Friday, August 19, 2011

Pump it up

Thanks to an evil lurgy that took over my body this week, I was stuck home from work with little will to do anything but nap, hang out with my cats and watch dvds.

Following my 90s retrospective last week, I was in the mood to watch some old favourites. And as always when viewing the fashion of decades past, there were many cringe moments. I can remember loving every outfit that Cher and Dionne wore in Clueless when I first saw it. But now - it all just seems so ridiculous! It is kind of like watching a Spice Girls video or something - everything was so bright and impractical.

So in spite of my declaration of love for Samantha Mathis back in the 90s, when I popped Pump Up the Volume into the dvd player, I was prepared to be at least a little embarrassed by the fact that I used covet her style so whole-heartedly. But colour me surprised - I totally think her outfits in that movie have stood the test of time.

For those of you who haven't seen it (and you should be hanging your heads in shame and walking yourself  over to Blockbuster - or ordering  it from Amazon or download it or whatever it is that you crazy kids do - lickety-split!), Samantha plays Nora - smart, hot, sassy, sexy poetry-writing Nora who, desperate to break out of her high school hell, sets her sights on the shy boy by day, crazy pirate radio DJ by night played by Christian Slater (more on him later).

So, of course, a character as cool as Nora's has a pretty off-beat, edgy wardrobe. But then so did Andie in Pretty in Pink and her outfits just seem a little too cray-cray in retrospect.
Source: www.honeypievintage.blogspot.com
(But I guess Andrew McCarthy seemed to dig it so I try not to judge her look too harshly.)

Nora's, on the other hand, still seems very relevant and cute. It got me dragging out my oversized black jumpers and striped stockings and I desperately want to find a cute blazer like hers to wear over dresses when it starts to warm up a little:

Source: www.fanpop.com
Source: www.thefancarpet.com
Source: www.achromaticheart.com

It has also made me miss having a sharp little black bob. And red lips! (I actually think they probably based Jane Lane from Daria on Nora - the hair, magenta lips, artistic tendencies, sarcastic wit - it is all there.)

Oh and the other reason to watch it - Christian Slater wearing glasses and reading books (and occassionally taking his shirt off). Hooray!

Source: www.fanpop.com

For the boys (if any are still reading after noticing that this is another overly-fashion-centric post) - Samantha also takes her shirt off (no bra!!) and she has quite a lovely set of ta-tas. So there is that. (But I am not including a photo of them because I am not that desperate for blog traffic and this is not that kind of blog anyway - but they are out there so google them if you must!)

And for EVERYONE there is a freaking brilliant soundtrack - The Pixies, Bad Brains, Soundgarden, Above the Law, The Beastie Boys, Leonard Cohen, Ice-T, Sonic Youth - it will blow your tiny little mind!

Fab on all levels really.

3 comments:

Chris B said...

I remember loving this movie, but haven't seen it in ages... what is this Amazon thing of which you speak?

BTW, I saw Samantha Mathis in a Broadway show a couple of years back (33 Variations) - took her shirt off in that as well, if I remember correctly... which OF COURSE i do.

Charmaine said...

That photo of Molly Ringwald may be my favourite pic on this blog yet. Also, please clarify, does Christian wear double denim in this movie?

Emma M said...

I think he might do double denim - but this post wasn't about HIS fashion prowess. And more importantly HE TAKES HIS SHIRT OFF AND WEARS GLASSES!!!