Charlotte Rampling : The Fashion Industry’s Top Secret Style Icon

While I love a good Vogue September issue as much as the next girl, I have to admit that arguably my favourite magazine issue of the year is Vanity Fair’s September style issue. This year was no different, as the types of style icons they recognize are people who have true gifts in the style area and express a uniqueness in their look which makes them stand out. This is always my goal in trying to hone my style. I want to seek inspiration from some of my favourite style icons but find still a way to truly make it my own… Which is what style is all about.

So I thought I’d start sharing with you some of my less “traditional” style icons and hope that you can find inspiration from them. I won’t be covering the Angelina Jolies, Duchess Kates or Audrey Hepburns in this series – I’m going to share with you some that you hopefully don’t already know and hope to inspire something new. Turns out I am not alone in my lesser known icon – she’s also been inspiring pretty much every fashion editor known to man kind and Vanity Fair best-dressed nominees like Michelle Dockery and Vanessa Getty. Do you know who I’m talking about yet?

I’m talking about a woman who has been influencing style for over 40 years. A British-born, French inspired style maker… Charlotte Rampling. 

Charlotte has just “re-appeared” recently as the new face of Nars cosmetics (at 68!) but she’s been making movies and setting style trends for over 40 years. I love to look back to her style from the 60’s for inspiration in taking tailoring traditionally suited for men – say a tuxedo – and then added her own feminine touches to it. Very Annie Hall before Annie Hall, she oozed sex appeal and has said she owns a ridiculously large number of tuxedos. YSL Le Smoking, anyone?

When she would put on a dress, there was almost always a jacket to go along with it. I love that she always looks so casually thrown together, effortless and yet chose clothing with details that played tribute to the time at hand yet are still stylish today – such as the blouse in the top picture (with the glasses) which has small leather features on the sleeves. I channelled this inspiration recently when I bought a silk blouse with a leather trim feature and know that it’s not only going to look great now that leather is “in” again, but because it’s a small subtle detail will continue to look good for years to come.

 

Perhaps most impressively is how Charlotte is remaining a style icon in the beauty industry obsessed with youth. She recently became the face of NARS at age 68 – and I dare you to call her old in the shot of her on a Parisian balcony at 67. If I look half this good at 50, I’ll be laughing. 

 

Would love to hear some of your less “mainstream” fashion muses – who are they? Stay tuned as we look at several more less common muses in the coming weeks. Oh, and yes – I absolutely did try the Nars Audacious lipstick , the lipstick Charlotte advertises in the new NARS campaign. And it’s as amazing as she is.