Tag Archives: Style Crush

Style Crush: Tár

A few weeks ago I went to see the film Tár – it was right up my street: Cate Blanchett and Classical Music! Also, like a lot of people, I fell in love with the clothes and Lydia Tár is my new style icon.

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Near the beginning is a scene where Tár is measured for a suit at German Tailor Egon Brandstetter’s atelier. I read somewhere that the director wanted someone who looked like they knew what they were doing in the short montage of tracing the pattern pieces onto the fabric and then starting to sew it together – by hand. So the tailor himself plays the tailor in the film!

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I like it when directors care about verissimilitude – and that carried over into the musicians, who were pretty much all actual musicians – there’s nothing more distracting than someone miming playing an instrument really badly!

But back to the clothes..

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I love the mostly neutral tones they dress Tár in and the relaxed fit of the trousers and shirts. I’m definitely leaning towards more loose fitting clothes these days – the closer I get to 40 (18 months away!), the more I’m totally uninterested in wearing fitted clothes.

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I especially love this shirt and jumper combo – and the fitting of the jumper. I recently bought a couple of jumpers from Uniqlo (I knit waaay too slowly to knit all my knitwear) and I bought them in size medium and I love them!

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Tár abroad – I do actually love the hat! and the shirt over a t-shirt and more casual trousers.

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Ah, this suit is perfection! And she looks so comfortable and relaxed. It’s what I aspire to!

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This might be the brightest colour she wears and I love it. It looks so good on Cate Blanchett!

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And suddenly I need a tank top! I like the wider fit on the shoulders – any knitters out there know any patterns like this?

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I’ve wanted to make myself a tuxedo for ages and maybe now is the time?! I’m thinking to get a ticket to the Dressmaker’s Ball this year (I went twice but not last year) and maybe I’ll wear a tux instead of a gown – though there are a lot of dresses I’d also like to copy.

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I do love going to the cinema, especially when a film is as stylish as this one. Added bonus of having some tailoring scenes! Do you get inspired by film costumes?

Style Crush: Claire Foy

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During our Christmas holiday we watched the whole of the BBC’s adaptation of Little Dorrit from 10 years ago, starring Claire Foy in her first major role. I would definitely recommend you to watch it if you’re in the UK and haven’t seen it. Watching the series made me remember how much I like Claire Foy – she’s brilliant in The Crown, of course, so I thought I’d do a style crush post on her. I like her even more since she’s had her hair cut off, of course. 🙂

I love this more casual look – I’m a sucker for stripes and I have a free magazine pattern for very similar trousers so I could probably copy this look pretty easily.

I love the collar on this dress – and I noticed she often stands with her hands in loose fists, which is what I do in photos too!

I’m a sucker for yellow, as I’m sure you know. And I like the tiny triangle of stomach on view.

I really, really like this dress and I’m not sure why – it’s not a colour palette I would probably wear. I love the silhouette of the dress, though, and the little petals hanging off.

There’s a similar silhouette on the dress below as above, but the one below has an added train – bonus!

I really like this look – I think it’s a top and skirt rather than a dress. I love the shade of blue and the interesting twist detail on the neckline. I love the red shoes and lipstick, too!

Now I’ve started looking through the looks I’ve picked out of Foy’s, I realise they do all have a similar silhouette. I really like the pink with the red, and who doesn’t want a cape on a gown?! I’m kind of tempted to copy this look for my Dressmaker’s Ball dress.

I really love this dress, too – it’s covered up because it goes all the way up to her neck, but it’s also quite revealing because the under-dress is much less demure.

I love how often she wears trousers and suits on the red carpet – when I started looking, there were a lot of trouser looks.

I love, love, love this pink suit – it was one of my inspirations for my Socialite Soiree suit – I still kind of want to make a pink suit.

I also still want to make a tuxedo, and I love this double breasted, quite loose fitting one she wore to last year’s Golden Globes.

This is one of my absolute favourites of her outfits – I love the shirt, with the grandad collar and I love the fit and shape of the trousers. I definitely want some trousers like this in my wardrobe.

And finally, here is a suit and shirt I really wish I had in my wardrobe – and had an occasion to which to wear them! Maybe I’ll make another suit for the Dressmaker’s Ball!?

Do you love Claire Foy as much as I do? Which is your favourite of her looks?

I do also love Olivia Coleman, though, so I’m still looking forward to the next series, even though Foy won’t be in it.

Style Crush: Kerry Washington

Last month I decided to start watching Scandal, which is all on Amazon Prime, to see what all the fuss was about, and because I love Joshua Malina on The West Wing Weekly podcast. I can’t decide if Scandal is good or not – it feels like a soap with a bigger budget, which is fine but not what I thought it was. Anyway I’ve decided I’m a bit in love with Kerry Washington. She is so so beautiful! And I love her style, so I thought I would share some of my favourite looks with you, in no particular order.

I really love the simplicity of the silhouette of this dress, coupled with the graduating colour of the sequins. If I had an exciting party to go to, I might make a copy of this!

This dress looks like a pretty good idea for this hot Summer weather we’re having. It’s a bit Halston to me, and coupled with her more natural hair, it looks really effortless.

This is another of my absolute favourite looks – I know she was styled for Elle magazine here, so they’re not necessarily her clothes, but I really want to copy this outfit. I love the proportions and the colour, and the tunic/dress could be worn on its own, which would give you a 60s vibe. I also really want to get a pair of those shoes!

I like the silhouette of this outfit and the use of the reverse of the fabric on the top compared to the dress underneath.

