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| Stephanie, General course student, International Relations |
Imagine. An outfit with a palette of fur striking enough to instil envy amongst even the Prada Devils of the world... I present to you Stephanie - a New York girl after our London hearts. With fashion icons that transcends history and time; from Audrey Hepburn to Jackie Kennedy - it is only fitting that Stephanie has managed to pull off this timeless fashion ensemble that empowers as much as it allures. Adding to our ongoing debate regarding New York versus London's fashion scene, she champions London for its 'cutting edge and avant-garde style' but misses the 'irreverence of New York's charm.' It also appears that the British stiff upper-lip typecast is here to stay - as she observes that London students are often more 'serious and restrained' in their attire. Having previously served under Shareen Vintage NYC as a stylist undoubtedly has its merits - an infinite supply of chic cocktail dresses in tow being one of them! (If ever there was a perfect excuse to hit London's cocktail bars - this is it.) Female protagonists from classic romantic movies such as the kooky Zooey Deschanel of '500 Days of Last Summer' and Audrey Hepburn's portrayal of Sabrina form the basis of her cinematic fashion inspiration... romance may very well be dead - but certainly not where Stephanie's wardrobe is concerned! Her philosophical advice on fashion is to 'dress like you are starring in the movie of your life!' Indeed, life is a stage - as Shakespeare once said, so why not costume yourself while you are at it? If you would like to see her in action, Stephanie will be chairing LSE's Fashion Show on 4th Feb 2011 with the theme "LDN by LSE" which promises to be portray a satorial map of London onto the runway.
1. Who would you describe as your ultimate fashion icon?
My style perennials are Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy, and Kate Moss--they're the trinity of fashion for me and will always be. I love Audrey's elegance, the simplicity and construction of her Givenchy garments; I love Jackie's poise, her immaculate Camelot days of Cassini and the triple-strand pearl necklace; and I love Kate's effortless, easy cool, pulling on a lot of vintage with just a hint of her rockstar affiliations. I'm interested in tastemakers, not followers.
2. What is the ultimate difference between New york Vs London student style?
Well, the male students dress A LOT better here than they do in New York--there's an element of professionalism here that you don't get in New York.
Generally, female students seem to err on the side of good taste or within established, current trends. This may be a result of the LSE student body and not applicable to London students as a whole, but I do miss the irreverence of New York style--they take it less seriously there, have more fun, are less restrained--but are also less innovative than Londoners, less cutting edge and avant-garde.
3. Where is your outfit from? (The fur cape coat with frilly drapes as well as your emerald green dress)
My green dress is a 1960s brocade cocktail dress from Shareen Vintage New York, as is the white fur stole, where I was a client and later a stylist under Shareen Mitchell (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/fashion/16upclose.html) for the summer. The white cape/shawl is a 1950s wool-cashmere find from the Clerkenwell Vintage fair in London (http://www.clerkenwellvintagefashionfair.co.uk/).
4. What cultural references would you cite as the biggest influence behind your style?
FILMS: Mrs. Robinson in the Graduate, Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, Jean Seberg in A Bout de Souffle, anything Givenchy ever designed for Audrey Hepburn on screen, but most notably in Sabrina and Breakfast at Tiffany's, film noir in general but definitely Rita Hayworth in Gilda, Madonna in Evita, Zooey Deschanel in 500 Days of Summer
LITERATURE: F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and Damned for its raging, roaring New York of the 1920s, Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence for its demure, turn of the century American high society, Anais Nin's Henry and June for her description of expat Paris in the 1930s
ART: The photography of Lillian Bassman, Richard Avedon, Mark Shaw's work with the Kennedys, Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills series, John Singer Sargent's Madame X and other society portraits, Mucha, Art Nouveau in its entirety, Arthur Rackham's illustrations for Alice in Wonderland.
CULTURE: Jackie Kennedy (not Onassis, I love her in her Kennedy days solely), Dita Von Teese (I credit her with inspiring me to be consistently immaculate), American pin-ups of the 1940s and 50s, cocktail and the jet-set culture of the 1960s, best exemplified by Mad Men, the super ironic alternative girl of the 90s with her Docs and floral kinderwhore dresses.
5. Anything else you would like to promote on LSE campus?
I'm chairing the LSESU Fashion Society's annual charity fashion show this year, entitled LDN by LSE. It'll be Friday, the 4th of February 2011, and we're essentially hoping to create a visual, sartorial map of London on the runway with up and coming British designers. All fundraising will go towards the MicroLoan Foundation, which is a UK-based microfinance organization that gives loans to women in sub-Saharan Africa. It'll be a fantastically fun night, so keep an eye out for more details!
6. Your views on the future of fashion.......
I think fashion's become a lot more democratic, with the advent of street style blogs and this idea that everyone has individual style and this style is good--markedly different from the old order of design houses and magazines dictating style. This is both good and bad: good, because democracy in fashion is absolutely needed, fashion's been a set hierarchy for far too long; bad because suddenly “style” is everywhere. Individual style is everywhere. Everyone begins taking themselves incredibly seriously as an individual style ambassador and it’s simultaneously wonderful and mind-numbing. What does style even mean anymore, when everyone apparently has it--or can buy it off of high street retailers?
Fashion, style is all about perception: your own as well as others. Most people put on clothing knowing perfectly well that it will make people perceive them in a certain light, whereas I put on clothing so as to perceive myself differently. My philosophy is always to dress as if you are starring in the movie of your life, so I suppose you could say I costume myself. I know I'm the same girl underneath all these myriad of looks, this parade of fabrics. But there's something I can't place my finger on when I put on something that makes me feel different from what I normally feel—powerful, or seductive, or careless, or light-hearted. Escapism, perhaps. The real possibility that this dress or this coat or these gloves make you a little different, because you believe yourself to be different with them on—you hold your head a little differently and suddenly, everything changes because you yourself are changed.
Fashion fluctuates, I think, more because of feeling than because of trend. That is what lends it its wonderful individuality—you dress how you feel or how you want to feel. It's all part of the magic. Fashion, style, whatever you want to call it, when done properly, is magical, creative in every sense of the world, escapist. Wonderful. Give a little more to what you wear and it will give right back.
I always feel the constant need to defend fashion, because people find it difficult to believe that one can be substantive and stylish at the same time. Never, ever let anyone make you feel guilty about loving beauty as you do—and you do love beauty if you love fashion—however you choose to define it. The world will move on regardless, things of great import and social significance will continue along their paths, and take precedence in humanity’s collective thoughts as things of substance—but there are things of beauty too, farther back in the mind’s eye, and though it may not save the world, beauty is beauty is beauty and magic is magic and magic—and I think we would lead better lives if we had a little more faith in the possibilities of beauty, of magic—and if we worked towards them, in our own way, sartorially or otherwise.
