8/17/11 CINEMATORIALIST: SKINS--THE FASHION, THE BRILLIANCE
First and foremost, let me say that Skins is above and beyond my favorite television show ever made. It is incredibly smart but simultaneously extremely trashy (a prerequisite in all my tv viewing). The trashy part arises from the main characters all being teenagers, and the plot consequently revolving around their drugie, sexy, warped, adolescent lives. The intelligent part is that the characters do not conform to stereotypes: the metal heads fall for the ballerinas, the popular girls are lesbians. From a sartorial perspective, you can also see the complications in the characters' personality play out in the way they choose to dress themselves. The outfits they wear are not pure reincarnations of trends, but rather are interpretations of various styles that suit the characters' personalities. Each episode goes into more depth on the character, giving information on their habits and families, making it increasingly apparent why they look the way they do.
EFFIE (Seasons 3+4)
Outside of her relationship with Tony and her parents, one doesn't see very little of tender, affectionate Effie. She's tough and doesn't go in for much idle chit-chat or artificiality. She dresses in spiky bracelets, oversized, ripped t-shirts, and big clunky boots. At the same time that she is unfeeling, she is provocative. Her clothes are also overtly sexual, rips and holes revealing lacy bras and large expanses of skin. The look is not coquettish; she isn't merely displaying a glimpse of skin, if she wear fishnets, her whole bum'll be exposed, and if she kisses you it's not with love but with lust.
FREDDIE (Seasons 3+4)
To love a girl as emotionless and cruel as Effie, one must compensate with quite a lot of emotion of one's own. Freddie does this admirably throughout his time on the show, pining after Effie, fighting with his best friends, and ultimately (spoiler alert) getting himself killed (or so it seems..). One touch that seems to express this (or maybe this is just my Art History/bullshitting training coming through) is a very simple one. The neckline of each of his t-shirts seems to have been stretched (ripped? not entirely sure..), baring the vulnerable skin around his neck. It's as if in his off-camera time he spent his hours pulling at his clothing in desperation, pining over this tantalizing teenage goddess .
MINI (Seasons 5+6)
Mini is the ultimate high school bitch, she has an eating disorder and self-esteem problems, and she takes her it all out on other people. It turns out, however, that the crazy washes off with a break-up, a turn of bad luck, and a line dry so we end up having to like her.
A lot of her outfits are pretty classic mean girl: mini skirts and shiny tops. But consistently under these alluring get-ups are a layer of spandex as if she is saying, "I am not confident enough to go out without artificially compressing my skin" or "I am complicated and layered: a bitchy, unaccomodating layer, and then a more stretchy, cooperative, dry-separately layer." Or something like that.
FREDDIE (Seasons 5+6)
Freddie, poor girl, has been given the back story of the misunderstood, ridiculed adolescent. This has driven her to be standoffish and take on the truly regrettable "bought-this-manky-suit-at-the-Salvation-Army-for-1.99, and-I-don't-care-what-my-teenage-torturers-think" look. After a makeover from the popular girls, her outfits improve dramatically. She compromises between two styles, in one moment of sartorial brilliance keeping the formality of her old look but vamping it up by matching leather shorts with a white button down. This compromise reflects her change in personality; no longer does she spend all her time moping around talking to her wooden mannequin, she now takes her doll out to house parties.
GRACE (Seasons 5+6)
Grace is an actress and a dancer and the girl trying to please everyone. She sees her multiple roles in life: daughter, girlfriend, best friend, as acting roles and works to fulfill them to the best of her ability. In doing so, she also tends to dress the part. Here, she is going to see her soon-to-be-boyfriend Rich in disguise. And she takes disguise in the very strictest, Grace Kelly sense of the word. In another scene, emerging from a dance show, she wears a cape with a fur-lined hood, a la Belle (and the Beast). I'm pretty sure she's crazy, but I kind of love it.
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Skins
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