The (Goth) Style of SN -Kent Interview

[michelej1]

May. 28, 2009
Las Vegas Review-Journal

http://www.lvrj.com/image/46354822.html

Stevie Nicks brings her pretty Goth look to Vegas

By XAZMIN GARZA

The one attribute just as recognizable as Stevie Nicks' sweet sand paper voice would have to be her wardrobe. The dark and drapey garments she's known for may look plucked off the pages of an Anne Rice novel, but one L.A.-based fashion designer knows exactly where they derive.

Margi Kent has designed Nicks' wardrobe since before the rock icon ever had her heart broken by Lindsey Buckingham -- or broke the heart of Lindsay Lohan. They met in '77 after Nicks took notice of the gear Fleetwood Mac's opening act had been sporting and wanted to know how she could develop a signature look of her own.

"She had seen some things I did and said, 'I need to dress differently,' " recalls Kent. "She was the first person who decided to wear something specifically for the stage."

Prior to that, Nicks greeted fans onstage in the same duds she wore during rehearsals: denim bell-bottoms and teeny scarf tops. After collaborating with Kent, however, things took a much more distinct, ethereal turn. Victorian-style lace-up boots, dramatic hats, waist-nipped beaded jackets and lace-trimmed blouses all soon became synonymous with the doe-eyed woman who croons about Rhiannon and players who only love you when they're playin'.

Fleetwood Mac performs Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden arena. Kent doesn't know which looks Nicks will rock onstage, but one piece she's certain will make a cameo is the long cape she crafted for her client and friend to wear while singing "Gold Dust Woman." Without the cape, the song just isn't the same.

"Her fans all know certain pieces and if she doesn't have them then they're blogging, 'What happened?' before the show's even over," says Kent.

The same goes for the totem pole of scarves that hang from Nicks' microphone. You won't see her perform without them during a tour, which makes Kent all the more happier she suggested the idea in the first place. According to Kent, Nicks puts quality over all else when it comes to her wardrobe. Only the finest fabrics will do. Kent noticed her appreciation for the samples she was showing her and decided to make scarves out of each of them. Eventually they wound up as a stage staple.

Each look Nicks rocks onstage is some spin Kent put on about 16 basic pieces on which they've settled. The proportions and colors change, but the overall tone remains the same: pretty Goth. Even through the summer months her style stays true to its dark origins. The fabrics get lighter in weight, but Nicks always makes sure her throat is well-layered in garments or scarves to protect her vocal chords. As relevant as the suede boots and tailored jackets are, in the end it's about the performance.

"She holds the audience in the palm of her hand," says Kent, herself a fan. "She can bring it to such a quiet place and then completely explode."

[David]

I don't like to think of Stevie as Goth. It doesn't seem largely accurate to categorize her style as such. I think the gay & camp communities have typically called Stevie "Goth" -- & she wasn't their icon in the 1970s, when her style was solidified. Goth is those kids who think they're vampires -- it is (or was) largely an underground fashion movement that was much more street than Stevie's look was. I would characterize the classic Stevie look as the Oliver Messel fantasy look of the 1930s, characterized by diaphonous layers & chiffon with a little late-Victorian mustiness, like what you see on silent film actresses like Lillian Gish & Constance Talmadge.

[GypsyJas]

I agree, I never thought her look was goth at all....more Victorian, more romantic, more mystical fantasy/fairy-esque all combined with the predominant looks of the 70s. And I always thought that is what made her style so unique and appealing....it can never be accurately labeled as anything other than "Stevie Nicks." I always thought "goth" was more of a wardrobe style fused with a specific attitude/personal statement...and none of that is really applicable to Stevie, IMO.

[wheart]

Great interview!! I would love to sit down with Ms. Kent and just chat about Stevie's clothes for an entire day.

[michelej1]

Press of Atlantic City, by Vincent Jackson June 8, 2009

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/life/article_b2aa2e62-f191-5f68-9151-4a0dbe3c4209.html

Any thought of Stevie Nicks' image brings to mind her soft, layered style featuring shawls, scarves, layers of lace and delicate, airy dresses.

