Welcome to Fashionable Films with Fashionable People!
This series is part of the 100 Fashion Films Project universe, where I invite the most inspiring people I know to share the ways fashion in film impacts their style and work.
Today, I’m actually not sharing my popcorn at all. It’s my birthday, I’m six months pregnant, and I’m eating it all myself!
I’m 35 today, and I’ve realized that this is my very last birthday as just… me.
Of course I’m already a partner and a sister and a daughter and a friend, but my status as those things isn’t the sun and moon of another life the way I expect motherhood will be. There’s a lot of conversation around losing yourself in becoming a mom, so I’ve been taking extra time recently to reflect deeply on who I am, what I love, and all of the things that have made me into the person I am today. I know I’ll be an entirely different version of myself in just a few short months, so I’m cherishing this current, more selfish me that I’ll soon be parting ways with.
It is kind of silly, but I’m keeping this piece in the Q&A format even though I’m both asking and answering the questions myself! I realized I may have never done any real introductions here, so I thought this would be a fun way to share a little bit more about myself through reflections on my personal style and inspirations.
Hi! Who are you? What do you do?
I’m Alex! I’m a writer, stylist, and vintage fashion dealer. I’ve lived in NYC since 2012. I stock my brand, St. Evens, at two locations (Seven Wonders Collective in LES and Boerum Hill) and pop up at a few markets a year. When I’m not sourcing vintage or doing laundry, I’m probably eating a pastry somewhere, wandering around a museum, or laying in bed.
How would you describe your personal style?
Being comfortable is always priority #1, but it took me years to figure out what that actually means for me! It mostly comes down to repetition, very specific cuts and fits, and being really picky about fabric. I love big ass pants, oversized men’s button ups, stiff jeans, long skirts, trench coats and dusters, and anything sheer. I wear the same jewelry almost every day - sometimes I add things like bakelite bangles or beaded necklaces, but I always start with my stack of gold chains and vintage charms and rings and they really make me feel like myself.
If I could change one thing about my style with a genie wish, it would just be a better tolerance for fibers and fabrics! I’m absolutely obsessed with the fuzzy halo of mohair and angora, but any kind of wool is just unbearable if it touches my skin at all. In real life, I mostly wear cotton and rayon and silk.
I think another defining feature of my style is that I rarely feel like a look is complete without one “off” element to kind of tip the scales. I do a lot of layering! I have a big collection of campy accessories, particularly bags, that are often the finishing touch to an otherwise kind of safe look. My favorite outfits have a bit of tension - bias cut silk with a baseball cap, gauzy chiffon with a boxy shirt, a ghostly lace slip with men’s boots and my husband’s t-shirt. Ideally, my outfits confuse people a little.
What are your top 5 fashion films?
1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Costume design by Rita Ryack
2. Casino (1995)
Costume design by Rita Ryack, and movie #5 on the 100 Fashion Films Project
3. The Fifth Element (1997)
Costume design by Jean Paul Gaultier
4. What a Way to Go! (1964)
Costume design by Edith Head
5. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Costume design by Anthea Sylbert, and movie #4 on the 100 Fashion Films Project
If some of these movies look familiar, it may be because the last person I featured for this series, Rachel Goatley, had two of the same films in her top 5! I was so excited to talk to her about how the same exact costume design has inspired us both, especially working in totally different creative fields.
If you could teleport the wardrobe for any one movie directly into your own closet, which one would it be?
This is my little project, which means I get to cheat and steal two movie wardrobes: How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and What a Way to Go!
While writing this piece, I discovered something thrilling: when you Google Image search “how the grinch stole christmas costume design,” two of the top ten results link you right here to my Substack. If that alone is my legacy, consider me very pleased.
I’m a certified Ryack-head, ranting about my love for Rita’s work in writing, on TikTok, and even on a podcast. My husband and I heavily referenced Casino when we got married in Vegas, going as far as to do a shot-for-shot scene recreation at our Peppermill diner reception. I’ve tried numerous different ways to contact Ryack for an interview, but to no avail (yet!). So imagine my surprise when just two weeks ago, I open TikTok to find this notification on a two year old video:
She didn’t respond to my comment back, or to my DM, but I’ll chalk that up to a technological lapse and not because I scared her off by absolutely frothing at the mouth with eagerness. I’ve said entirely enough already about my love for the custom knitwear and campy winter magic of Whoville, so you can refer to my previous piece for the full breakdown on why I love this movie wardrobe sooo much.
And as for What a Way to Go!, well… have you seen it? Shirley MacLaine as Louisa wears 72 different costumes (averaging a new look every 1.5 minutes), each with matching shoes, hats, coats, and diamonds on loan from Harry Winston. Edith Head was given her biggest ever budget for the project at over $500,000, which is a completely ridiculous $5.4 MILLION today adjusted for inflation. That spending power absolutely shows in the quality of fabrics and construction - What a Way to Go! is essentially a lifetime worth of absolutely glorious 1960’s custom designer outfits that includes everything from bikinis to fur coats to a fully feathered hat.
I mean, what more could I ask for?
What’s your first fashion film memory? Was there a specific early childhood movie that strongly impacted your style?
“When I was 8 years old, my family moved from California to Kansas. We packed up my parent’s Montero and drove for days, my brother and I watching The Wizard of Oz on VHS over and over in the back seat. Though suburban Kansas City ended up being nothing like Dorothy’s 1930’s farmhouse, the movie sent me down the yellow brick road with a love for color and whimsy that I’ve carried with me ever since.”
- The 100 Fashion Films Project, Movie 15/100: The Wizard of Oz
Gilbert Adrian’s technicolor costume design for Oz may have been my first real lesson in the power of fashion. Those ruby slippers weren’t just shoes - they were magical and transportive and worth fighting a wicked witch over.
I was also thrilled when I first realized that Dorothy’s friends back home were the exact same friends she had come to “meet” in Oz. It helped form an understanding that the magic of costuming and makeup could transform a farmer into a scarecrow or a lion or a man made of tin. Unsurprisingly, Halloween was always my favorite holiday.
Any other musings you’d like to add about fashion in film, costume design, and style?
I started the 100 Fashion Films Project over three years ago because I’m actually not a movie person. I was kind of hoping that school-ifying cinema would transform me into this voracious film buff - it hasn’t! I don’t really watch more movies than I did before, but I do find myself engaging with film in a really different way. Doing so much research on costume design has given me a true appreciation for the artistry and cultural impact of silver screen style, and I hope that my writing here really helps shine a light on a facet of fashion that I often feel isn’t properly credited.
I’ve been lucky enough to connect with a few costume designers during my time in vintage, and even have a few of my pieces featured in projects, but my real dream is to actually work on a movie myself! I’m so enthralled by the ability to build and project and transform a character entirely through wardrobe, and I’m really hoping it’s something that I’ll be able to try a hand at myself someday.
