Joan Collins, style icon (even before the 80s!)

The name Joan Collins immediately evokes many things. Charm, of course. Charisma, of course. Husbands (she had five), of courseAnd. That inimitable charge of energy and joie de vivre. But for the fashion followers, is the personal style of the eighty-eight-year-old superstar what makes it rightfully enter the Olympus of absolute icons of all times. From the profusion of sequins to the straps that are practically always worn, to the inevitable red lipstick: everything about her is bold, distinctive, a lot of her.

Although Collins’ most famous role was, as we know, that of the schemer Alexis Colby Currington Colby in Dynasty (character based in part on Donald Trump), the diva influenced the way we dress since long before the 1980s. Indeed, we are talking about an artist who has been in the spotlight since the early 1950s, when she became known as Britain’s bad girl after playing restless teenager Norma Hart in the film I Believe in You (wearing a lot of jackets with shoulder pads ante litteram).

From the beginning of her career, Joan Collins has known how to dress to make her mark. In the photo shoots of the period he poses with narrow-waisted dresses and Capri pants. But while Audrey Hepburn looks demure and bon ton in the same garments, Joan is definitely sexy.

In the 60s she began to refine the look we know her for today: for her numerous film premieres she chooses sequined dresses and furs. Noteworthy is the dress worn at the premiere of Doctor Dolittle in New York: a long dress by Castillo with a bodice embellished with rhinestones and a breathtaking neckline (then sold at auction for $ 5,000 in 2015). Basically a dress that is 1967 like the Versace safety pin worn by Elizabeth Hurley is 1994.

The next decade Joan becomes more outré and dares flounces and bold colors, but it is in the 80s that the Collins style becomes truly uniqueso much so that the actress has maintained this aesthetic code until now.

And to think that the costume designer of Dynasty, Nolan Miller, had imagined Alexis’ wardrobe in a completely different way: «Nolan was like a brother to me. When I first met him, he said, “We want you in tweed jackets, Peter Pan collars and Jackie Kennedy caps.” And I replied: “But this character is not like that, he is the epitome of haute couture, even a little over the top” “, said the same actress to Daily Mail.

In fact, we just can’t imagine Dame Joan (awarded the title by Queen Elizabeth in 2015) as Alexis with collegiate collars and pastel dresses. For a lifetime, both on and off the screen, the English diva was the image of the strong but sexy woman, self-confident, super feminine and always beyond.

Earrings big size , short skirts, exaggerated shoulders, cascades of important jewels: too much that has always definitely worked on her. The secret? She is the only one who can wear a low cost garment and turn it into couture. Because class is definitely priceless. The woman who hates blue jeans, who was Valentino’s muse and testimonial of the maison’s campaign in 2019 at the age of 85, who has never relied on a stylist for red carpets and events, who has not succumbed to the comfortable pandemic style , at the threshold of nine decades of life is always on the crest of the wave.

Last December the BBC dedicated a new documentary to her, she most recently appeared as a guest judge at the UK Masked Singer (splendid in hyper sparkling outerwear enriched with plumed XXL shoulders) while her new book is expected in March My Unapolegetic Diaries, a tour on the paper of his life at over 24 carats from 1989 to 2009, including galas, events and celebrities.

Proponent of “if you’re going to go to a party you have to make an effort, otherwise you won’t go”, glamorous to the nth degree, Joan Collins has traveled eight decades since the beginning of her career with countless breathtaking dresses and jewels.

In the gallery we have collected his most salient fashion points. Whichever generation you belong to, take notes.

Other stories of Vanity Fair that may interest you:

-The revival is in fashion: Alexis-inspired looks (even for parties)
– The foulard (vintage style) enters the list of essentials for the summer by right
– If Kate Middleton (also) inspires Helen Mirren