Gorgeous Angelina and her boring wardrobe
By Bridget Foley |
August 15, 2010, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CELEBRITY continues to relentlessly affect the "us" of the fashion industry. Some musings on that reality surfaced after a viewing of "Salt," starring the most famous, most beautiful, most glamorous, most intriguing woman in the world, the kind of woman who once would have set a standard for fashion to follow. Yet here is Angelina Jolie in a mega-mainstream, shoot-'em-up, kick-'em-in-the-crotch, leap-over-tall-buildings summer blockbuster that's about as chic as a cup of Campbell's soup. The dazzling star often looked as unglamorous as her considerable physical gifts allow.
Don't misunderstand: Undone, Angelina is still drop-dead gorgeous. Nevertheless, her penchant for dressing down indeed affects our world.
In real life, too, she plays down the movie star thing in favor of the wardrobe of a busy mom on the go. Never mind that the Jolie-Pitt lifestyle is incomprehensibly glamorous: a bohemian, la dolce vita, model UN traveling circus. Still, Angelina is by all accounts a devoted hands-on mom on the go. Hence, the anonymous-looking trenches, black tanks, jeans and contemporary-market dresses make sense on one level.
We don't see her all dolled up for private parties. What's left, then, are Jolie's professional appearances, which approaches with equal pragmatism. Of course, as a woman, she has the right to wear whatever she chooses; as a movie star, her wardrobe of plain and plainer drives home the point that she's her own best ensemble.
But Angelina has this odd, everywoman thing going on. Her clothes suggest she's like moms everywhere. Getting dressed for the day is all about ease, comfort and what makes sense, especially with the kids around.
True, Jolie always looks casually fabulous, but the fabulosity is all Angelina, not designer created. That might make her a better person, but it makes no one feel like rushing out for a T-shirt. They've already got one just like it, and it doesn't make them look like Angelina.
On to Jolie's working wardrobe. A simple black and white Dolce & Gabbana dress in Moscow's Red Square on July 25. A black leather jacket and dress by Versace at Comic-Con on July 22. On the red carpet, Jolie wears a range, from its most heralded names - Armani, Versace - to more populist types such as Max Azria. Either way, she embraces every label at its most innocuous. In recent appearances there was not a speck of imagination in her wardrobe.
To Jolie's genetic credit, she still looked beautiful. But did she look memorable? Not so much. Fashion needs icons other than the outrageous (Lady Gaga) or cheap stereotype (Snooki). Fashion needs aspirational icons; it always has. Michelle Obama can't do it alone. Right now, despite fashion's ongoing celebrity obsession, the best of Hollywood isn't doing its part.
Don't misunderstand: Undone, Angelina is still drop-dead gorgeous. Nevertheless, her penchant for dressing down indeed affects our world.
In real life, too, she plays down the movie star thing in favor of the wardrobe of a busy mom on the go. Never mind that the Jolie-Pitt lifestyle is incomprehensibly glamorous: a bohemian, la dolce vita, model UN traveling circus. Still, Angelina is by all accounts a devoted hands-on mom on the go. Hence, the anonymous-looking trenches, black tanks, jeans and contemporary-market dresses make sense on one level.
We don't see her all dolled up for private parties. What's left, then, are Jolie's professional appearances, which approaches with equal pragmatism. Of course, as a woman, she has the right to wear whatever she chooses; as a movie star, her wardrobe of plain and plainer drives home the point that she's her own best ensemble.
But Angelina has this odd, everywoman thing going on. Her clothes suggest she's like moms everywhere. Getting dressed for the day is all about ease, comfort and what makes sense, especially with the kids around.
True, Jolie always looks casually fabulous, but the fabulosity is all Angelina, not designer created. That might make her a better person, but it makes no one feel like rushing out for a T-shirt. They've already got one just like it, and it doesn't make them look like Angelina.
On to Jolie's working wardrobe. A simple black and white Dolce & Gabbana dress in Moscow's Red Square on July 25. A black leather jacket and dress by Versace at Comic-Con on July 22. On the red carpet, Jolie wears a range, from its most heralded names - Armani, Versace - to more populist types such as Max Azria. Either way, she embraces every label at its most innocuous. In recent appearances there was not a speck of imagination in her wardrobe.
To Jolie's genetic credit, she still looked beautiful. But did she look memorable? Not so much. Fashion needs icons other than the outrageous (Lady Gaga) or cheap stereotype (Snooki). Fashion needs aspirational icons; it always has. Michelle Obama can't do it alone. Right now, despite fashion's ongoing celebrity obsession, the best of Hollywood isn't doing its part.
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