The iconic look for one of the lead singers of the rock band Fleetwood Mac owes as much to her own personal taste as to the work and creativity of Los Angeles-based fashion designer and celebrity stylist Margi Kent.

Nicks, 61, will wear clothes styled by Kent when she takes the stage Saturday at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall.

"She always wears little-beaded jackets or a bolero-shaped jacket for the summer," said Kent, who added Nicks also will dress in a four-ply silk jacket. "Mostly, she wears blondy, beigy, creamy and mahogany colors. ... Black is a main thing, but we pop it with other things."

In 1977, Kent, a trained designer, had been on her own for two years with a rock 'n' roll costumes business before she started working with Nicks.

Kent designed clothes for the opening band on one of Fleetwood Mac's tours. The group, Jiva, had its 1975 debut album released by the late George Harrison's Dark Horse label.

"I should have something special for me," said Kent about Nicks' reaction to seeing Jiva's clothes.

Nicks wore clothes that were soft and silky, and she sometimes put on jeans, Kent said about Nicks' stage attire before they met. She didn't have a look prior to the release of her band's 19 million-selling classic album "Rumours" in 1977, Kent said.

"She noticed that I was putting her feelings into three-dimensional images," said Kent about what happened once they started talking.

They were really young when they started working together and developed mutual respect because they listened to each other, Kent said. Nicks and Kent teamed up from 1977 to the late 1980s and started again for the 1997 reunion and have continued to the present. Nicks has a house in Los Angeles. She will come to Kent's Los Angeles studio, but they also talk on the phone a great deal.

"The person, (Nicks) who was born from us collaborating, is the person you see," Kent said. Kent will be re-entering the high-end retail market this year. Her fall 2009 collection was first unveiled at an exclusive preview.

[wheart]

Press of Atlantic City, by Vincent Jackson June 8, 2009

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/life/article_b2aa2e62-f191-5f68-9151-4a0dbe3c4209.html


Nicks and Kent teamed up from 1977 to the late 1980s and started again for the 1997 reunion and have continued to the present.

I KNEW those awful satin dusters that Stevie lived in from 1989-1991 couldn't have been Kent creations!

[desertangel]

I think the word is "trashy" and that's very likely where they came from Trashy Lingere. Those were definitely her Trashy years.

[michelej1]

From "Ask Hilary" in the Telegraph UK, Hilary Alexander, June 19, 2009

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/fashionnews/5577321/Ask-Hilary-fashion-dilemmas-solved.html

Dear Hilary,

I am trying to find some long-sleeved, fingerless, “evening” mittens to cover my mother’s arms, which, due to weakened bone marrow, bruise very badly at the slightest knock. Dame Helen Mirren once wore something similar at an awards ceremony. Would you be able to suggest anything? Sheila, Poole

Dear Sheila,

Dame Helen is a fan of long mittens, which she buys from one of her favourite designers, Morgane Le Fay (001 212 219 7672) in New York. The style she is wearing in our photograph is “Tamarind”; they are wool-jersey, cost $70 (£55), come in one size and are available in black, purple, cobalt-blue, midnight-blue and grey. The former Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks wears Morgane Le Fay mittens at all her stage shows. Alternatively, contact www.glovedup.com (07940 776346), where founder-designer Laura Shepherd makes gloves and mittens for the likes of Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, Dita Von Teese, Madonna, Leona Lewis and Erin O’Connor. She makes them in a standard, medium ladies’ glove size, 7 -7.5 – or can do bespoke – and uses stretch fabrics so they fit most hands. She can send you swatches of fabrics and colours. They cost about £50 plus £5 p&p.

[michelej1]

From an article by Cathy Woods in the Times Daily, June 23, 2009:

http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090624/SW/906239986/1085

From hoopskirts to rock ’n’ roll, another fashion influence from the world of entertainment was Stevie Nicks, the singer and songwriter famous for her work with Fleetwood Mac and her floaty, artsy gypsy-goddess style.

