Carnivale of Couture - Film and Fashion

The current Carnivale of the Couture topic, brought to us by Counterfeitchic is film and fashion. The topic is kind of vague, but that just leaves plenty of room for interpretation. A lot of people are posting about Oscar Fashion, but we already have a post about that and I’m feeling a little more ambitious. (Watch out! That’s never good.)

I find the increasingly close ties between film and fashion more than a little bit disturbing. When you look at Nicole Kidman in a Chanel gown you think “Yes, that is right. This woman was BORN to wear Chanel and Chanel was created to be worn by her.” It just seems like a perfect match. But, the whole publicity craze has now resulted in, say, Lindsay Lohan wearing a Chanel gown. It doesn’t seem to fit quite as well.

Now, I’m not knocking the actual fit of her gowns - or even saying she didn’t look great in them. (Okay, maybe I’m saying that a little bit about some of them.) I’m just saying that popular chache among teeny-boppers and club-goers does not a style icon make. But if you’re a popular celebrity, whether a serious actress or a media whoring heiress (no names, no names) you seem to have the same access to the hautest of couture. It doesn’t seem right.

Even more disturbing is the fact that it’s completely understandable and defendable from a retail standpoint. Of course these designers are going to throw their clothes onto any celebrity maniquin who will wear them, because the next day they will sell out of that dress. I mean, it’s all marketting, and that’s just the way the world of commerce works. I just expect a little bit more from the world of art - of which fashion portends to be a part.

It’s also kind of unrealistic and counter to the craft of both fashion and acting when characters in movies wear ridiculously expensive designer clothes that their Character could never afford and would never have heard of. If your Character would shop at KMart - break out the Jaclyn Smith.

So, I guess to make up for my extra frivolous answer to the Carnivale of the Couture question on how you’d spend 10 million, I’m getting all philosophical and arty on this one.

To quote another fashion maven of the silver screen, Cher Horowitz, “way existential.”

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