Top 10: Fashion Influential TV Series
Magazines and fashion sites (yes, even this one) aside, you'll be surprised to realise just how much TV affects the industry. In fact, often times, it's the source of trends on which we report about!
But because we all grew up tuning into different channels, it was incredibly hard for me to unbiasedly sift away series that personally affected my fashion style... Compiling this list, though, was a nostalgic trip down memory lane, that highlighted all my younger faux paus driven by sheer popular culture. I hope reading it does the same for you! Here's my top 10, counting down the most fashion influential TV shows!
#10. Charlie's Angels
Way back in 1976, Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith inspired little girls to ditch their play aprons and beat up boys in teeny skirts and sassy platforms. Half the fun of the series was watching the Angels go under cover as playmate centerfolds, beauty contestants and call girls to damage the cause of feminism, and inspire the wardrobes of women everywhere. They also made polyester, turtlenecks, big floppy bow-collars and the hair flip a heaven send!
To get your own 'Farrah', you might want to try the Lady Schick Speed Styler!
Honourable mentions: The Dukes of Hazzard for making Daisy Dukes wildly accepted within the same era, and Alias for following the same fashion recipe in the millennium, to a lesser effect.
#9. That '70s Show
The brilliance of That '70s Show was that it followed and reflected one of our favourite fashion eras to a T, while satirizing it from the view point of discerning parents at the same time. So while it exposed generation Y to appreciate wallpaper-fabric patterns, afros, leisure suits and platform shoes, it also educated us on what not to wear.
Honourable Mention: The Brady Bunch for unintentionally epitomizing the worst of 70's fashion.
#8. Will & Grace
Even if its witty banter always stole the show, I stand firm that Will & Grace is one of the most fashion inspiring shows that ever aired on television. While Grace Adler had her moments, she learned to pull them off onscreen for us via constant heavy criticism from two gay men and a rich socialite.
Memorable quote: "Oh Lord, honey, you are just as simple as that blouse you're wearing!" -Karen (to Grace)
Absolutely Fabulous hilariously showed us the not-so-glamourous side of Haute London fashion through the eyes of Eddy and Patsy, a pair of drug-abusing fad-obsessed friends who valued style over substance. Unfortunately, none had much real fashion sense of their own, making them trend-following fashion victims, often times in designer labels.
Memorable quote: "It's Lacroix, sweetie! It's alright, isn't it? A bit tight, but it's alright, isn't it? You know, people will think, "Wow, it's a Lacroix!", okay?" -Eddy
#6. Mad Men
Golden Globes aside, Mad Men took 60's fashion to greater heights and made it cutting edge, then began to inspire designers like Michael Kors on the runway. Banana Republic even went as far as to feature window displays of the characters in a clothing line inspired by the show.
How to wear it: Take Grace Kelly and Tippi Hedren as references, keep to one or two retro pieces, then modernize the rest.
#5. Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal starred the skinniest girls we ever saw on television, then backed their actresses up when they said they didn't have anorexia (and you know half of them did). However, I'm not awarding them number five for advocating eating disorders. Nah uh, what Ally McBeal did was make micro-minis for respectable business attire for all of us corporate folk!
Memorable quote: "Some times I'm tempted to become a street person; cut off from society. But then I wouldn't get to wear my outfits." -Ally
#4. Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty did us all a favour in representing a new standard for beauty, while losing the plot with Carrie Bradshaw's wardrobe and quirky style (this might have something to do with sharing Patricia Field). Betty teaches us about the importance of styling over simply piling on designer labels - she wears some gorgeous stand-alone pieces, but makes even Viktor and Rolf, and Alexander McQueen look garish through all the layering! And this, she wears to all our dream jobs! Damn her!
Memorable quote: "I think I just found my new screen saver!" -Marc (on Betty's style)
Honourable Mentions: Blossom and Clarissa Explains It All for getting us to admire girls with individualistic but horrific fashion taste!
#3. Friends
We owe a lot of gratitude to Rachel Green. First, she gave us the Rachel, silky straight face-framing layers with a little kick at the neck. Then, she started working in fashion retail, and taught us everything Friends knew about fashion, including how to tote a man bag.
Most memorable hairstyles:
#2. Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl served as the teenage edition of Sex and the City, with another set of four main girls who each had their own personal and ridiculously stylish sense of style for its audience to fawn over. Like Sex, it started its own fashion era and trends, then inspired top designers, including Anna Sui, who designed a Gossip Girl-inspired collection for Target earlier this year.
Vanessa's best looks:
Honourable Mention: The O.C., which gave us fashion looks first, albeit, in doses that caused much smaller trend pandemics.
#1. Sex and the City
Oh, come on, you knew it was coming. Sex and the City will be regarded as a Mecca for women for generations to come. Like Gossip Girl, each of the four main characters had a distinct style carefully developed specifically for her to always ensure her trials and tribulations always went with her outfit. But more importantly, it showed us that not all girl-next-door type protagonists had to have a conventional sense of style.
It highlighted stilettos, flower pins and must-have bags as fashion staples, and helped Richard Tyler, Jimmy Choo, Blumarine, Chloe and Roberto Cavalli and Manolo Blahnik reach cult status.
Really, Sex and the City is iconic right down to its opening credits. I swear I tried to make this list different, but I couldn't even try to find ways for other fashion-influential tv shows to usurp Sex!
Who influenced your wardrobes from the comfort of your living rooms?
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