22.12.10

I'm Her: Marla Singer/Helena Bonham Carter

One of my favorite actresses is the lovely Helena Bonham Carter, and when I say favorite actresses, I mean that I adore every role she's portrayed and I think she is fascinating and charming in interviews and photos. I've chosen to juxtaposition the way she dresses in real life with the way one of her greatest characters dresses.
Marla Singer: the desperate, isolated, and somehow human woman who interrupts the Narrator's tour of the city's support groups dresses the way she feels. The first scene we meet her, the Narrator tells us his disdain: "If I had a tumor, I'd name it Marla." Her head comes up, those sunglasses revealing her eyes like she would turn you into stone if there was a connection, the cigarette smoke curls around her face, and she exhales.
(Shudder.)
Marla wears what we would call "vintage" clothing--she just steals them from the laundromat. We see her in an old pink stained prom dress, a black fur stole, outfit after outfit ill-fitting, falling off her shoulders, her mysterious, spiked hair... All of this fits into Marla's devil-may-care, anti-consumerist, pessimistic personality. It also all fits into the theme of Fight Club, which is that we all die eventually--why not die with a few scars (or stories) to show and tell?

Don't forget your "Hello, my name is" name tag with a pseudonym and a fake back story about your prostate cancer.

Helena, however, has been on more "Worst Dressed" lists than Mariah Carey herself. Somehow, the memo that a celebrity should appear a certain way never reached her desk--and I am thankful for it. She shows the same nonchalance in her outfits, but without the negativity. Her style is whimsical, crazy British cat lady piling on every item of clothing she owns.
See what I mean? Now, no fashionista would dare call her a style icon--but I love it. It's like dressing from a folk tale every day.


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