Style Icons

Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

I have a thing for nail polish, and I love to try new, radiant colours. But those times I would like to try an entirley different look, or try a colour I feel that might could be a bit courageus for me, I always buy Chanel. Because noone can criticise Chanel, hence, noone can criticise my nails.

I was 18, at work in the shop, trying on a pair of Versace jeans for the first time, when the lady that owned the shop asked me if I liked the jeans. Inexperienced as I was, thinking that my opinion mattered, I replied that I did not like the length and that noone could possibly be that tall.

The fashion guru then frowned her brows and told me " who are you to say anything about Versace?".

That was the time I learned that you do not criticise fashion geniuses, you just nod, and try to replicate them.Intriguing is'nt it?

Coco Chanel

Everyone has a style icon. Someone that they think have the most faboulous style, and that they get inspired by looking at. You have the classical style icons, like Audrey Hepburn,Grace Kelly and Coco herself, and you have the more recent ones, like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Sienna Miller, Alexa Chung and Chole Sevigny. Whatever suits you taste. Girls find pride in having their own style. But the question that could be asked is; does anyone have a style of their own anymore? My answer is no, you do not. When you wear those Mango shoes and that H&M dress, you do not do a new and groundbreaking thing. You just replicate. To judge who is best dressed and who has a gorgeus style, the question is rather who is the best at replicating what they have seen in the fashion magazines. There is nothing wrong with that. I think it is great that girls are interested in fashion, and that they try new combinations and shop the things they think is beautiful. As long as they do not think they are doing something completely new. You get your inspiration from somewhere, perhaps even the windows at the nearest Zara. We normal, mortal girls do not make the trends, we just wear them.

Coco Chanel, stylish as ever.

However, there are individuals that do break barriers and change fashion forever. And it was not until recently that I knew how much Coco Chanel actually did. I watched the gorgeus movie "Coco before Chanel" (highly recommended) and I felt a teardrop in my eye at the end of the movie when we could see her first collection. Knowing that at Coco's time, the women was wearing long, magnificent, extragavant dresses, big hats which made it almost impossible for them to turn their heads in a normal manner (or even think in Coco's eyes), jewellery, bows and rosettes and all this other extra "topping", they all looked like giant wedding cakes - it makes it more fantastic to think about Coco's style. It was so simple, but oh so elegant, and oh so groundbreaking and extraordinary. Her little signature suit, her love for black, and the way she made fashion easy to wear. Before Coco, women actually could spend up to two hours getting dressed, and they even needed help to do that. We owe Coco Chanel so much fashionwise, but most of us do not really know it. We just go on browsing the fashion magasines, not knowing that it was Coco that had the nautical stripes for the first time, and that most of her stuff would look perfectly sane and elegant on the street today. That is what I call timeless elegance.

Grace Kelly.

Another woman that has sculpted our view of fashion is the always beautiful Audrey Hepburn, and I have yet to meet a girl who has seen "Breakfast at Tiffany's" without feeling inspired. We still love her big sunglasses, her elegant lines, and her fantastic headband from the window scene. Grace Kelly unfortunately died way too young, but she managed to marry Rainier of Monaco, and also create a new standard for Hollowood glamour.

It is important to know who influences you, and who you get inspiration from. Those days you do not know what to wear, think "what would she wear", and perhaps you will have the best fashion moment ever that day.

As for myself, I get inspiration from everywhere. Women on the street, advertisements, movies, to mention some. However, I am aware of that I do not have the most exciting style. I love a good pair of jeans, some layers of t-shirts and cardigans, a big scarf and I am good to go. I love the notion of that you can look ok without putting too much effort into it. Just look at Jennifer Aniston. Her simple dresses on the red carpet, her jeans and effortless, but always right on the spot, style when private. She never wears too much make-up, she always has casually perfect hair.She reminds me of the commercial made for Jaguar some time ago which said:

"Gorgeus make effort look effortless".

I love fashion, and I know that some of it is thanks to all those fantastic women and men that have created the historic fashion moments we all remember. And as I have learned and grown older, I feel secure enough to actually mean something about the creations and looks I see presented on Catwalks or in stores.

But I will never criticise Coco Chanel.

Who are your style icon?

(And yes, as some of you might have noticed, this is a "recycled" post, which I have posted before. Reason for me doing this? My camera is broken, and I am in the middle of a dissertation. But I promise it will never happen again. Ever.)