I was fascinated with her outfits and wondered if she planned them — the wispy shawl with the beaded top with the twirly skirt with the cowboy boots and the armload of bracelets and the flowers in her hair — or if she just picked up whatever was on the floor that morning and went with it.

The thing is that now, at almost 52, I’m pretty much a normal-looking person who wears normal-looking clothes befitting the grandmotherly-type woman that I am.

But every once in awhile, I get a hankering to wear pearls and pumps with a cardigan set like Della Street, or sweep down a street wearing feathers and fringe like Scarlett O’Hara or twirl around in a lacy skirt and layers of chiffon like Stevie Nicks.

That’s because fashion is partly a chance to reinvent yourself and have some fun and get in touch with your inner sexy secretary or Southern Belle or hippie chick.

And that is a good thing.

But I’ll leave the tutu to somebody else.

[Phoenix]

From "Ask Hilary" in the Telegraph UK, Hilary Alexander, June 19, 2009

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/fashionnews/5577321/Ask-Hilary-fashion-dilemmas-solved.html

Dear Hilary,

I am trying to find some long-sleeved, fingerless, “evening” mittens to cover my mother’s arms, which, due to weakened bone marrow, bruise very badly at the slightest knock. Dame Helen Mirren once wore something similar at an awards ceremony. Would you be able to suggest anything? Sheila, Poole

Dear Sheila,

Dame Helen is a fan of long mittens, which she buys from one of her favourite designers, Morgane Le Fay (001 212 219 7672) in New York. The style she is wearing in our photograph is “Tamarind”; they are wool-jersey, cost $70 (£55), come in one size and are available in black, purple, cobalt-blue, midnight-blue and grey. The former Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks wears Morgane Le Fay mittens at all her stage shows. Alternatively, contact www.glovedup.com (07940 776346), where founder-designer Laura Shepherd makes gloves and mittens for the likes of Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, Dita Von Teese, Madonna, Leona Lewis and Erin O’Connor. She makes them in a standard, medium ladies’ glove size, 7 -7.5 – or can do bespoke – and uses stretch fabrics so they fit most hands. She can send you swatches of fabrics and colours. They cost about £50 plus £5 p&p.

Morgane Le Fay does cool stuff. Her and Stevie go well together.:thumbsup:

[michelej1]

[They think this hot pink ruffle design is reminiscent of Stevie]

Trendhunter Magazine

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/luxirare-hot-pink-ruffled-fashion-clown-town

Biker chic meets Stevie Nicks in this fabulous creation by design label Luxirare. She teamed her handmade hot pink ruffled cloak with a studded black leather motorcycle jacket, ultra-hip platform shoes and rocker jewelry to interweave hard-edge with the softest of flowing materials.

She cut the fabric on the base and hand-sewed the garment which resulted in a cascade of pink ruffles that reach to the floor and stretch beyond the fingertips.

The pink stunner is also shown chicly worn with black gloves and a top hat also reminiscent of the Fleetwood Mac singer’s iconic style.

[wheart]

Morgane Le Fay does cool stuff. Her and Stevie go well together.:thumbsup:

I believe the black dress she wore in the Everday video was a Morgane Le Fay.

[louielouie2000]

I believe the black dress she wore in the Everday video was a Morgane Le Fay.

Yeah, she wore several different Morgan Le Fay dresses in her TV appearances during the TISL era. I want to say the most notable one was her Blockbuster Music Awards performance? My detail memory of that era is getting a bit rusty now though...

[Phoenix]

Yeah, she wore several different Morgan Le Fay dresses in her TV appearances during the TISL era. I want to say the most notable one was her Blockbuster Music Awards performance? My detail memory of that era is getting a bit rusty now though...

Wasnt the Blockbuster awards top the same one as the one she wears for silver springs now?