Style Icons – Idlermag.com

Style Icons: Tavi Gevinson

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:00:45 +0000

We tend to think of style icons as people with a little age on them — people who, seasoned with experience, can turn out any look for any occasion. However, it’s important to remember that the young’uns are often the daring vanguard from which high fashion takes its cues. Messy, playful, devil-may-care, kids use fashion to emote and shape themselves and they do so with drastic shifts in style/identity. That’s why someone like Tavi stands out as so interesting. Not only does she make fashion her own in a perfectly youthful and experimental manner, but she also has made herself incredibly known for cultivating a well-defined, artistically composed, and refreshing sense of personal style. She’s got all the edge of youth and the consistent confidence and quirky elegance (quirkegance?) of someone 3 times her age.

Hailing from the suburbs of Chicago, Tavi Gevinson started her blog Style Rookie at age 11. In it she shares her runway obsessions, day-to-day outfits, look inspirations, and t(w)eenage thoughts. Her smart sartorial compositions and creative personality immediately shone through to her followers and before long the “fashion world” (like all those serious Mugatu-type folk) were knocking down the door of this teeny tastemaker. Soon, Gevinson was living a fashion fantasy as all the hippest designers started gifting her amazing pieces she could work into her collection of vintage finds and her expertly mismatched wardrobe.

Riding her fame and accolades, Tavi’s expanded her pop culture footprint by starting Rookiemag, an online magazine and interactive forum for (young) women. The site reminds us that Tavi isn’t necessarily a wunderkind, rather, all young people have meaningful perspectives, thoughts, art, and ideas to share. She and her editors use the site to start conversations about topics relevant to girls ranging anywhere from bullying, first-time sex, and best friend relationships, to room decoration, and discussion of favorite books and movies. Not too shabby for a high schooler who likes art and clothes and stuff.

If Tavi inspires you like she does me, there are few ways you can start adopting her look into your repertoire. For one, you’ll have to be a lot more flexible with all the “rules” of proper dressing. You might take an afternoon or 5 and play in your closet — try to remember when dressing up was a game and look with new eyes. That dress could be a skirt if you popped a sweater on top, and oh, the dress’ collar would peek out ever so sweetly. Practice mixing shapes and textures that we’ve categorized into separate genres. How would 90s-era Courtney Love wear a fancy black tulle skirt? Maybe with a washed out half-shirt? Combine seemingly opposing aesthetics to each other — 70s Mary Tyler Moore, meet nerdy grandma style. Feeling a sparkle princess vibe? How could you tone down the Disneyness of baby blue shine? Maybe with some serious yet chic combat boots. Ultimately, you gotta use your noggin to imagine fashion fusion and do so without taking yourself too seriously.

Tavi is above all a master of theme and pattern. Look at the collections of postcards and photos on her blog and you can see she’s great at finding artistic themes and details everywhere she looks. She might fall in love with a movie character or wallpaper design or album cover and she then translates the look and feel of that specific imagery into her clothing. Open your eyes. Look around you. Take cues from prints, art, and designs you admire. Don’t be afraid to thrift, clash, or be eclectic. It’s boring to look exactly like a GAP ad, so find your weirdness and wear it.

—

Ana Holguin writes PopHeart for The Idler.

]]>

Style Icons: Sofia Coppola

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:00:04 +0000

Born into a major Hollywood family, a lot of Sofia Coppola’s career has been critiqued as a product of nepotism. After all, it can’t be too hard to break into the movie biz when Francis Ford Coppola is your daddy. I’m not one of her haters though. Beyond her elegant and heart-wrenching screenwriting, her directorial portrayals of femininity as both fragile and fierce, I’m pulled to this Coppola’s strength of aesthetics. There’s just something about Sofia.

Movies like Lost in Translation (2003), The Virgin Suicides (1999), and Marie Antionette (2006) possess a mesmerizing visual power as Coppola creates moods with meticulous settings, washes of color, and scenes framed to capture both the agony and the ecstasy of any given moment. I love how she is invested in the bittersweet and how she uses style to express the affective register of her films.

