Sunday, August 22, 2010

MY FASHION Style ICONS

To be in my list they must complete a series of accomplishments:



1. Their style endures the test of time and remain in our memories as fashion glories!


2. Every woman in their time wanted to be like them and their styles were copied for all!


3. They use their clothes to look as beautiful as they wanted to be. Surprisely must of them were not all extremely beautiful. The best examples are Marlene Dietrich , Audrey Hepburn and Sarah Jessica Parker. The French designer Givenchy said about his Audrey Hepburn first impression may be surprise you. “I was told that Miss Hepburn was coming to look for clothes for her new movie, Sabrina. Since I loved Katharine Hepburn's style and look, I thought this was fantastic. But when the door of my studio opened, there stood a young woman, very slim, very tall, with doe eyes and short hair and wearing a pair of narrow pants, a little T shirt, slippers and a gondolier's hat with red ribbon that read VENEZIA. The disappointed couturier later admitted: "My first impression was of some extremely delicate animal. She had such beautiful eyes, and she was thin..


.

I told her, "Mademoiselle, I would love to help you, but I have very few sewers, I am in the middle of doing a collection, I can't make you clothes." So she said, "Show me what you have already made for the collection." She tried on the dresses - "It's exactly what I need!" - and they fit her too. She knew exactly what she wanted. She knew perfectly her visage and her body, their fine points and their faults. Later I tried to adapt my designs to her desires. She wanted a bare-shouldered evening dress modified to hide the hollows behind her collarbone. What I invented for her eventually became a style so popular that i named it 'décolleté Sabrina'" – Hubert Givenchy


4. And of course, to be in this list, I must love their style!!

How they do it?
1. Fashion put them on the map. They work with the best fashion houses to make their clothes done. They insist in going to the best designers at their moments and make their clothes specially made for them.

2. They were acutely aware of image. They used clothes to her advantage.



3. They dare to be different and no one can duplicate their point of differentiation.
Coco Chanel 20’s “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”
Named as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, legendary designer Coco Chanel was a pioneer in the world of fashion. She did not make her clothes with fashion designers, she became in one!! And her style is still the firm of her fashion house!!
“Not only did she make “black” the black it is today, but she also created the wardrobe staple that none of us can live without- the little black dress!”
“A fashion that does not reach the streets is not a fashion.”
Arguably the most influential couturier that has ever lived: Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. Women everywhere have Chanel to thank for popularizing a multitude of trends that we continue to embrace—the little black dress, strands of pearls, quilted handbags, black-tip ballet flats, tweed jackets and, of course, Chanel No. 5. At the onset of her career in the early 1900s, Chanel embraced her independence, success, personality, and style, and set out to imagine a new kind of woman, one who was free from the corseted apparel worn in the 19th century.
Her quotation: “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”




Marlene Dietrich 40’s If you think glamour, your have to think of her. She’s been inspiration for many designers and actress. The Vogue video of Madonna is a portrait of her style. I will love to use her as a fashion muse and inspiration. During her career, Dietrich was frequently seen incorporating menswear into her wardrobe with boxy sport coats and high-waisted trousers. Here was a woman being a man being a woman. Many of her suits were designed by Elsa Schiaparelli who exaggerated the shoulder line starting a new trend. "Her masculinity appeals to women and her sexuality to men,". Dietrich remains incredibly relevant to fashion as we know it today. She also remains a muse to top designers and an inspiration to fashionistas. She once famously said, "I dress for myself. Not for the image, not for the public, not for the fashion, not for men."













Ava Gardner 40’s She was beautiful and elegant, sexy and glamourous!! There is something so amazing about her. She can be glamorous and stylish, but at the same time be completely natural and real. Very few ladies possess this quality and none with as much amazingness as Ava. Ava Gardner is remembered for her elegance and sleek style. She often wore strapless dresses and gowns. Her trademark was long sexy gloves and lots of jewelry. She wore clothes that hugged her figure including fitted skirts and wide belts which seem to be a la` mode at the moment! One of Her favorite designers: Christian Dior.

Grace Kelly 50’s She is so beautiful, not to mention her style and class make her one of the most influential fashion, and beauty icons ever to hit the big screen! If you think elegance, you must think Grace Kelly! Ladylike style! She is chic, beautiful, immaculately dress and umbelievably sexy. Her designers: Christian Dior, Cristobal Balenciaga, Chanel, Madame Gres, Hermes and Yves Saint Laurent and she never throw her clothing away. She also understood the importance of always looking the part. Her biggest fashion moment, however, inspired the entire world. After a whirlwind courtship, Grace Kelly became Her Serene Highness on April 19, 1956, as 600 wedding guests and 30 million television viewers looked on. She wore a gown, custom-made by the legendary MGM costume designer Helen Rose, of 450 yards of Brussels rose-point lace and silk faille.

Marylyn Monroe 50’s. she was extremely strategic about what she wore. Few other celebrities have displayed such genius for carefully orchestrating their image. She singlehandedly created her iconic look - platinum blonde hair, inviting red pout and killer dresses to accentuate her perfect hourglass figure.
Monroe dressed for men. Her outfits only ever had one purpose - to show off her body which she understood was the key to her success.
While her blonde tresses, beauty spot and red lipstick are often cited as key elements of her style, her look was actually more complex. Great intelligence and thought went into its creation.

