SIXTIES STYLE: SEDGWICK; THE SUPERSTAR

When a new issue of Vogue is released I feel like a kid on Christmas day- my palms get sweaty, I hyperventilate and jump up and down in the magazine isle, clutching my prized present in my arms like a smiling, animated fool.

Except, unlike Christmas day, when “Santa” horrifyingly gets me the cheaper and considerably unimpressive version of Baby Born; Vogue never disappoints.

And this month’s February issue is no different. In truth, opening its extraordinary pages was like walking into a candy store on Christmas day, taking a ride on Rudolf’s magical back and getting EXACTLY what I begged Santa for.  Thanks to Vogue’s feature on Australia’s fresh and oh so fabulous model-of-the-moment, Ruby Jean Wilson; an eight-page extravaganza has been dedicated to a fashion flashback of the 1960s. In layman’s terms- all of my Christmas’ have come at once and the bitch has died and gone to fashion heaven. 

The Cover: Vogue Australia, February 2013

For all who know me, they would tell you that I secretly curse my parents for bringing me to life in the 1990’s, when I was CLEARLY meant to bloom listening to Janis Joplin, befriending Twiggy and fluttering my eyelash extensions and white hair at The Beatles’ boys. Not to mention that my ULTIMATE girl crush and lifetime idle, Edie Sedgwick was discovered in The Sixties. Yes, you can understand now, why I was so bloody excited about this Vogue issue!

Consequently, I have used this article as an excuse to loyally devote my undying love of The Sixties and, most importantly, to the fashion flamboyancy of this time, publicized by my quintessential fashion darling: Edie Sedgwick.

 Edie Sedgwick: the fashion icon of the 60s

My quintessential fashion darling:

 Edie Sedgwick

If The Sixties is the era that I hold dearest to my heart, it makes perfect sense that Edie Sedgwick became my muse. Nothing screams ‘superstar’ like an anorexic, drug-taking model who made the world fall in love with her. Pop art legend, Andy Warhol, knew an “It girl” when he saw one, and when Edith Sedgwick stumbled upon his birthday party in 1965, he inevitably fell in love with her too.

 Sedgwick and pop art legend, Andy Warhol

With her signature chandelier earrings and bleached-blonde-bob, its no wonder Edith Minturn Sedgwick became a statue of style in the sixties. Her nonchalant glamour radiated elegance in a way the fashion world had never seen before. Sedgwick, with her waist like figure, captured the eccentricity the 60s.  She was the star who made caterpillar eyebrows breathtakingly brilliant and fur phenomenal.

 Big lashes, blonde bob, less-than subtle brows

Sedgwick's iconic chandelier earrings

Edie threw out every fashion rulebook and carved her initials in a more fabulous, rebel-bound one. Whilst she was on this Edie-only fashion frenzy, she also threw out her pants- proving that less is always more, wearing boy sized shirts over her legendary black tights. In hindsight, if we all possessed thighs like Edie, fashion designers would never have invented trousers!

"It was Edie's idea to wear a leotard instead of pants. Nothing 

could be simpler; she hated dealing with buttons."

- Steven Watson, Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties

 There was nothing platonic about The Sixties:

 if it wasn’t oozing sex it simply wasn’t chic.

  “Edith Sedgwick, twenty-two, white-haired with anthracite-black eyes

 arabesquing on her leather rhino to a record of the Kinks.” - US Vogue caption

Sedgwick paved the path in which icons of the fashion world began to follow. It was only a year later that the infamous Twiggy evolved on the London scene. Alike Sedgwick, Twiggy also flaunted an androgynous boy hairdo and knew the power of luscious lashes. As February’s issue of Vogue describes, she “hit London, turning up everywhere with her micro-minis and doll face making sensible ladies feel obsolete”. These sisters of the sixties certainly were savvy!

 Twiggy with characteristics similar to Sedgwick:

the short cropped hair, the girlish face

 Twiggy and Sedgwick shared a love

for micro-minis

Twiggy with her caterpillar brows 

and luscious lashes

Sedgwick’s sense of style is also being recreated by today’s astute fashion designers and fresh-faced models. Being the highlight of Vogue’s 60s feature, is the gorgeous Ruby Jean Wilson and her exceptional resemblance to the sixties superstar. She has strutted her stupendous stuff for Marc Jacobs, her platinum hair bedazzling modern 60s enthusiasts.

Ruby Jean Wilson walking for Marc Jacobs

 “Her presence was like a lightening bolt; a wake-up call that made the romanticism of the past couple of seasons seem dreary.”- Vogue

Ruby Jean Wilson at Louis Vuitton

 Ruby Jean Wilson photographed by Derek Henderson

in February's Vogue issue

Comparison: Sedgwick at Warhol's, The Factory 

and Wilson backstage at Marc Jacobs

Her eye for style aside, what I most marvel about Sedgwick was her ability to make her flaws seem, well, flawless. A young star with an obvious eating and drug disorder, she was nonetheless able to convince those around her that she was worthy of their affection and love. For me, this is of paramount importance; if Edie, with all of her transparent imperfections could still be greatly adored, then it gives us all a chance of being loved, doesn’t it? Excuse me for sounding a tad melodramatic- but get the tissues ready. 

    It is for this reason, (as well as all the ostentatious flair) that I am obsessed with The Sixties: it gives us hope. It gives us hope that we can boldly show our sense of unconventional style with confidence; it gives us hope that we can rock theatrical jet-black brows with white hair; but more than anything, it gives us hope that we can be adored.

This is what Edie taught me. This is what a young woman of The Sixties, whom I have never- and will never- know, illuminated; being adored is the honest kind of love there is. It is selfless and it is pure- adoration means being loved without anyone expecting your love in return. Edie Sedgwick was greatly adored and shown unrequited love by many- but the most fascinating part was: she loved everyone right back.

            And so I treasure Sedgwick with every inch of my heart; thus when Vogue releases an issue dedicated to this seasons take on the sixties and speaks well of my darling idol, I jump up and down in the magazine isle; because all of my Christmas’ have indeed come at once. Except this time “Santa” was “Vogue” and she gave me everything I wanted.

xxxxx