Monday’s Inspiration: Audrey Horne

Who should I seduce today?

I present to you Audrey Horne, the girl whose style I was madly in love with in the 90s, despite being just a kid at the time. The fact that Audrey is not even real did not discourage me either. This is merely a character that Sherilyn Fenn portrayed in Twin Peaks (1990-1991), one of the most notorious TV series of all time.

Frequent readers will no doubt remember my love for all things David Lynch, be it from a slightly more fetishist perspective, or sartorial one (especially when it comes to that luscious fabric that is blue velvet), Lynch’s works have in some way or the other influenced me fashion-wise.

Take Audrey, for instance. A feminine figure who looks ever so alluring in a black dress as she is innocent and girly in a tartan skirt and brogues. He school wardrobe slightly resembles that of the Clueless (1995) girls’ except that she really had a clue, a lot of seductive clues actually.

While a part of me was obsessed with the question  “Who killed Laura Palmer?“, I was equally obsessed with watching Audrey on screen – be it smoking in the school toilet or dancing to Angelo Badalamenti’s Audrey’s Dance. She just knew how to move in those very 90s clothes and not to mention wore blood red lipstick like it was a given.

Last time pret-a-reporter was inspired by an actress rather than a character – Marlene Dietrich to be exact.

She wore Blue Velvet

I have always been a Lynch fan, since my early childhood actually. I loved his films for the specific atmosphere, mysticism, music and of course the very feminine women.

My favourite ones were Twin Peak’s Aubrey and Mulholland Drive’s Rita, yet these are not the characters I’d like to speak about now.

Image: Metro Goldwyn Mayer

For quite a long time I’ve been wondering why I have never favoured Dorothy Vallens of Blue Velvet. Portrayed by Isabella Rossellini, this character has not managed to grab my imagination, and I have recently identified the reason – the blue velvet robe-dress she was wearing (below) has not managed to become as iconic as her backless number (above).

Image: Metro Goldwyn Mayer

Ever since Autumn-Winter collections 2009-10 hit the runways, velvet has been in limbo – it was huge that season but now it’s just wearable yet not on every fashion insider’s wishlist.

But because blue velvet is so strong in both hue and fabric, it is quite difficult to give it the same treatment and status as other iconic garments have received thanks to their simplicity, think the little black dress or the more recent little white dress.

In a nutshell, a blue velvet design can be overpowering – it can start wearing the woman, instead of the other way around.

These are some of the creations top designers have come up with:

Images: Stella McCartney, Balenciaga, Emporio Armani

Image: Stella McCartney, Jean Paul Gaultier, Richard Nicoll

Although these creations are quite strong and with character, I cannot consider these iconic even if the most famous it girl wears it.

And so my venture to find the most striking blue velvet dress continues as Bobby Vinton’s song keeps on playing an old scratched vinyl…