19. Waaaiiiit, Vintage Laura Dern Is My Suit Style Icon

Pulling a little style inspiration from one of my favorite actress's past looks.

Back from a bit of a hiatus due to this introvert running around as if she’s a full on extrovert during NYFW. I have a bunch of thoughts in my head that I want to take pen to paper, or should I say fingertips to computer screen, but I’m still recovering from too much running around in heels so I’ll keep today’s topic on the lighter side.

I’m currently in my editing down my closet phase of winter, getting a head start on my spring cleaning. That is, if spring ever comes around because it seems scarily far away right now. On the bright side, this winter has been full to the brim with movie watching (a post dedicated to films coming soon). Not long after David Lynch passed, Gabi and I just watched David Lynch’s Wild At Heart featuring Laura Dean and Nicholas Cage. I realized that Wild At Heart was one of his films that I never got to watch yet. It ended up not being my favorite David Lynch work (Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive are peak Lynchian territory in my opinion), but of course I couldn't help but appreciate the weird and out there characters and plot lines that only David Lynch can catapult on screen and make you fall in love with the world he has created and invited you all into. The movie left me with one too many overly exaggerated moments that continue to still play on repeat in my head rent free. Specifically, Laura’s character Lula who wore outfits with so much personality, youth and wildness that was only even more accentuated with her funny southern accent and arms that were always posing up above her head, ready for a good time. Her character had a lust for life that you both giggle at and also admire. And so I went online to see what else Laura Dean wore in in her younger years.

I stumbled upon an old photo of her at what seemed to be a movie premiere in a baby pink button up underneath a grey suit, with the collars so perfectly shaped and placed, and I was like “I want to weaarrrr that”. So then I went down a little rabbit hole one night of Laura Dern style from what seems to be the late 80s/early 90s. I really appreciate the way that Laura leaned into suits for her public appearances. Some outfits felt sort of boyish and awkward in the most appealing and charming of ways, while others more simple and streamlined but always flourished with something offbeat and quirky with the styling. Whatever it was that she was doing really resonates with me today. Looking at these photos, I feel an air of happiness and natural confidence radiating from her. And it seems like she completely dressed herself. No fuss. Pure effortlessness. But still fun. I also loved noticing that she rewore pieces. It felt so relatable. So real and so cool because she was just being herself.

Finding these images on Getty came at just the right time. Ring now I really have been feeling like I needed a bit of a new style inspiration to draw from as everything online has felt so monotonous these days. Too try hard. Too overly sexy. Too trendy. Too much of dressing for the gaze of others and less of dressing for oneself. Too much of everything all at once. But also at the same time, too minimal and lacking in that department of personal touch that makes an outfit feel … human. There are times when seeking inspiration today feels like I’m throwing myself into a black hole where I start to lose my own focus on fashion and what it personally means to me. And for a fashion lover, this is a very, very frustrating feeling.

But like many feelings, they come and they go. This feeling of losing focus won’t stick around too long. But when it does stick around, usually my best remedy is taking a break from online and throwing myself into movies, books, documentaries, museums and walks around the city, and a trip down memory lane with some of my favorite actresses. And also, boredom. Boredom can sometimes be a fix for so many things that seem to be stuck even though we keep grinding away at them. Substack post coming soon on that.

Bu for now, I’ll leave you with my Laura Dern style obsession. Maybe it’s not that cool to you, but it is to me, and well, that’s all that really matters. hehe.