Jane Hathaway Chic (update: Dec 29, 2008)
Bet those three words never got uttered in one breath, but it’s true: I guess I was complicit in mentioning Nancy Kulp’s name in one of my recent posts. Someone just remarked to me: “I got it! I can sum up your dressing style in two words: Jane Hathaway.
At first, I panicked. Thinking it was that nice attractive girl that everyone likes so much these days. But no: That’s Anne Hathaway. (Well heavens! it could be worse: if I am ever told there’s even twelve degrees of separation between me and Gwyneth, Angelina, or Beyonce….I would positively die!).
Happily, Jane Hathaway is the stickly, banker girl from The Beverley Hillbillies, voted as possibly America’s homeliest tv girl ever (yayyy!!!). I’ve never seen an episode before, so I decided to tune in after that comment was made about me. Sure enough, outfit after outfit, I was like “OMG! SHUT UP! I HAVE THAT EXACT OUTFIT! NO WAIT, I WORE THIS OTHER OUTFIT JUST LAST NIGHT!!!!”
Some interesting facts about Nancy Kulp:
Long divorced, she came out of the closet at the age of 67 and admitted she was a lesbian.
Had a Masters Degree in English & French from the University of Miami (Fla.)
Ran as a democratic candidate in Pennsylvania, but lost only after that dastardly Barnaby Jones shot from the hip and ran an ad for her opponent, stating that she was “too liberal.”
Contrary to the “love-starved” persona she portrayed in The Beverley Hillbillies, Kulp had a steady stream of admirers and dates among Hollywood’s showbiz community.
Can you say: cool?!
SherriB of http://sherribennett.blogspot.com/ says:
I might suggest that you wear your style with a bit more allure than Ms. Hathaway — who I would luv to see, out of sheer curiosity, in something racier — or even something butch — just to see if she could escape her on-screen asexual typecasting. Must intellect trump feminine wile for her type? Why not both? And the hair — that’s where she really needed work. Anyway, I thought of you yesterday as I watched June Allyson in Executive Suite. Those skirts! Infinitely more elan than Hathaway while still exuding that perky, facile wholesomeness that makes you wanna rush down to the bank to take out that 30-year mortgage, knowing the home will be immaculate and the martini glass perfectly chilled after your long day of office hardball, and June always up for a spot of romance.
Nice. That’s more of 50s post Dior New Look, pre S-line silhouette ala mid 50s. Hathaway’s vogue (or lack thereof) is early 60s. But it still surprises me that the Hathaway suits don’t look dated at all to my eyes (and we all know how contemporary my eyes are!)
Agreed on the Cinnabon / Prehistoric Princess Leia hairdo: it’s like the first headband-less headphones.
Your comment is prodding me to get on that entry I have been meaning to: “Girls who can’t deliver what their outfits promised.” The ones dress like a muddy Aguilera always turns out to be secret bible thumpers (look at Bettie Page).
But the ones who walk around town in a burlap sack and knock on your doors for Jesus will always send you home in a wheelchair.
btw, I saw the Hathaway outfit pictured above sold in Theory last year.
When I was in high school, girls wore dresses, period. (One day a year, in the spring, they could wear shorts to school.) And stockings, and girdles, no matter how slender the physique (this was pre-pantyhose and thigh highs). No jeans, no pants. I remember when the A-line-with-straps fashion swept through — us boys’ favorite variation was the one scooped below the breasts in front, sorta like this . Even with a blouse on underneath, the accentuation was riveting.
As for the door knocker types, I have had some experience with girls of such persuasion, and without exception, have found that those most ardently enamored of Jesus are also hotter than a 2 dollar pistol if you can just get past the sackcloth veneer. Such passion is simmering all the time … but oh, the baggage …
As for the flauntier types you mention, my experience there is that, with a couple of notable “nympho” (more high school parlance) exceptions, they tended to have calculating, mercenary hearts. Makes me think of Lily Tomlin doing her Laugh-In cheerleader routine –
Touch me touch me
Touch me touch
Touch me touch me
Touch me touch
…
That’s enough touch me touch me
Touch me touch
These days, people give me weird looks when I wear my skirts, even long. Ok ok….old ladies still adore it when they harrump, “my look is finally coming back!”
The funniest thing about the outfit you directed me to Kaboodle is how it makes me think of Japanese Pachinko. If you started at the neck and drop a silver ball, where would gravity bring it. (Feminist will want my head on a stick for objectification, but come on….what is fashion after all!?)
Based on the inverse proportion of biblebelt sackcloth vs. sack knowledge, I think Rick Warren better watch out if I ever get to bible thumping.
You ever notice the girls with sack knowledge who don’t advertise are always the ones all the boys are talking about. I’ll always remember this one girl. Sweetest person ever, even though in my time she was labeled with the d*rtbags. She rarely talks about sex, but OMG, you should hear the boys swoon over her craft!