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If you were a teenager during the 80s and the 90s, chances are that the opportunities to express yourself with clothes were few and far between. With questionable fashion inspiration (excess eighties shoulder pads, 'Miami Vice' blazers, and 90s Seattle grunge), most teenagers looked nondescript with a uniform of jeans, T-shirts and even a few overalls thrown in. Not quite a fashion statement. But look around the next time you're at the mall, and you might experience pangs of teen jealousy - they are the ones with a handle on the latest trends, the biggest brands and the best in personal style. So, where are they getting their inspiration from? Thanks to the marketing geniuses that run the Western media, television and film have superseded magazines
as the go-to guides for style and fashion. For tips, teens (with older women and men following gamely) are sourcing their looks from television shows like 'Gossip Girl' and web sites like whowhatweardaily.com and even MySpace.com. While fashion glossies like Vogue and Elle still churn out monthly copies, they can already be dated. Case in point - the recently released (although yet to grace our cinema screens) movie version of 'Sex and the City'. The fashion on display was fresh off the runways, and in some cases never before seen items from the world's biggest labels before any magazineAa could get their hands on them.
Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, had 80 costume changes alone not to mention the three other stars.
Her style single-handedly inspired the 'feminine dress with chunky gladiator heels' look so popular this summer, continuing a legacy of Carrie inspired fashion like the giant corsage, the nameplate necklace and vintage frocks. And while Carrie may have reached iconic status with teens and adults alike, the next crop of fashion idols are much younger, wealthier and
fashion forward. Enter the cast of 'Gossip Girl'. The names to familiarise yourself with are Blair Waldorf (played by Leighton Meester) and Serena Van der Woodsen (played by Blake Lively), the stars of a show about teens in the Upper East Side in New York City, doing what teens do best - gossip, drama, mischief and, of course, fashion. Their look is invariably preppy - tartans rule, pearls are essential, piped blazers are the perfect jacket and headbands are everywhere. Not exactly high fashion, but the runways have followed suit with designers like Phillip Lim, Givenchy and Lanvin taking their cue from the cast and emblazoning their fall collections with 'GG' references. The show may be formulaic but few watch it for the plot. The genius of the show is amazingly simple - watch an episode, covet an outfit and proceed to buy it online. The show's web site (www.cwtv.com/shows/gossip-girl) has a direct link to a range of items seen on the show, ready to be purchased by adoring fans who want to replicate a character's look. From designer handbags to high-street dresses, the site has been generating much buzz (and credit card purchases), making celebrity style accessible to the masses. Which brings in that other source of inspiration - the Hollywood starlet. Thanks to paparazzi shots showing celebrities doing everyday stuff like picking up coffee, dropping off dry cleaning and having a streetside brunch, the youth culture has developed an intense interest in not only looking their television idols onscreen, but mimicking their 'normal people' clothes as well. On whowhatweardaily.com (a bit of a mouthful but catchy nonetheless), teens and their older counterparts can have all their style related queries solved. The daily updated web site provides answers to life's most pressing questions like 'what was she wearing?' and offers you the chance to 'go buy now'.
The site uploads stylised images of our favourite stars walking the streets or the red carpet and give us tips on replicating the look for less or buying the original, with a link to a host of online shopping sites. And in addition to all the celebrity-clogged inspirations, the site also dedicates a weekly post entitled 'MySpace muses' where they upload images of members who have a unique sense of style. Some would say that's a slight invasion of privacy, but in this reality show filled world, who's to say where your shot at fame is going to come from.Aa For the older women out there who are still resisting, you may just have to dumb it down and tune into an episode of 'Gossip Girl' if you want to be in the fashion know and not feel too left out. And if you still feel weird watching teenagers prance around your screen, take a cue from the New York Times, which recently stated: "In a culture obsessed with youth, money and appearance, 16 is the new 30."
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