Teen
fans stay in style with 'O.C.'s' evolving fashions
November 7,
2004
Costume designer mixes brand-name wear with off-the-rack
finds
Every generation has a TV show that embodies
the era's sense of style. Back in the '90s it was the classic Hollywood-inspired
looks of "Beverly Hills, 90210." In the '80s, audiences
were taking their cue from the pastel suit jacket over T-shirt and
shoes-with-no-socks look of "Miami Vice," and the all-out
glamour of "Dynasty."
Today, "The O.C."
and its young stars - Mischa Barton, Benjamin McKenzie, Rachel
Bilson and Adam Brody - are playing the role of fashion consultant.
And their style-obsessed fans are fixated on the new looks
that the high school kids of Newport Beach, Calif., are sporting
in the Fox series' second season (the show airs at 7 p.m.
Thursdays).
" 'The O.C.' is like the 'Sex and
the City' of the West Coast for teens," says Kim Askew,
a senior writer at Fashion Club, an online style report for
teens from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising
in Los Angeles.
"It's definitely more fashionable than other
teen shows, and it's also just funnier, more entertaining. You know
you're watching something where the writers are smart, because it's
all about pop-culture references. The music is huge, too."
That combination has been drawing fans to the prime-time soap
since its splashy debut.
"The O.C." ended its first season as a success, ranking
among the top 10 shows for teens ages 12 to 17.
Last year saw the characters Marissa and Ryan, along with Seth
and Summer, falling in and out of love. This season introduces
new regulars to avoid the kind of incestuous story lines seen
in the past on shows like "Beverly Hills, 90210." It
not only allows the show to evolve but in turn inspires costume
designer Karla Stevens in the wardrobe department.
There, on a recent morning, she was giving reporters a peek into
"The O.C." kids' closet, pulling outfits to put on dress
forms.
Stevens' job requires that she keep up with trends as well as
stay in touch with vendors about new merchandise from designers
such as Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan. She reserves three days of
the week for shopping in Beverly Hills at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman
Marcus and Barneys New York.
A lot of her shopping also is done in the South Bay area of Los
Angeles, where "The O.C." is filmed.
Sometimes
targeting Target
Stevens
always mixes designer brands with off-the-rack finds. Sometimes she
even hits Target, saying, "A great top by Mossimo you might pair
with a really great sweater and a pair of Chip & Pepper jeans."
A striped, zip-up sweater in pinks, oranges, blues and greens over
a tomato-colored tank top was paired with a pleated denim miniskirt
and a pair of red Marc Jacobs flats for one of the looks worn this
season by Marissa, who's still reeling from her break-up with Ryan,
played by McKenzie. Marissa is played on the show by 18-year-old
Barton.
"She's the fashion icon of the moment for
this generation, . . . that fresh-faced ingenue that never looks
like she's trying too hard, but she's always perfectly put together,"
says Gina LaMorte, a stylist for Teen People magazine and founder
of www.thestyledoctor.com, an online fashion resource for girls.
From Marissa
to "happening"
Last
season, Barton's character was all about clean silhouettes and Chanel
handbags, a combo that signals status with virtually no effort. Her
skirts get longer this year, and she wears a few tweed hats and pearls.
But otherwise, designers decided, why fix what obviously has been
working?
The sway Barton has with fashion-obsessed teens amazes even Stevens.
"If Mischa wears it, I can't even tell you what happens,"
she says, recalling the night that Barton wore a set of beads to
the Teen Choice Awards. Once word got out, the store where she bought
the beads couldn't keep up with demand. "It's just amazing
how that happens."
And while the boys may not be as fashion forward as the girls,
at least one will be giving more attention to his look. Seth, the
lovable slacker played by 24-year-old Brody, returns from a sailing
adventure a new man.
He will be sporting Vans slip-ons, trousers and long-sleeved shirts
in solids and stripes. That more serious, grown-up style replaces
the Penguin shirts that served as his trademark in the first season
and which Brody adopted off-screen as well.
"You see pictures of him out and about in practically every
issue of People, and that's what he's wearing normally, too,"
says Fashion Club's Askew, who credits Brody's character with popularizing
the retro T-shirt look.
The question remains: Will fans of "The
O.C." take the cue?
