall" (directed by Woody Allen) influenced fashion by making menswear applicable to the female silhouette. Diane Keaton's suit-and-tie ensemble made masculinity look chic and sexy for women, which was unusual for Hollywood, as it normal portrayed women in a hyper-feminine form.
Below is a look from Viktor & Rolf's 2012 Resort collection that is clearly influenced by Annie Hall. The wide-legged, pleated-front trousers are popular menswear-for-women pieces that are perfect to make business casual looks appear put together. These types of clothes populate brands known for sharp looks like Banana Republic.
In addition to the wide-legged pleat trouser, Keaton's influence is seen in many other tailored pants, the casual vest over t-shirt looks and, of course, the oxford shoes and fedoras, which recently seem to be popular in stores like Urban Outfitters.
Photo courtesy of On This Day In Fashion
Photo courtesy of New York Magazine
No one can capture apathy better than Gwyneth Paltrow's Margot Tenenbaum from the 2001 hit "The Royal Tenenbaums."
You know the cool, "I frankly don't give a f***" look? While Paltrow perfected the facial expression, her wardrobe was quite unique and featured a look put together by pieces you wouldn't usually think went together.
Her polo dresses, fur coats and penny loafers are the casual, vintagey stables that became a cool uniform for her. They allow Margot to look uniquely stylish without trying too hard.
Chanel Spring 2012 Couture collection features a coat-like dress that is encompassing and heavy, similar to what Margo's fur coat looks like.
Photo courtesy of Vogue
Photo courtesy of New York Magazine
The movie gals I mentioned above all have something in common: They were non-conformists. Hepburn's Holly Golightly's lifestyle of smoking, staying out and using men isn't exactly what many people would consider proper etiquette, but unpredictable is what she was.
Margot lived life on the edge and kept secrets. She traveled around the world, had many sexual relationships with men and women, smoked cigarettes-all things she kept from her family and husband. And to be honest, she simply didn't care what they thought.
The 1970s was dominated by many manly films like "The Godfather" movies, so Annie Hall and her wardrobe was like playing with the big boys and wearing whatever they wore much better.
Of course, Lisbeth is practically the antithesis of Hollywood. Her tattooed, goth-punk look and sexual objectification of her working partner, journalist Mikhail Blomkvist, is usually a role that is reversed.
But with all the fashion being inspired by nonconformists, isn't it a paradox if non-conformity becomes mainstream? It's like the Urban Outfitter effect. The very things Hipsterism is against: being popular and mainstream and consumerism-is what Urban Outfitters has become.
It's great we have icons that are there to inspire us and show us to march to the beat of our own drum, but it seems many people have forgot to do just that. Don't copy exactly what they do. You can draw subtle inspirations, but more importantly, remember that they're there to show us the cool fashion effects of being purely you.
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