How To Dress Like Edie Sedgwick
[ 6 October 2007 ]
Edie Sedgwick, ’60s It girl, has experienced a bit of a resurgence. Sienna Miller played Edie in Factory Girl, released early 2007, but even before then there was a rising interest in this girl who was Andy Warhol’s muse, a girl who spent her way through her entire inheritance in six months.
While it wasn’t all bread & roses — Edie battled with drug addictions & eating disorders her whole life — her aesthetic was ground-breaking, inspiring a generation of girls to cut their hair short, experiment with dramatic makeup & don black stockings!
So, how can you mainline a bit of Ms. Sedgwick’s style into your look? Not everyone is stick thin or suited to platinum blonde hair, so it’s best to just take little pieces & see how they work with your style.
This cotton t-shirt leotard from American Apparel is super-Edie, the sort of thing she would have worn with a black mini, black tights & flats. Edie would practice jazz ballet for several hours every day, I think because doing physical activity helped calm her mind. Most of her outfits evolved from this pasttime — she would just throw a big coat or loose-fitting men’s shirt over the top of her leotard & stockings & go out like that.
Wear opaque black stockings with everything. EVERYTHING! I’ve said it before, but my favourite brands are Jonathan Aston & Levante.
Load up on striped t-shirts & sweaters, & anything with a boatneck. I like the damsel striped snap henley, the parallel lines tee & the sparkle striped boatneck tee. Very chic!
If you’ve got the gams for it, wear short black miniskirts & dresses. Minidresses, as well as being very short, tend to be quite close-fitting, so if you feel like your stockings & underwear make you look a bit lumpy, try wearing shaper underwear under your dress. It isn’t sexy, but this stuff is the reason celebrities look so flawless (well, most of the time)... See this for an example!
Wear dark eye makeup. People used to get frustrated at the way it took Edie three hours to do her eye makeup before she went out. With her eyes rimmed in black, she would wear false eyelashes or draw them on. After she had spent her way through her inheritance, she would use watercolour paints as eyeshadow.
Experiment with a beauty mark! Edie had a beauty mark on her cheek, I don’t know whether it was natural or whether she drew it on, but it looked marvellous. In my experience, the best tool for drawing an even, smudge-proof beauty mark is MAC Cosmetics’ Liquid Eye Liner in Boot Black!
Edie loved to wear really long, dangling earrings. They used to call them “shoulder-dusters”, because, as you can probably guess, they would touch the shoulders of the wearer. They can be hard to find, so check Ebay & scour vintage clothes stand at markets for a nice pair. These earrings were her signature, & she would normally wear no other jewellery.
She was crazy about hats — all kinds. I think this leopard mohair beret is very Edie (& would look wonderful with an all-black outfit)!
Edie loved fur jackets & coats. I don’t know whether hers were real — they probably were — but if you’re going to buy the real stuff, make it vintage, okay? My faux-fur coats are some of my favourite things in my closet: incredibly warm but also totally stylish. Scour Ebay & vintage clothing stores for the best ones!
The reason for writing this article, really, is that I was intending on going to this last night:
“Think of a creative genius think-tank where the likes of Lou Reed, Truman Capote, Edie Sedgwick and Bobby Driscoll played with art and amphetamines. This is what Warhol’s tin foil lined Silver Factory evolved into when he took down his silver clouds. Meccanoid will be recreating this madness by throwing an Art After Dark Silver Factory party at the NGV.”
But instead, I ended up dressing as Edie & running around my apartment… (Yes, I know I got the beauty mark on the wrong cheek. Oops!)
Burberry hat
One long dangly earring from Sportsgirl — I had to put in my tunnel, because my newly-pierced lobes can’t have anything but studs in them!
Black dress from Portmans
Grey & black striped sweater — I bought this YEARS ago in a shop called Spacesuit, but I don’t remember whether it was in Wellington or Auckland… I do know that it was $20.
Black stockings
Lots of eyeliner & mascara!
It was fun, anyway!
Extra For Experts:
The Ciao Manhattan Tapes — Edie talking over a collage of pictures & video.
Edie Sedgwick — The ultimate style icon from Marie Claire.
A Fashionable Muse – Edie Sedgwick, pretty Hamptons-centric but still interesting!
I took a whole lot of pictures which you can see by clicking here!
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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I’m an edie fanatic myself, I dressed up like her earlier this year when my hair was short and blonde. It was quite fun.
[img src=“http://farm1.static.flickr.com/183/434581997_c5fc99b048.jpg”]
[ http://www.flickr.com/photos/jemnifur/sets/72157600027196026/ ]
Great Post.
Hi Gala – I’d heard of Edie, but forgotten who she was. It sounds as though she had a sad life – dying when she was only 28.
