Behind the camera at the PINK hotoshoot
In the 1970 ’ s , Diane Keaton represented the epitome of a stylish New York woman , and in the 1980 ’ s Grace Jones represented elegance in an era of tack . The 90 ’ s brought us Courtney Love ’ s unique taste , and Kate Moss exuded pure style in the 2000 ’ s . Conversely , women like Madonna , Cara Delevingne , the ladies of Destiny ’ s Child and even Twiggy are driven by fashion .
Becky Lightbody and Nathan Henry , the styling duo behind this edition ’ s pink shoot , are champions of individuality . They have worked away on the shoot of a lifetime , pushing the boundaries of kitsch and having a whole lot of fun in the process . When asked their style icons , Becky succinctly answers “ Brigitte Bardot , Pamela Anderson and Courtney Love has got to be in there ” with Nathan stating “ obviously Donatella , who else ? The woman is a style icon in her own right . And Cher ’ s been stylish for years . Donatella and Cher .” Some very stylish women indeed , if you ignore the sartorial question mark that is Pamela Anderson .
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Rather than just style vs . fashion , it ’ s also a question of taste .
While these camp and tacky women of infamy may not instantly holler style icon , their opinions on the style vs fashion debate is very much in the same camp as mine , with Nathan commenting “ fashion is just delivered to you , style is acquired , you have to have your own style . Style is a lot more personal . It ’ s the idea of being able to take something and make it your own . Fashion is mindless , and has no personality .”
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Becky added , along the lines of Coco Chanel before her “ fashion is temporary , style is forever !” Because , just like fashion trends , fashionable women fade in time and become as dated as the clothes they were wearing . What we always remember is great style icons .
But there has to be something more than just being uniquely stylish . Hell , if we can legitimately consider Courtney Love a style role model , it ’ s clearly not that simple . Rather than just style vs . fashion , it ’ s also a question of taste .
The crux of the problem lies partially in the fact that women don ’ t know what suits them , and that no trend is tailored to all .
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Is it better to have a distinct and personal aesthetic based entirely in the realm of utter tack , rather than no personal aesthetic at all ? Diana Vreeland famously once said that “ We all need a splash of bad taste — it ’ s hearty , it ’ s healthy , it ’ s physical . I think we could use more of it . No taste is what I ’ m against .” There is something to be said for this way of thinking . When quizzed , our stylists completely agreed , with Becky quipping “ bad taste , I love pink !” and Nathan quickly agreeing . Because , after all , some times it is more fun to see someone walking down the street dressed in solid fuschia velour , kitten heels and giant diamanté jewels than it is to see a preppy princess in perfectly pressed Ralph Lauren .
The perfect example of bad taste as a way of life that had produced many a style icon has to be cult TV show ,