You know how much I like yellow. Nuff said!

She seems to be so good at choosing simple but chic outfits for the red carpet, and this Lanvin (I think) dress is no different. The fit is so impeccable and I love the bow detail on the shoulder.

I really love the bedazzled lips, matchsticks and jewels on this blush pink colour.

This pink is perfect on her and I really love the panelling on the skirt. More inspiration to copy for next year’s Dressmaker’s Ball?

This might be my absolute favourite look I’ve found. It definitely has a 70s vibe, especially with the clogs and I love her hair here. Definitely inspiration for a cute denim Summer dress, and I love how the topstitching adds an extra layer of detail.

More sequined dress inspiration! I love the neckline and shoulders on this. I reckon I could recreate it using the Tilly and the Buttons Martha Dress, which I have but haven’t made yet.

Not sure about the 60s beehive but I love the dress – the fabric having the squares pattern on makes it more interesting.

I love how she wears maybe more grown up looks and then younger looks like this dress, which is definitely made cooler with the booties and the loose up-do.

And I couldn’t resist sharing this look – I love the sculptural style of the dress and how the white patches look almost like a lapel. And I love the blunt hair with the straight lines of the dress.

Have you watched Scandal? Do you love Kerry Washington as much as I do?

Style Crush: Miss Fisher

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I’ve just started watching Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries again – I think this is the third time (at least) that I’ve watched it. If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to watch it – it’s on Netflix in the UK and probably other countries too. If you like a cosy crime show like Poirot then you’ll love Miss Fisher. And her clothes are amazing! There’s a great article on Vanity Fair that says the costume designer tries to be as authentic as possible by using fabrics that would have been around in the 20s and pattern cutting that was actually used at the time, such as using panels instead of darts.

As well as amazing clothes, Miss Fisher has an excellent line in hats.

This voile coat with, I think, embroidered panels is amazing! I kind of want to recreate it.

This dress was made for dancing in – which is lucky because that’s what she does in it!

Her nightwear is particularly elegant – I think I definitely need a silk robe in my life. My current dressing gown is the one I made as part of my Doc Brown costume – nowhere near as glamourous!

I remember reading an article a while ago where the costumer designer, Marion Boyce, lobbied for a tennis episode as tennis was a huge sport an an influence on fashion in the 20s and she finally got her way in (I think) series 3. Word of warning, though, this episode features a rather nasty spider!

I. Want. The. Parasol.

Yellow and white is a great combo – you probably know by now how much I love yellow and maybe for the Summer I’ll find some white things too and sort of copy this look.

This velvet coat is amazing!

I also really like the character of Dr Mac who shows another side to 20s fashion – the acceptance of queer identity and gender bending dressing. I’ve seen some documentaries on tv (though I can’t remember exactly which ones) which mention that the 20s were much more a time of ‘anything goes’ than any other decade in the first half of the 20th century. She also has excellent hats.

I’ll leave you with this picture of Jack in a wet bathing suit because of reasons.

Have you watched Miss Fisher yet? Are you tempted to, if only for the beautiful costumes?

Style Crush: Allison Janney

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I’ve been recently re-watching The West Wing (for probably at least the 6th time) and I remember each time I watch it how much I love Allison Janney and her character, CJ Cregg. I’ve also been listening to the podcast The West Wing Weekly, which is brilliant if you’re a fan – and I think it would make you a fan if you weren’t already.

CJ is one of my all time favourite characters in any tv show, not least because of The Jackal. There is a bit of build up, but it’s worth it. Apparently Allison Janney did this as a party piece and Aaron Sorkin liked it so much he put it in the show – but she had to do it as CJ and not as Allison!

I really love this suit. I may have to copy it! I have the Bellatrix Blazer pattern, which could be a good one for the jacket, and maybe the new Sasha trousers from Closet Case Patterns for the trousers. No idea where I’d wear it, but it would be fun to make!

And here she is (I think in the same suit, but with glasses and different hair) with Melissa Fitzgerald, who played her assistant, Carol on The West Wing. She now runs an organisation called Justice for Vets, which helps veterans in the US who might be struggling with drug and alcohol addictions, to find treatment and get support. I think it’s pretty cool that someone who was in a show about politics is now running an organisation to help people and hopefully change policies.

Also amazing is the fact that Allison Janney went and did an actual White House briefing in the actual White House (and made some in-jokes about The West Wing, including about the Jackal) to highlight the growing epidemic of opioid addiction in the US. We watched a Louis Theroux documentary about that very problem and in certain areas and states, it really is an epidemic. Pretty cool to use your platform as a well-known actress to raise awareness of people in much less fortunate situations.

She has a very good line in amazing gowns on the red carpet, which isn’t surprising given that she’s won 7 Emmys (and been nominated 13 times), 6 SAG awards (with 15 nominations) and 5 Golden Globe nominations (though no wins, oddly)!

Christmas Party inspiration? Might be too much!

If you had said to me to pair a floor-length sequined skirt with a slightly sheer blouse I probably would not have thought it would look good, but this outfit does look kind of amazing!

The last photo has to be this one of Allison Janney and Kate Winslet kissing – Kate Winslet is evidently as big a fan as I am!

To be honest, I think I mostly chose Allison Janney for this post because I love her and think she’s brilliant in everything. She’s up there with Emma Thompson with women I love and want to be best friends with! I’d not really thought particularly about he style, but now I’ve looked into it, she’s pretty classic in the way she dresses. Like Tilda Swinton, she’s pretty tall and still wears heels. She’s not quite as out-there as Tilda, though!