You’ve done a great job copying her there. I used to wear liquid eyeliner a lot in my twenties, but it would age me too much now. It’s not easy to put on – and I wouldn’t have liked to have tried to use watercolour instead.
Wow!!! I’ve heard a lot about Edie (haven’t sen the movies or stuff like that). I like her style though, it doesn’t suit me but it looks hot ;).
Kisses.
Don’t mean to infuriate any Edie fan, buuut
she sounds like an idiot!
Albeit a v. stylish one. :)
You look great! i think Edie’s style looks really hard to pull off (but you definitely did it!)although i do like the black stockings..
do you smoke?
This is exactly what I need to cheer me up, and help with inspiration in the style department!
I know this is bad, but sometimes, when I have a really big lurker (you know, a under-the-skin pimple that just lurks there, not doing anything!) I’ll draw on it, and turn it into a beauty mark.
Very bad, but sometimes, you need to fix them.
Hi Gala, I discovered ur site a couple of days ago…and now Im obsessed!! I love the way u write and I really like ur attitude and the way u c the world. Im a kiwi 2 (Christchurch represent) and I must say at first I was totally freaked out by ur New Rocks….I had 2 pairs myself in the nineties but I got rid of them around 2000 and swore I would never wear anthing like that again!!!! But now lookin back on all ur daily outfits, u totally pull them off!! And I kinda wish I kept mine now hahaha…..Anyway u r totally gorgeous, keep up the good work xxarohanuixx
Ahhhh Gala I was so excited when I saw that adorable black and White photo of Edie Sedgwick… I Adore Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick and LUVED Factory Girl too… Oh and I also LoVeD your Edie Outfit!!! Keep up the awesome work Gala
Peace Out!!!
Shalom!!!
the paris hilton of her time.
i saw factory girl and just fell in love with edie. Her fashion and just the way she carried herself and acted just blew me away.
This is such a good guide on how to dress as her.
love love love it.
I love Edie, I read her biography earlier this year, written by recollections of all of the people that were close to her and effected by her such as Andy Warhol, Lou Reed, Nico, Truman Capote and Patti Smith.
I’m feeling a little Edie myself tonight actually. I’m dressed for my band’s gig in black tights, a charcoal turtleneck minidress and wingtip platform maryjanes. Alas, my hair is now black and no longer platinum!
you look completly gorgeous in those photos! the beauty mark totally suits you, i wish i could pull it off!
There’s a good community on livejournal about her, I couldn’t remember what it was but it might be this one:
http://community.livejournal.com/edie_sedgwick
or it might not! I looked through it ages ago!
p.s. i forgot to mention, but dressing up like edie TOTALLY suits you!! you look even cooler than she does!!
Shoot! You’ve rekindled my desire to hack off my long, wavy brown hair and dye it platinum blond! I’d just gotten over it. A change that drastic is intriguing, but very, very scary for me. I’d like to be absolutely certain I can pull it off.
This guide to dressing like Edie is absolutely spot-on. Good work.
Agreed, you really suit this look!
Random side note re Spacesuit: I used to love the huge mayan looking mosiac on the back wall of their shop in Wellington
So cute! Especially the way you were so inspired that you didn’t go out! (I think you did that once before, when you were wearing the World dress with the long tails?) If you need to wear earrings for photo-shoot purposes you could hang the hook through the back of the butterfly; not very practical for real life, but it will help achieve “the look”.
It has always been my goal to dress like Edie, move like Nureyev, write like Ginsberg, smoke like Murrow, fuck like Nico & rock like Johnny Thunders.
You achieve 1/6 of this. Or at least, you manage to document 1/6 of it in film. I’m okay with not knowing about some of the rest of it. Oversharing is not my racket.
Stay cool
everyone who likes edie must watch this CULT video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ_AQDRHYDg
Interesting, but sad. It seems like she spent a lot of time chasing happiness and losing it right away :( I do agree that she had great style, though.
I can’t think of anyone else to ask, so I’m hoping you could help me… my friend is having an Audrey Hepburn meets Willy Wonka and the Choclate Factory (particularly the Johnny Depp version of the movie) party. I need to find something that fits the theme, can be worn in public (the first part of the party is a tour of the chocolate shop at the local mall), and which I will also be able to slouch around in later when we watch movies at her house. Any ideas? The party is in two weeks, by the way.
Later!
Kelly /`
One thing you didn’t mention that I personally love about Edie is her big bold eyebrows!!!
Gala, I think your new ‘brows are Edie-approved. If I do say so myself. The resemblance is certainly there!
You look gorgeous as Edie! Love the beauty mark!
very cute! that hat really suits you too, lucky girl. Pretty much every hat I wear looks ridiculous on me.
And I adore the beauty mark :)
i love your blog gala so much and i knew you’d get around to darling edie eventually. your shoot is glorious and you look radiant in the photos.
ps: the edie community at LJ is crapola now. it used to be ace and even nat finkelstein who was the factory court photographer was a member. it got a bit crazy and now it seems it is just full of nu wave edie fans since the movie and the edie saturation this year.
xoxox
Jemibook — You look fantastic!!!
