Seven Dollars

Check it out -- this dress is listed for $6.99. That's right, seven dollars can get you a very nice (if a little small, and if in need of a teeny repair, the kind that even people who don't sew on buttons can make) holiday dress. I love eBay. I also love the balletic lines of this dress -- the round neck, the elegant sleeves, and the belled skirt. Nothing's better than a dress that makes you feel like a ballerina, all neck and grace.

Anyway, eBay is JAMMED now with people selling things that have only the most tangential relationship to Christmas. (Seriously. I don't care how emo your Christmas is, an early-80s Le Tigre lime green striped polo dress is NOT a "holiday dress.") And eBay is also jammed with people selling things that maybe, almost, could have been something that Sienna Miller almost once looked at. (Looked at and said "nah ...", I hope.) Seriously, in five pages of listings I saw eight Sienna mentions. What is it with "Sienna Miller: Fashion Icon"? I just don't get it. As they like to say in my homeland, "All her taste is in her mouth." And who searches clothes on eBay with the keyword "Sienna Miller"? They're probably not as scary as the people who search clothes with the keyword "Paris Hilton," but they're still pretty scary.

A lot of the vintage fashion books I have are big on developing your own style; you need to figure out what suits YOU, and then work to make it coherent. Every fashion magazine I see now is hell-bent on propping up four or five overly-styled quasi-celebrities and asking you to choose which one you would most like to emulate. ("None of the Above" never seems to be an option.) I believe the next step will be Sienna Miller *kits*, that you can buy in a department store, like those old "Multiples" sets from the 1980s. (Which she seems to be singlehandedly trying to revive, but never mind.) They will include bad pants, a ridiculous and incongruous hat, expensive and ugly shoes, and a random tunic/shirt/dress to top it all off, plus miscellaneous bling. Kind of like this. Ooh, I can hardly wait.

Comments

[lauren]

Am I the only one a little bit startled by the arm configuration on that mannequin? It's wild, it's like she's reaching out to hug me but for some reason can't lift her arms. I think, too, that the left arm is noticeably shorter than the right, though it could be that she's tilted.It's interesting about the difference between fashion books THEN vs. NOW. Imitation drives a more clean-cut market, I guess, or at least a more zealous one.

[Anonymous]

Hear, hear. Sienna Miller seems like a nice person but she will never be Kate Moss, no matter how slavishly she tries to copy her. Also she doesn't know how to dress for short hair. Fashion icon my ass.--Rio

[Anonymous]

Oh, I do LURVE that dress! *thud!* -- as the fangirls would say.Madelene

[Raven]

Hey, I have a dress so very similar to that, except it has cap sleeves, and instead of a bow at the waist, there are two bows on the hem, where the box pleats are tacked together. It is the same color, though a brocade, rather than a plain taffeta. The color is great for holiday parties to stand out among all the little black dresses. Mine was a steal, as well. I think I paid $11 for it at a clothing exchange, freshly dry cleaned, in perfect condition. If I didn't have this one, I would consider this one!And I cannot wrap my head around what makes Sienna Miller (or Chloe Sevigny, for that matter) fashion icons. It pains me to look at them. Eek!

[Fuzzylizzie]

I can't even visualize what any of these "overly-styled quasi-celebrities" actually looks like. I just see one thin blond sloppy girl.But I can see in great detail the look of Lauren Bacall or Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe or any number of "style icons" from the past. These women knew what the women of today desperately need to learn; Develop your own style based on on accentauting your own unique positive.How long has it been since we've seen anyone with a truly unique style?Lizzie

[La BellaDonna]

Catherine Zeta-Jones, who never seems to make the current "icon" lists, is much more so than the interchangeable ladies mentioned. CZ always (at least, in every shot I've seen) looks like a lady, and is dressed becomingly besides. Becoming and a lady! What a concept! There isn't one on the lists (Ms. Moss, Ms. Sevigny, et al.) who meets my criteria for "stylish" - never mind "icon." If someone said I looked like one of them, I'd run screaming back into the house, take my meds, and change my clothes.

[Kate]

I was coordinating binkies and nappies in the early 80's, so forgive me for asking, but what are these "Multiples" sets? I'm assuming something hideous, but, you know, we are talking about Sienna Miller here.

[Vintage Grace]

Erin, you hit it right on the head. eBay can indeed become keyword hell! You're lucky if in 5 pages of eBay searches you only came up with 8 Sienna references. Try trawling eBay Australia! Sienna is now the replacement for the over-used term, "Boho". A couple of months back, I was searching through eBay Oz in the vintage category and I promise you, 99.9% of the titles had the word "Boho" in them! 99.9%, no exaggeration! What an amazing coincidense that every item listed was authentic vintage "Boho"! It's a miracle!! And now it's all "Sienna"...How about this for good gag fodder: "Sienna Boho Slouch Pirate Boots"! Say... now there's a good use of over-used keywords if I ever saw one!!~Maureen

[Erin]

multiples ... oh, man. Here's a description from In The 80s (http://www.inthe80s.com/clothes/m.shtml)"These were a collection of knit separates - tunic tops (long and short sleeved), pull-on pants, skirts, a few dresses (shapeless) and ALWAYS the matching tube that could be either a belt, a tube top or a thick headband (really thick. They came in solids at first, and then a few large prints. They were great for travel but, oh, so clingy!!"The pants were especially heinous. I remember they were sold in their own special section at Belk's ... coincidentally RIGHT NEXT to the jelly shoes! I don't miss anything from the 1980s except for those really cute little Bellini loafers that came in every color.