NYLON - September 2008 - (Page 124) stylist: kate erwin. hair: danielle irene at artists by timothy priano. makeup: martin wieser at myr jan for m.a.c cosmetics. models: tarah at wilhelmina and fabienne at trump. blazer by gaultier puissance deux, pants by matthew ames, shoes by giuseppe zanotti design, headband by elwina, brooch by alexis bittar. DENISE HUXTABLE IN THE COSBY SHOW When I was in my early teens, I liked to imagine what life would be like if I was a Huxtable. It would have been so cool to play out my adolescent years living in a brownstone in Brooklyn, lip syncing to old jazz standards while dancing on the staircase. But what I really wanted was to have Denise Huxtable as an older sister so I could raid her closet. Denise was everything I wasn’t. She was the rebel of the family and her defiant attitude enabled her to dress in a way that was creative, fun, and different. Denise’s fashion sense was about being bold without being ridiculous. She wore animalprint head wraps, oversized blazers that were sometimes decorated with old-lady brooches, lumberjack flannels, parachute pants, combat boots paired with prairie skirts, and always mismatched patterns. Denise was, in short, an urban goddess. I was always inspired after viewing an episode of Cosby that Denise appeared in. After seeing one of her outfits, I would run to my closet and see if I had anything resembling what she wore. At the time, I usually donned printed dresses, rompers, Jordache jeans, and Keds, and rarely mixed things up, but by watching Denise I was encouraged to think outside the box. I bought my first pair of combat boots, stole my mother’s blazer, and rummaged through her brooch collection, all because of her. I even bought a pair of Z. Cavaricci’s— don’t laugh—because they looked exactly like a pair of pants Denise wore. Today, I bet designers would clamor for the chance to outfit Denise, because she is the ultimate fashion daredevil. Echoes of her eclectic style could be seen in many fall runway shows—from Marc Jacobs, who displayed puffy headbands worn around the forehead and velvet pastel blue parachute pants, to the geometric cut blazers and banana-shaped trousers worn by the models who sauntered down the Yves Saint Laurent runway. All of these items would have definitely been in Denise’s closet, and, to this day, I can imagine myself stealing every piece from my fictional, cooler, older sibling. Turning on the TV and seeing someone who you thought you could relate to and aspire to be was such an encouraging thing for me. Denise helped transform my personal style and guided me through every fashion hit or miss, just like an older sister should. RAJNI LUCIENNE JACQUES mania TUBE TOPS WE CAN HELP BUT WAX N E CAN’T WAX NOSTALGIC ABOUT A OUR LEVISIO E OUR FAVORITE TELEVISION STYLE ICONS. APH PHOTOGRAPHED BY ISA WIPFLI 124
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