“I
speak two languages – body and English,” notorious grande dame Mae West slinkily articulated. Classic Hollywood made cinema an art with its sophisticated scripts, fabulous stories, and glamorous fashion – and what characters they were! Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, and the two Hepburns vibrantly expressed feminine confidence, holding their own (sometimes a bit more) with their leading men, so that the clothes became mere accessories to their indomitable spirit. We’re thrilled with the return of film-inspired fashion to the Autumn/Winter ’ 13 runways not just for their utterly womanly styles, but also in knowing that we need not wear hard metals and patent leather to express Attitude. After all, we’ve learnt from old movies what delicious decoys blush silk and caressing chiffon make for a woman’s steely mind.
Before you recalibrate your wardrobe with nipped-in skirt suits, curved heels, and MGM-worthy goddess gowns, do know that the rules of vintage dressing have changed. Let’s be honest, this aesthetic can be ageing, particularly with a croco bag cradled at the crook of your arm and midi-skirt lengths. This season, old is restyled to look very new, and in ‘ How to Wear Modern Vintage’ (page 104), Jeffrey Yan shows how you can inject nowness into Mid-Century styles. “Go for colours that didn’t exist 60 years ago,” he suggests. “Sneak in an element from the streets.” Find out exactly how you can do this, along with other ideas, in order to look glamorously fresh (especially with Prada’s wet hair) in fashions past.
When it comes to beauty ideals, classic Hollywood hardly goes out of style; au contraire, it’s regularly redefined for the times. The Hitchcockian heroine this season is given a modern edge with graphic black eyeliner, matt red lips, and super-glowing skin (read the inspiration in ‘Leading Ladies’, page 136). Get all the beauty essentials and tools you need in the annual BAZAAR Beauty Awards 2013 (from page 163); with this year, a noticeable move towards technology-infused skincare and bright make-up made for lights, cameras, and action. And who else personifies the mood of the moment better than cover celebrity Scarlett Johansson, the modern-day Hollywood bombshell with a body of work and intelligence to match. “I never close the door on those kind of things,” she says about having a political career (page 270), spoken like a true screen goddess of today.
Natasha Kraal