1/100: Party Girl (1995)
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Welcome to the 100 Fashion Films Project! To learn more about how and why this project started, read this. This iteration of the 100 FFP is a new and improved take on something I started over on TikTok. All of my video content is currently still available to view on this playlist, however, I feel as though the future of that platform is very precarious. I hope that my project is able to take on a new life here on Substack, while still embracing everyone who has found me through its original form. Shifting from video means I can include more details, more photos, and nobody can complain about my vocal fry or mispronunciation. Enjoy!
Party Girl (1995)
Costumes by: Michael Clancy, assisted by Vicky Farrell
Directed by: Daisy von Scherler Mayer
This movie may be for you if: your name is definitely on the guest list, you’re usually the best dressed person in the bodega, and you’d prioritize vintage couture over health insurance.
Where to watch: It’s free (!!) on YouTube here
I’m kicking off the shiny new 100 Fashion Films Project with the 1995 cult classic Party Girl. The film is best known for its fabulous fashion, its portrayal of the 90’s queer club scene, and for being the first full-length movie to ever premier on the internet via a black-and-white video transmission.
Director Von Scherler Mayer said that “The fashion was really invented for the film. [Clancy] created an aesthetic for the character and for the movie and combined that with Parker Posey’s own fashion obsession.”
In this interview with Vogue, Von Scherler Mayer revealed that the casting director immediately thought of Posey after reading the script. “Parker was out of town so I gave her a call before she came in to audition, and she was like ‘I have 80 pairs of shoes, I have to play this part!’’
The entire movie was shot in only 19 days with a total budget of $150,000. Costume designer Michael Clancy and his assistant Vicky Farrell pulled off a truly spectacular wardrobe using creativity, elbow grease, and lots of favors.
Clancy gathered pieces from the cast, crew, and other friends and connections, including designer Todd Oldham. The rhinestone hot shorts worn by Posey in the opening scene were an Oldham design, on loan to the film crew for just one day. In an interview with The Cut, Posey said, “A few things were mine, but they were mostly borrowed from other people.”
“I think I do still have the Vivienne Westwood corseted satin number, which is good for Halloween,” said Posey. Imagine your go-to Halloween look being vintage Vivienne Westwood!
A Chanel couture jacket was borrowed from the collection of Vogue’s Hamish Bowles for the delivery of a single, iconic line - “Hello, Chanel!” - while a vintage suit came from Posey’s own closet. “It was a vintage cream 70’s suit that I wore in the library, I remember,” she told The Cut. “Brocade! I like to bring my own wardrobe or shop for my character.”
Party Girl’s inimitable authenticity came from a genuine understanding of the community it aimed to portray. Von Scherler Mayer, Clancy, Posey, and music supervisor Bill Coleman have all shared stories fondly recalling their own club kid days. The movie’s portrayal of queer New York felt real because it was real, featuring plenty of IYKYK club scene cameos and characters directly inspired by friends and dance partners of the film’s creators.
Prior to his career as a costume designer, Clancy had worked at iconic New York nightlife venue Area. “All of the characters in the film were people that were very familiar to me,” he told Vogue. “I knew the person that Parker Posey was playing, I knew the person that Guillermo Díaz was playing. I knew all of these people. They were my friends.”
For more on the real-life influence that lent its magic to Party Girl, check out this interview with Coleman for the Austin Film Society.
One of the most brilliant styling choices in Party Girl is how Mary is often dressed in things worn the “wrong” way. In one scene, she wears the sleeves on a sweatshirt like a bolero (you can see the head hole at her back when she turns around).
The outfit used for the movie poster looks like a color blocked top at first glance, but is revealed through Clancy’s sketches to actually be four separate Comme des Garcons tees layered on top of each other. The reality of wearing four long-sleeve designer shirts at the same time sounds both impractical and expensive, but it works perfectly for Mary’s character because she is impractical and expensive.
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