AUDREY HEPBURN: 50/60’s Audrey Hepburn made the little black dress a fashion imperative in the 1961 film "Breakfast At Tiffany's". Audrey Hepburn, is a representation directly of pure sophistication and glamour. To make a movie she visited the best fashion houses to make her clothes done specially for her. Her main fashion designer was Hubert Givenchy, who designed her wardrobe for films such as Funny Face (1957), Love in the Afternoon (1957), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Paris When It Sizzles (1963), Charade (1964), How to Steal a Million (1966), and others.
Over the years she would be responsible for bringing: the little black dress, as she made it famous on the big screen, Women from all over the world use this little closet staple for gala’s, black tie events, weddings and more, paying homage to Audrey’s unique sense of style. The ballet flats, toreador pants and the black turtleneck to the forefront of fashion; for all items Simplicity is the key for this look that they still seem modern today.

Jackie O 60’s
"She was a woman of confidence, focus, and passion, and it made her one of the world's greatest sources of inspiration and influence". The most stylish first lady ever!
A woman who knew how to wear hats so well, has to be admired. Some people considered Jackie Kennedy one of America's best-looking women during the '60s. I don't think she was "classically beautiful", but she knew how to enhance what she had - wide-set eyes, a big smile, and a rather square face which she worked with that still made her major eye candy.
By the time she became Mrs John F Kennedy in 1953 she had already become a fashion icon to women all over the world setting the style for the early sixties with her clean suits, sleeveless A-line dresses and pillbox hats. Later on her clothes changed to wide-leg pantsuits, jeans, large lapel jackets, silk Hermès head scarves and of course those large, round, dark sunglasses. When she married Aristotle Onassiss in 1968 her style changed once again to suit her Mediterranean lifestyle, encompassing gypsy skirts, hoop earrings, lots of jewellery and scraped back hair. Jackie O (as she became affectionately known), never had a bad fashion day and never took a bad photo.
Her favorite shopping haunts were : Giorgio Armani, Carolina Herrera (she was very fond of this designer's dresses), Chanel, Lacoste, Pucci, Lilly Pulitzer, Valentino, Zoran, Bergdorf Goodman, and Saks Fifth Ave.

Twiggy 60’s
Skinny, minidresses, spider-lashes, beehives, blonde and doe eyed, who do you think of?...Twiggy of course, who was born in north London on September 19th, 1949. She was named "The Face of '66" by the Daily Express. In the mid 60's at 16 years of age, Twiggy became internationally known as the world's first supermodel, her photographic modelling success epitomising the age.
After four years of modeling, Twiggy retired, claiming "You can't be a clothes hanger for your entire life!" and went into acting.
The geometric patterns and straight cuts of fabric in 60's fashion fit the Twiggy's frame as clothes did in the sketches fashion designers put down on paper--making her the perfect model. In a way, Twiggy and her "twig-like legs" brought designs to life in a way other models hadn't done before.

Verushka 60’s I LOVE HER BEUTY, HER FASHION STYLE AND THE LOOK IN HER EYES! She is also been a fashion inspiration for many designers included me! Veruschka was a woman with a creative mind. Though she was a model, this was no reason for her to be a clothes hanger; she created her own style because it was possible and more importantly, because it was a roaring inspiration. Everything Veruschka wore was representative of the time she fled; all out in the 60′s all of the time. Veruschka says of her fashion, “I was always being different types of women. She paint herself as an animal!

Brigitte Bardot 60’s Bridget Bardot, I mean lets face it….who doesn’t think she’s an icon in both beauty and fashion!!! A unique and different beauty that people are still trying to recreate her look! For me the most beautiful woman ever!! Love her hair style and the way of her eye makeup. Until her rise to fame in the early '50s, Western women were rarely seen without heels and a hat, in structured clothing and set hair. Bardot broke free of these restrictions, wearing ballet pumps, loose, tousled hair and short dresses to show off her famously perfect legs. She made the bikini famous with an appearance on the beach in Cannes in 1953. Save for her cat's eye make-up and a glossy pout, her face was bare. Every famous model has done a Brigitte Bardot fashion shoot and celebrities still copy her style to this day.

Debbie Harry 70’s was known for her peroxide blonde hair, and as a recognizable icon of punk style. Debbie Harry was a symbol for micro-mini Sid-Vicious skirts, shredded tops, and leather.

Farrah Fawcett 70/80’s set the bar high…..an absolute fashion icon known for her wavy blonde hair and big and beautiful smile! Photographs of her in bellbottoms and nikes are still an inspiration to so many! Her hit megastardom with her role as athletic crimefighter Jill Munroe on Charlie's Angels - but it was really the timeless swimsuit poster released during the show's first season that made her a style icon. Her toothy grin, blonde curls, and red swimsuit made her the woman all women wanted to be. Farrah's signature big, blond, feathered 'do (styled by Allen Edwards) was the most requested hairstyle of the decade, and everyone wanted to know where they could find that little red swimsuit. who didn't have her hair cut at the 70's and 80's?