It’s no surprise, then, that her personal style is likewise consistent, nuanced, and impeccable. Coppola’s closet is marked by a heavy rotation of classy basics. She doesn’t dip into every trend, though you will see her don an artsy piece of modern construction or fresh cut for formal events. In general, her look is cool, chic, laid-back, easy, but definitely put-together. Her take on feminine is simple with a few soft flourishes like a 70’s style tie-neck blouse, or a sweet yet polished Peter Pan collar. When capturing her look, aim for well fitted pants that skim curves, but not too tightly. Dark-wash bootcut or slightly flared trouser jeans maintain a balance between casual comfort and strong lines that can take you just about anywhere. Though you’ll see her in simple or artsy pumps, the ease of her look is best expressed with classic flats. Think minimal fuss, but with a bit of interest — a metallic bow detail or some other clean, modern extra, but nothing too heavily patterned or garrish. Coppola acheives her just-threw-this-on appeal with garments that aren’t overtly sexy, or girly. Fit for her is loose, but not sloppy and a structured bag and well-cut coat temper the flowy lines of the rest of her outfit.

When taking a cue from Sofia, less is more. Find comfortable pieces that aren’t overtly feminine, but are soft and easy. Focus on fit and play up unexpected palettes and details. This style icon is not about blaring statements, but thoughtful assemblages that create a feel, an air, a subtle and tasteful impression.

—

Ana Holguin writes PopHeart for The Idler.

]]>

Style icons: Carrie Brownstein

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 13:00:49 +0000

Carrie Brownstein is rock and roll fun

Riot Grrl, band member of Sleater Kinney and Wild Flag, Carrie Brownstein is most recently famous for her work as a laugh-riot-girl on the ever quirky and strange IFC comedy series, Portlandia. Though this feminist chica is hot and awesome for both her talents and rockin’ ways, I’m also totally crushing on girlfriend’s wardrobe. Carrie Brownstein, you are a style icon!

Carrie’s style is basic, but hip. It’s relaxed and simple while quietly purring “rrrrrrawk.” There’s a tomboyish aspect to her uniform as she tends to live in jeans and shorts, but the cut and fit are everything. Her pants are always perfectly snug giving her a sleek sexy vibe even as she doesn’t show much skin. Her shorts, though they show off her great legs, often give off a cheeky appeal as she pairs them with tucked in, button-down shirts. These clean tailored outfits present a punked-up boy scout vibe and remind one a little of another musical school boy, AC/DC’s Angus Young. Brownstein’s shirts are either crisp, oxford style tops with short or rolled sleeves, or femme floaty blouses, perhaps with a little sheen or sheerness. When she sports the latter and throws on a sweet pair of speckled tights on under those shorties, the outfit becomes a magical amalgam of retro flirtatiousness and modern bad-assery. Now, granted, some of this comes with context. She’s up on stage, rollicking, strumming her guitar and singing her lungs out all while writhing to the music, flicking her head back and punctuating her performance with a high kick or two; this behavior paired with the sugary diaphanous tops is fashion balance to T. She soaks those dolly blouses in rocker sweat, shreds those tights like she does her guitar. Oh, and her rough and tumble, short-stack-heeled leather ankle booties — yeah, they’re, again, just the right mix of tough and cute. Work it out, head to toe, CB.

Now, to make Brownstein’s style our own, as we are but mortals and not rock goddesses, we must up the ante a little in the accessory department. Grab all the basics, some grey, eggplant, or even lilac colored tight skinnies and your well-fitted buttoned and/or artsy-Portland-gal tops, but then add some studded earrings or a tough black leather cuff for more masculine umph. Miu Miu-inspired glitter boots are all the rage this season; find your knock-off pair and let your kicks bespeak your rock and roll lifestyle. Keep the look simple for ultimate chicness. Maybe let a structured, full coverage, pretty bra show through under your see-through shirt, but do remember to always temper the sex-pot of it all. Keep the hair messy bedhead in style and the makeup minimal — a swath of red on the pout if you feel like causing a ruckus. The Carrie look is cool and unassuming with a strut that’s willing and waiting to show itself. Put on some Wild Flag. Shake out your waves. Find your strut.

—

Ana Holguin writes PopHeart for The Idler.

]]>