CatherineL — Oh yeah, it’s very aging. But then, light hair + dark makeup always is! She had a very sad life I think, which was reinforced by Factory Girl (I didn’t like it much).
jess_xox — Ahh, I don’t think it’s too hard, you just need to try little pieces to see what you get away with! & everyone looks good in black stockings. I very very rarely smoke, I can’t remember the last time I had a cigarette :>
Retro.Bunny — Hee! That’s not such a big deal, plus, at least it looks pretty ;D
Lana.zm — Aw, thank you! I love my New Rocks, they are a point of contention among lots of iCiNG readers, but as long as they make me happy, I really don’t care… hee!
atlas2020 — Thanks darling!
Amy — Yes, Sienna did a great job, I think! Very much captured Edie’s effervescence & charisma.
[a} — Merci beaucoup, sweetie!
Alicia — Go to a hairdresser you trust & ask their opinion! You might find that cutting it into a bob is a good intermediate step (& a better shape for your face). & thanks!
Nadine — Aww, actually, I really wanted to go but I had nobody to take with me & I didn’t feel like making the pilgrimage all alone! Boo! Hey, good tip on the earrings, by the way, I would never have thought of that!
Sarah Decay — You are officially awesome. That is all.
Kelly — Um! That is perhaps the strangest party theme EVER! I am totally stumped. Maybe you could dress like an Oompa Loompa &... um… do your makeup like Audrey’s? I have NO idea. Sorry!
Saxy — Oops, I forgot!
& big kisses to Lou, Jem, Gem & Anne! xxxx!
Gala I hope you don’t think I meant it is aging on you. You are very young and can carry off the look well.
CatherineL — Oh, no, not at all! I’m sorry, I replied to your comment very late at night so maybe it didn’t come across very well! Smooches!
Oh how fun to read this and see your photoshoot right after I received Ciao, Manhattan! in the mail from Netflix. I read EDIE a few years back and was taken with her fabulous persona, tragic reality and the cult that’s since grown up around her. So I’m hoping to settle down to watch the movie tonight and in the meantime just admire your photoshoot. Too bad you didn’t go to the party all dressed up—you would’ve been a smashing hit.
Thinking more…maybe one of the more interesting things about the story of Edie is that perhaps it shows the necessary dichotomy of total extroversion and some internal strife. And that people often gloss over this aspect to concentrate solely on the fabulousness (with figures like Warhol, too). Hmm. Anyway…no need to respond, just thinking out loud!
OMG u r some spooky lady! I haven’t been on ur site for a couple of weeks coz i have been swamped @ work. I recently decided to cut my hair like Sienna Miller in Factory Girl & I was looking up long earings since I think they look fab with short hair! So I google “edie sedgwick inspired earrings” & voila! you pop up! love it!!
hey i loved your pos! im a big fan of edie and i knew her because all he peopl told me i look exacly like her so i sarted to sarch for info abou her and i became a fan , i also had the chance to met paul morrissey last year, i lov your page, contact me!
xoxo from argentina
Roch
I think you did a really good job with this look. I think Edie is an icon that most have forgot but still haunts clothes, music, and art. I always like to look at the past to see what is next in the future.
I stumbled upon this website while trying to figure out my Edie Halloween costume…a very impressive little piece; it gave me a lot of ideas!
I absolutely love your pictures. I think you can pull it off. I’m petite so I’m always jealous of girls with really long legs. I’m even more jealous though of the view from your apartment!
Wow you pulled of her look and personality so good in those photos. Im jealous!! I ♥ Edie. I love this site too.
peace
& Happy Holidays!!
I love the shape of her face. That sounds totally awkward, haha, but it’s just pleasant to look at.
I keep commenting everything now that I realize that you don’t need an account, haha. If you didn’t realize, that’s why it seems like I’ve just started commenting out of nowehere.
best advance in faux beauty marks.
www.hottiedots.com
6.95 for a pack of 16!
edie is a remarkable free spirit, and should admired in pounds.
my parents used to slap me down to watch andy warhol movies while they got drunk in the next room, anyway I have been obsessed with edie since i was little my teachers thought i was seriously disturbed but i never quite grasped how to dress like her and capture her essence but you have helped me so much thanks! oh and the eye make up does take forever but its so worth it!
Wow, thank god i know there are other people as obsessed with Edie’s style in this world. I saw factory girl and Edie became my new obsession immediatly.
hahah your truely amazing and helpful thanks
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!
Oh, my! Darling, I have to say that you look nothing like Edie nor do you capture any essence of the 60’s/Warholian era. I have extensively studied Warhol in college…just a bit disappointed to see these photos.