2023: The Summer of Jackie

You could do worse than make Jackie Kennedy Onassis your Summer of 2023 Fashion Muse. She was always appropriately dressed with understated flair, but it's amazing how many of her looks are so right this year.

From my vantage point a lot of the fashions we see in magazines and on the red carpet are unwearable fantasies—fun to look at perhaps but totally impractical. Some trends do seem to be emerging as a mix of what the stores are offering and what is already in our closets. 

If many of us are buying less these days it's a combination of decent clothes becoming so expensive, understanding fast fashion is bad for the environment and those who make it and less formality in dress overall.  

Jackie's style was always a subtle nod to east coast Preppy, understated Boho or refined Ladylike. No logos on the Preppy, no far-out shapes on the Boho, no extraneous gewgaws on the Ladylike. For sure you can't go wrong with:

Preppy: The black t-shirt and white jeans with supporting players— sandals, tote bag, big sunglasses and head scarf. Leave off the scarf if you like. Make the pants skinny, wide legs, boot cut or flared. Choose the style that fits you best. 

Boho: Black top tucked into a midi skirt with a ruffle, worn with a wide belt, sandals, tote and sunglasses. Here's where the skirt has to flatter you too—maybe not so full or no ruffle. Try a wrap or an A-line. This one has buttons for more swoosh. Although I have a full collection of belts I've avoided wearing them since I lost my 24" waist. I should snap out of it.

Boho with Preppy: The button down shirt with a colorful summer skirt is a classic. Yes, it's a hat or a hairdo, but the straw hat acts as the third piece to make this an outfit. Subtle, but notice how the shirt blends but doesn't match any of the colors in the skirt.

Preppy and Boho: The colors make the difference. You couldn't get any preppier than red and blue unless it was red, white and blue. The oddball mustard-colored pants make the same shapes Boho.

Preppy with Ladylike: Jackie showcased oversized gingham in the early '60s. She took an American staple thought of as folksy and made it cool. There really hasn't been a summer when gingham something wasn't a perfect choice. Okay, you think you want sleeves. Will you accept a cap sleeve or drop shoulder? They are not impossible to find.

Ladylike: Obviously the white gloves are off the table, as is the matching bag and shoes. White shoes themselves have become "bone" or "neutral", but you can't go wrong with a simple silhouette. 

When she visited India as First Lady in 1962 Jackie went to great lengths planning her clothes to reflect and honor her destination. She didn't go for a wardrobe of saris, which might have been interpreted as cultural misappropriation (if we had thought in those terms). Instead she adapted the current silhouettes (which she also inspired) with fabrics and colors that would play well throughout her trip. Shouldn't you always think about where you're going when you plan a vacation?

 

 

 

Women We Love: Dame Edna

Or shall I say "the late Dame Edna"? Word has come that Dame Edna Everage passed away at age 89. Virginia Graham, Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket and Dame Edna have always been my favorite "women so far-out they can't possibly be women". And one was not.

Dame Edna barely admitted to being Barry Humphries, the Australian comedian who created her in the 1950s. Or was it the other way around? At her death, Dame Edna's estate released an obituary of Barry Humphries that all us possums (as she liked to call her adoring subjects) will enjoy:

Drag goes back in my memory, from crazy Uncle Miltie clomping in heels across 1950s television to the fun of seeing Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon dolled up as flappers (albeit to escape Chicago gangsters) in 1959's "Some Like it Hot". Of course some of form of drag has been around for ages, and this post is not about drag history. What's clear is drag is now celebrated and enjoyed in popular culture as never before. And like everything fun, from Elvis to deep-fried Twinkies, there are those who say it's bad for you.

She charmed everyone...

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing a local production of "The Legend of Georgia McBride". Georgia is the drag persona of an affable, straight young man whose not just bad but terrible Elvis impersonation is getting him nowhere. Through plot twists only a playwright could concoct he is forced to replace a drag performer doing Edith Piaf and ends up, after a lot of determined hard work, creating the beloved Georgia McBride (with a little Elvis thrown in).

Georgia and Company

As could be expected, it's a fun show with many laughs and over-the-top routines. There are heartfelt revelations as the two long-time drag performers tell us how much drag means to them. Our hero struggles with why he avoids telling his wife what he's really doing and questions should he even be doing it. I couldn't help thinking this is a play for our time. 

Unlike Ru Paul who seamlessly morphs from Ru Paul to RU PAUL, I never thought of Dame Edna as anything but a delightful, eccentric grande dame, someone I would love to be if I dared and had lost all sense of dressing tastefully. Barry never entered my mind.

Barry as Barry and Dame Edna as herself

Stylish Read: "Anna" by Amy Odell

If you think of Anna as the devil in "The Devil Wears Prada", Amy Odell's biography won't change your mind. If you've always given Anna Wintour benefit of the doubt—how could anyone be that self-centered and self-serving?—you may still. 

Amy Odell's tone is mostly reportorial, using positive quotes from co-workers, acquaintances and—yes—a few friends. So Anna likes dogs and tennis and can joke around? That doesn't a person make, and the facts pretty much speak for themselves.

Anna I as I think of her—very alone

I waited quite a while for my library hold to come up, and there were only five people before me. Some reader or readers had it for a very long time, and I think I know why. It's a bit of a slog. 

Though I knew a little about many of those mentioned, I still found myself Googling and going down tangential rabbit holes, slowing the reading even more. The author also makes no bones about using published sources, so if you've read your Tina Brown, Graces Mirabella and Coddington, Andre Leon Talley, etc., you will find them quoted here.

Hers was not a straight path to the top, now Global Chief Content Officer of Condé Nast, a position that didn't exist before Anna. Her ambition was always to be Editor of Vogue and she never hid that from anyone. During a job interview with Grace Mirabella (thenVogue's Editor), when asked what position she would like, said, "I want your job."

Looking uncharacteristically vulnerable

Anna is both hard to root for and hard to root against. Her determination and work ethic are admirable. No one has ever accused her of slacking, only a little shirking (getting others to do what she didn't want to). Her ideas of reporting fashion and style were often ahead of their time. Her armor-plating kept her from backing down from her beliefs. What she lacks (at least in public) is a sense of humor, the saving grace of someone like Martha Stewart or even Elon Musk, who can laugh at themselves while still forging ahead.

I've worked for people I liked and respected (the best), and I've worked for people I respected but didn't particulary like (a few). I've also worked for some I did not like and did not respect (that never lasted long). I've never worked for someone I was afraid of, and that would seem to be many of Anna's hires. No doubt this is no fault of her own as Anna's reputation always precedes her. 

"Anna" is also a sober commentary on the state of print publishing today. It's not my imagination that since 2012 magazines have gotten thinner and less frequent. The question is, are they also less relevant?With her continued influence across platforms of fashion, media and culture, that's clearly not a question to ask of Anna Wintour.