Photo:Harper, Taghi Naderzad
Harper, Taghi Naderzad
Harper
Television helps us to perceive certain moments in time. Shows likeDynasty, Rubenstein says, “defined the way everybody perceived glamor in the eighties,” while others, likeGossip Girl, held so much influence that brands like Chanel and Versace sent clothes unsolicited to the set every week, in hopes that the show’s young stars would wear them. Rubenstein also creditsSex and the Cityas not only helping to reshape the perception of women in their thirties or forties — “they’re still sexy, they’re still powerful" — but also to reshape the public’s view of 90s New York City.“Sex and the Citysaid, ‘No, this [city] is Disneyland for adults. It’s all bright and shiny and it’s full of fun and cosmos and sex and cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery and all the Manolos you want. It made brands like Manolo, like the Fendi Baguette, household names. Even if people [watching] couldn’t afford a Fendi Baguette, they all knew what it was,” Rubenstein says.
The cast of ‘Sex and the City’.Everett Collection
Everett Collection
Other television shows utilized fashion to make a statement. Rubenstein recalls whenLucille Ballwore maternity clothes onI Love Lucy, calling the fact that she embraced her pregnancy, and continued with her slapstick comedy, “revolutionary.” Other shows, likeThe Golden Girls, used costumes to showcase a particular point in life.
“I think the show was, in some ways, a very important barometer and very important encouragement for women who became older,” Rubenstein says. He also tells of the costume decisions that Bea Arthur, who played Dorothy, made, as she was “very self-conscious” about her looks.
The cast of ‘The Golden Girls’.ABC Photo Archives / Getty
ABC Photo Archives / Getty
“She had in her contract that she could rehearse in bare feet because she was so much taller and bigger than the rest [of the cast],” Rubenstein says. “She always wore flats. She never wore heels.”
Rubenstein is quick to point out the hard work that costume designers do to make a show’s fashion work.Friends, he notes, was an interesting challenge for costume designer Debra McGuire, who was tasked with making sure the wardrobes of six very different characters didn’t clash on-screen.“You have Chandler in looser suits. You have Joey in the leather jacket. Monica’s always in brighter colors. Phoebe’s always in earth tones. [Rachel is] probably the most stylish because she would work at Bloomingdale’s and she would work at Ralph, and she’s the one who came from money,” Rubenstein says. “Each one of them had their own lane, and yet when they got together…it made a gorgeous tableau.”
The cast of ‘Friends’.Alamy
Alamy
Another influential show for him wasSoul Train, which Rubenstein watched on Saturday mornings growing up. He writes of the “spectacular” clothes broadcast into homes every weekend: the pinwheel gowns and pleated pants, the sharkskin suits and silver capes.“That show taught us how to look, how to dress and how to dance,” Rubenstein says.
‘Soul Train’ dancers.Soul Train/Getty
Soul Train/Getty
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source: people.com