MADONNA 80’s: Madonna captured the style and fashion sense of generation. Especially teenage girls in the 1980s. Madonna is among the most influential people of the 1980s. From her wildly teased and colored hair to the return of lace and fishnet stockings, her accessories were outrageous, and girls around the world wanted to be like Madonna even going so far as to add her trademark mole to their cheeks. "I've made no secret of my love for fashion and trends," Madonna said.

Princess Diana 80/90’s A fashion trendsetter. What made Diana's fashion so different? Well, first of all she didn't exactly follow a trend – she wore what she wanted and allowed people to follow her.
At that early period of Princess Diana biography in fashion she videotaped every one of her television appearances, carefully analyzing every detail, including her hair, makeup and, of course, clothing.
Diana loved clothes; they were a passion and a public duty. In the 1980’s the Princess supported the British fashion industry, wearing clothes by British designers like Edelstein, Murray Arbeid, Belville Sassoon, Catherine Walker, Bruce Oldfield and Gina Fratini. She experimented and not all of her outfits were a total success until 1990’s something rather different happened. The creates a unique and personal style. British designers continued to provide outfits, notably Catherine Walker and Jacques Azagury, but increasingly she turned to international designers, to Versace, Valentino and Chanel. Her look became more international with a sophisticated and simple silhouette. Diana’s image will inevitably define a fashion look of the late 20th century.

Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy : 90’s Through the mid-nineties, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy quickly became a fashion icons. Her style evolved over those years into a simple, refined elegance. And no matter what the occasion, she stayed true to this chic simplicity… even on her wedding day. I loved that about her. She was always chic and had such a simple, minimalist style. That minimalist attitude the young Kennedy wife was to become famous for was first spotted at Calvin Klein's New York offices, but it continued with designs by Versace, Yohji Yamamoto and Prada. Star Style at the Academy Awards'' called her the muse of Prada. Her clothes were a wrapper to her porcelain beauty. But if you looked closely, you saw only the finest quality and workmanship. And that's the definition of understated elegance. She was different!

KATE MOSS: 90’s British supermodel Kate - whose 1993 Calvin Klein advertising campaign sparked a craze for waif-like models -. She has garnered many awards for her style, including the Council of Fashion Designers of America's fashion influence award and a place on the Vanity Fair international best-dressed list. In recent years, she has popularised denim cutoff shortsUgg boots, ballet flats, Vivienne Westwood Pirate Boots, skinny jeans, waistcoat, Alexander McQueen's skull scarf, Louis Vuitton's Sprouse Leopard Cashmere Scarf, and the Balenciaga handbag as well as recently bringing blazer and ankle boots back into popularity.

Sarah Jessica Parker: 2000’sThe Sex and the City show transformed 39-year-old Parker from an A-list actress to a fashion icon by casting her as sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw, a native New Yorker.
SJP has a unique, creative, colorful style, setting her apart from the rest. Her style is an eclectic, ultra stylish persona..
With Sex and the City, Parker has embarked on the adventure of inspiring women everywhere to wear headpieces, wear dresses over other pieces of clothing, wear clothes that clash and always love your shoes.
Rachel Zoe 2000’s Let's pause a minute and ponder this one: Rachel Zoe is one of a few who gets to dictate what's fashion and beautiful in Hollywood. She is a Style guru, brilliant businesswoman, fashion trendsetter. She even revolutionized red carpet customs by advising girls like Kate Beckinsale, Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Garner to wear her "bohemian vintage" look where before only Hollywood glamour ruled. Her formula, extremely long dresses, oversized sunglasses, bags, all of it worn with casual chic, became the fashion recipe.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen 2000’s No one better represents young, hot, Hollywood than Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The twins are most well known for their fashion-forward “boho chic” that was widely praised in 2004-2005. Their wardrobe choices have evolved into today’s “recessionista chic” trend that plays up the grunge edge of the Olsen’s bohemian style. The look consists of oversized sunglasses, boots, loose sweaters, and flowing skirts all with an aesthetic of mixing high end pieces with low end. In recent years the twins have become fashion icons, developing a grungy, designer look. The pair launched their high-end fashion line, The Row in 2006, and more recently debuted their spin-off line, Elizabeth & James - which they named after their siblings and that I have in my fashion boutique Bianco. New York Times declare Mary-Kate a fashion icon for pioneering her signature (and now popular among celebrities and fans alike) "homeless" look. For sure I envy their closet because is double!! Ja!ja!ja!

Lady Gaga is truly to be considered a fashion icon?
Personally I don’t like her personal style but I love her fashion in her videos. She is a phenomenon something that rarely occurs. Gaga knows how to entertain. Lady Gaga has worn clothes designed by some of the top names in the fashion business: Treacy, Armani and the late McQueen. To be sure, Lady Gaga is a product of the times, a creative girl who understands the power of image and the importance of mythmaking. As I said in other article, Fashion put Lady Gaga on the map. How long can shock value really hold its power?
As Coco Chanel quote: “A fashion that does not reach the streets is not a fashion.”

WHICH ONE IS YOUR FAVORITE?

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