I’m obsessed with Girls. Officially obsessed. It’s the new Sex and the City, for the uninitiated. An HBO television drama based around four twenty-somethings trying to make it in New York City. Lena Dunham, creator, writer and star of the show has been featured on the cover of US Vogue, US Elle, US Marie Claire, Rolling Stone, New York magazine, US Glamour, French Grazia, Interview and I-D magazines … the list goes on. The show, and Lena, have been nominated for various Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. Suffice to say, it’s a hit.
But unlike Sex and the City where the clothing of the cast was practically a character in itself, the Girls cast actually dresses in the way a regular New York gal, would dress. Minus the tulle (because really, nobody wears tulle on the street in the day, even in New York, thank you very much Carrie Bradshaw). But better. It’s real, it’s raw, it’s edgy, it’s sexy, it’s clever. The clothes make it all appear very relaxed but with actual, credible street value.
It makes us want to dive into the set and visit. Just hang out with the cast where the guys have just as good lines as the girls and are actually great characters rather than offsiders.
The question then, is who are you? Or who do you want to be? A Marnie, a Hannah, a Jessa or a Shoshanna? Let’s work it out.
Marnie (Allison Williams)
She’s the conservative (from the outside anyway) princess. Always picture perfect, she’s not uber fashionable, but always very well put together. Think body-con dresses, floaty florals, denim jackets, beautifully waved hair and a pair of ankle boots. Her fashion tends to follow whatever she’s doing in the show at the time. When she was sleeping with a creative artist, her clothes were amazing and edgy because she was making the effort to impress him – the clear plastic dress over gold sticks out in my mind. Now that she’s making music with an earthly talent, she’s more natural than forcibly fashionable, which definitely makes her more likeable. If only he didn’t have a girlfriend.
1 Band of Outsiders dress, $593.10
2 Sigersen Morrison shoes, $501.46
3 Sportsgirl Cross-body strap bag, $29.95
Shoshanna (Zosia Marmet)
The slightly neurotic, slightly obsessive Shosh dresses with such intention, you know her style is almost a full time job. Whether it’s a seriously zany hairdo that one might spend an hour on in the morning, or a ridiculously co-ordinated outfit, Shoshanna is like New York’s answer to a Harajuku girl. She thinks everything is about how you look, nothing to do with substance (still young, dear Shosh), and takes such pride in her appearance you can’t help but be swept away with her enthusiasm.
1 ASOS dress, $80.77
2 Malone Souliers shoes, $803
3 Head band, $454.56
Jessa (Jemima Kirke)
The lovely Jessa is so f%$#ed up in her personal life, but is such a beautifully, free-wheeling, easy going character you can’t help but love her. And her clothes. While I’m unlike Jessa in every way, she is definitely the character I identify with style wise. Or in my other, fantasy life (you know the one you don’t live but if you did live in New York you know you’d just be like her? Kind of? Not at all? That fantasy life). She teams cut off shorts (by cut, I mean hand-cut with scissors) with chunky platform heels, blouses tied at the waist with flowing gypsy skirts, and always long, flowing hair with some kind of romantic nod to it – a plait, a top knot, a loose pony. Little lost Jessa is what they should call her. We all knew one in our 20’s! At least this one has great clothes.
1 Willow skirt, $395
2 Isabel Marant Etoile top, $295
3 Stella McCartney wedges, $548.97
Hannah (Lena Dunham)
Less known for her clothes than for her ripping soliloquies which I am truly envious of (she gives herself the best lines, naturally), Hannah’s wardrobe plays second fiddle to the star of the show: her mind. She favours pretty dresses which lightly fall over her body, paired with cardigans and flat shoes. Not one to shy away from nudity, she once swapped tops in the middle of a club with a guy to bare her breasts in mesh, Hannah is not self conscious, nor body conscious, so the fact that she’s not super fashion conscious fits in perfectly with her personality. You won’t see her blindly following trends for trends’ sake. A great role model for every young woman, really.
1 Miu Miu dress, $1810.76
2 TopShop shoes, $87.50
3 Cross body bag, ASOS, $53.85
Do you love the Girls fashion as much as we do? Tell us below!…
