On-Screen Style Icons

It was my turn to choose a Thrifty Six theme this month, and I decided on On-Screen Style Icons! My themes in the past have been based on a specific clothing item or color (like red), so this time I wanted to get a little creative. I loved our Vivienne Westwood theme so much that it gave me the inspiration to dress as a favorite TV show or movie character.

I could think of all sorts of on-screen style icons… Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City”, Midge Maisel in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”… The list is endless. I’ve even dressed up as a handful of them before:

• Mindy Lahiri from “The Mindy Project”
• Midge Maisel from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
• Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s
• Betty, Veronica, and Cheryl from “Riverdale”
• Blair Waldorf from “Gossip Girl”

I was brainstorming different actresses and characters before it hit me—I should dress as Kim Wexler from “Better Call Saul”! My boyfriend and I have been watching the show and just finished season 5 last night. I love it so far, and Kim is such an inspiration (most of the time); she’s smart, beautiful, no-nonsense, and extremely good at her job as a lawyer. She also wears the most stylish suits and dresses to work every day! I couldn’t find any great pics of her outfits, but she wears a lot of greys and blues to go with her fair complexion and blue eyes.

I’ve mentioned a few times on the blog now that I’ve been feeling really inspired to wear blazers and to dress up for work lately, and I think it’s Kim Wexler’s influence. I’ve always loved workwear and used to think I should get a corporate job just so I could wear skirt suits every day. A full suit is definitely overdressed for my office, but that doesn’t mean I can’t rock separates—a blazer with plain black pants or a blouse with a pencil skirt, like I’ve done here.

I wore this outfit to work last week with a different pair of shoes. My grey and blue pinstripe pencil skirt is a hand-me-down from my mom’s cousin—it came with a matching blazer and matching pants as well. I usually end up styling the pieces with white, but my two usual white blouses were hanging out at the bottom of my dirty clothes hamper (white clothes always tend to do that). I reached for this white button-down instead, which used to be part of my school uniform in grade school! As much as I hated my uniform, which mostly consisted of hand-me-downs from my older brothers, I kept this white blouse all these years. Maybe because it was actually a female clothing item, or maybe because I saw its future potential… Either way, I’m so glad I held onto it because it looks great with this skirt.

Kim usually wears her outfits with pointy black stilettos, but I opted for these beige chunky heels instead. I also added a few dainty accessories—a silver G necklace and grey clip-on earrings—to mimic Kim’s signature gold stud earrings and necklace. I also threw on a little bit of black eyeliner and put my hair in a parted ponytail. Kim’s ponytail is always perfectly curled into one loop, but I couldn’t figure out how to do that; mine’s more of an “undone” look.

I topped the outfit off with this gorgeous dotted handbag from Kate Spade. I need to wear it more often—I always carry my beige tote to work because it’s big enough for my laptop, but this handbag would make a great professional alternative if you don’t carry a ton in and out of the office every day.

Who’s your on-screen style icon? Or favorite celebrity, if you have one? I’d love to hear in the comments below! And be sure to check out my thrifty friend’s secondhand outfits as well—links below.

Nancy of Nancy’s Fashion Style:

“Kat Farmer is known for her role in BBC One’s fashion styling show, You Are What You Wear. But she is an Insta influencer and that is where I know her from. I adore her style, I love it, want to wear it, own it, etc. Simple, a lot of black, but it’s more how she wears it! This woman is so relaxed about her looks. It’s almost annoying, lol. I decided to copy this outfit from Kat Farmer because she is my on screen style icon. And because black is my favourite colour. It does make me happy that such a popular woman gets away with wearing a lot of black. I feel fantastic in this outfit, it couldn’t be more me! Pre loved skirt, €6, from Vinted, but the previous owner lived in my village. So I could collect it at her house! Even more a bargain.”

Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge:

“One of my all time favorite On Screen Style Icons is Diane Keaton so she was my inspiration for this thrifty look, which layers a full brocade mini skirt over a midi length linen shirt dress (both thrifted) for a funky spin on her classic style. I added a preloved polka dot necktie to honor her Annie Hall days but I couldn’t decide which second-hand blazer was best, black velvet or houndstooth, or no blazer at all, so I am sharing all three looks for you to decide!”

Jodie of Jodie’s Touch of Style:

“I went with Helen Mirren, because after I saw her in the movie, Red, she has become my adult icon. Not only do I love her style, but also her attitude and wit. I always say I want to grow up to be her. Truthfully, most of her photos are with formal gowns, so I found one of her from the Cannes Festival. In fact, I had created a look that was more similar until I realized that I needed thrifted items, haha. So I changed to this Cabi jacket that I found recently while thrifting and the shoes used to be my bestie’s shoes. I inherited them when she passed away.”

Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade:

“Inspired by a timeless goddess… April’s T6 theme is ‘On Screen Style Icons’, there must be soooo many to choose from… However, if you name any famous film, I guarantee I won’t have seen it! I’m not a movie fan but this sheer lace dress really reminds me of something Cher once wore… so here I am paying homage to the truly timeless goddess herself. Big hair and a barely-there dress – all the semi-naked glamour of Cher’s red-carpet appearances circa 1986.”

Emma of Style Splash:

“I really struggled with this theme – probably because I don’t watch many films. I first thought about Carrie Bradshaw, but none of my outfit choices for her were preloved. Then, while I was searching for inspiration online, I kept seeing images of Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan. This vintage cropped jacket has been hanging on my wall as decoration, so I grabbed it, along with these second hand Zara harem pants to recreate Madonna’s iconic look.”

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Thanks for stopping by today!

Miles of smiles,

Grace

White Blouse: Old school uniform, $22 ($1.10 per wear), last worn here | Pinstripe Skirt: Hand-me-down, last worn here | Beige Heels: Vivaia, gifted by brand, last worn here | Dotted Purse: Kate Spade Outlet, $88 ($29.33 per wear), last worn here

Kim Wexler Photo Sources: Image 1, Image 2, Image 3