beautiful

just came across this article from hadley freeman and it made me think about this film.

Almost all historical adaptations aspire to suggest some kind of modern parallel in their story, but those damn clothes get in the way. All that crinoline and corsetry, those plus fours and pompadours: it's all very well to believe that lessons can be learned from the past, but it's less easy to accept that any duke who powdered his wig every morning has much connection to the modern man.

Yet in the upcoming Keira Knightley vehicle, The Duchess, it is the clothes, those starchy, cumbersome clothes, that show how little matters have changed over the past 200 years for women unfortunate enough to find themselves living among the aristocracy.

One of the main themes in the film - an adaptation of Amanda Foreman's historical biography, Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire - is that the only freedom the duchess has, living as a married woman in the late 18th century, is in her wardrobe. One of the first things her tyrannical husband, played by Ralph Fiennes, says to her, is that he "could never understand why women's clothes must be so damn complicated". And as he painstakingly unlaces her complex corsetry, it's hard not to sympathise. Georgiana replies that clothes "are the only way a woman has of expressing herself". Men have so many ways of doing so, she continues, whereas women have "only hats".

Despite her miserable marriage, Georgiana makes herself into a kind of celebrity with political sway by becoming known for attention-grabbing fashion and wigs that make her look like the offspring of Amy Winehouse and Brian May. At one event she is introduced as "the empress of fashion ... what she wears tonight [you will] tomorrow".

As the film's trailer none too subtly emphasises, one can easily draw parallels between the life of Georgiana - a woman stuck in a marriage to a stiff-lipped husband who expected her to accept his mistress and give up her lover, yet who despite all her unhappiness made herself a great favourite with the public - and that of Diana, who was in fact her great-great-great-great neice. Like Georgiana, Diana cottoned on pretty quick that the only way she could grab any kind of power was through her looks. She promptly made herself over from a retiring Sloane to a vampish, Versace-wearing fashion magazine favourite. Like Georgiana, she was right: the truth is, Diana's death would not still be discussed as some epoch-defining moment if she had died in a frumpy blouse.

The public still prefers royals not to talk - and particularly royal women. Yet because so many people remain fascinated with society's upper echelons, and young women generally make prettier photographs than men, images of them still fill newspapers the world over every day. Thus they are left in the same situation as Georgiana two centuries ago: the only way they can express themselves is through their physical appearance. You can see a similar thing happening with Kate Middleton, who appears to have decided that the reason she went to university was to career around on the side of polo pitches, watching her boyfriend. Her sudden weight loss has been covered obsessively, making her such a central figure in the celebrity mags that Prince William would probably find it easier just to marry her and have done with.

However, appearances only have so much power. One of the most memorable scenes in The Duchess is when Georgiana is humiliated at a party: her extravagant wig catches fire - symbolically, after she has been attacked by her husband. Diana may have done her bit for charity but, ultimately and inevitably, whatever influence she had came from her looks. For royal and aristocratic women, then as now, their looks may be their only source of power, but it is not a voice.

The Power and the Fashion

August 3, 2006
Hollywood stardom isn't just about the red carpet - the 24-hour stylist is dressing celebs from dusk 'til dawn, writes Laura Demasi.

No longer just a part of the celebrity entourage, the stylist is Holly- wood's new power- broker. Dressing stars for the red carpet is only part of the job description, thanks to a new generation of young American starlets, among them Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie and Mischa Barton, who have employed a stylist to transform them into fashion icons.

The likes of Los Angeles stylist Rachel Zoe, who works with Lohan, Richie and Barton, are responsible for ensuring their charges always look fabulous for the paparazzi. These stylists don't just dress their clients on the red carpet - they make sure they are picture-perfect leaving LA nightclubs at 4am, picking up large decaf soy chai lattes the next morning or shopping with friends later (in a change of outfit, of course) after a no-carb lunch.

"It's not just about award nights and premieres any more," says Sydney stylist Penny Hunt, who has worked with celebrities such as Heath Ledger. "There is so much pressure on celebrities to look good all of the time. Photographers follow them everywhere."

Younger stars such as Lohan court the paparazzi in an effort to elevate themselves above the throng of could-be next-big-things. Raised on a diet of gossip magazines themselves, this new generation of starlets understands the publicity power of looking good.

"In LA there are paparazzi parked outside every main Starbucks," says former Follow magazine editor and stylist Mark Vassallo, who spent seven years in the US working with celebrities. "The stars go there to be photographed. They'll turn up in a pair of Juicy Couture sweatpants so it looks like they're dressing down but they've got the Helmut Lang top and Gucci bag to go with them."

Posing for the paparazzi (willingly or not) is such an important part of the modern celebrity's job that it's little wonder some have employed professionals to help them make the most of every photo opportunity. "Some stars have their own natural style but a lot of them need the expertise and designer contacts a stylist can give them," Hunt adds.

The celebrity stylist is not a new phenomenon. Australian style icons Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts and Cate Blanchett wouldn't be seen dead on the red carpet without the assistance of their stylists, who find them exquisite gowns for public events. But that's usually where their duties end.

"Established stars dress up for the red carpet but during the day they look ordinary," explains Kate Halfpenny, senior editor at Who Weekly. "That's why the Lindsays of the world get their photos in the magazines four times a week and Julia [Roberts] only makes it in once. Lindsay will change her outfit five times a night so the paparazzi get a handful of different photos from the one event."