Friday, June 27, 2008

Iconography

I think we as fashion bloggers do tend to share a unique knowledge outside of the mainstream, and the people whose personalities or tastes we admire is quite indicative of that. While I think we all have our own private style idols, the three women most every fashion blogger seem to all agree on having enviable tastes are Chloe Sevigny and our favourite Gallic siblings, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon. The Trinity, if you will. So intensely loved for their impeccable sense of dressing are they, that their style exploits have surpassed their films in noteriety. Sevigny's star is rising with "Big Love" and I've seen Gainsbourg in "The Science of Sleep" (she was quite charming) and as a rather miscast Jane Eyre. I've yet to see a single film with Lou Doillon in it. Can any one really say they are a great fan of their films? I wonder how they feel about this...

Were this traditional iconography, that of perhaps a crucifixion scene, I think Sevigny would take the persona of Mary Magdalene:

Like Mary, she is bold, a little dangerous, sexual, but in a way you can't really place your finger on, and above all, controversial.


In iconography, Mary Magdalene's attribute (an item or feature that identifies her as that particular saint) is an alabaster jar or box. Chloe's, given her penchant for constantly changing style, would be more difficult to spot, but if pressed I would say her long, blonde hair, one of her few constants.

Charlotte Gainsbourg would be the Virgin Mary. More conservative, traditional, but deeply, almost fanatically revered.

Charlotte's attribute would be her inimitable ability to wear jeans and tshirts and still look like she spent 3k. Something we all want, and can't seem to get.

And Lou Doillon would be John the Baptist. Wild, untamed, natural, disheveled and underrated:


Her attribute would be the wonderful way in which she pulls off hats:

11 comments:

MeMovingForward said...

I like Charlotte Gainsbourg in The Science of Sleep, too. Great post - really interesting comparisons! Wonder how many other style icons you could do this for?

emsie said...

Brilliantly clever post. I do love all three.

WendyB said...

Love this. Great post.

Cicely said...

My god. What an amazing post. I would never have looked at these 3 in this way. Everyone loves them on blogs so its refreshing to see them in this way.

Wendy said...

Interesting post, and accurate descriptions.

Stephanie said...

Very interesting/random topic, I like! I just saw Charlotte Gainsbourg in I'm Not There and she was pretty excellent.

Times of Glory said...

What a great and stylish post! Seriously, these are super duper cool people! And you've shown the various sides of these girls in this post! I love Charlotte Gainsbourg in The Science of Sleep xxxxxxxxxx

Anonymous said...

Hey... when did it change?? The last time I saw this post it had one of the Olsens in it.. Did you change it?

Anonymous said...

Wait! Did it have different comments too?

Anonymous said...

No,this hasn't changed at all since it was posted.
Funny how those two anonymous comments turned up after it was discovered someone plagiarised this article...

Anonymous said...

No matter what others say, I think it is still interesting and useful maybe necessary to improve some minor things