Enter Label: Helena Bonham Carter, my HEALINGVRSE muse
Dear Companion,
In this version of Oz, Dorthy is Helena Bonham Carter, pummeling down the road in black smudged makeup, chaotic hair, a punk opera and gothic style corset dress, normcore sneakers, a navy trench, swinging two shopping bags, with Toto buried inside.
On why this information belongs in a blog about healing, good question. I think an aspiration to—or an adulation of—a particular style in the midst of hardship is indicative of some form of healing.
I’m experiencing a clockwork orange effect toward pointless luxury items. It’s not like I was ever a fiend. Maybe marginally seduced? While I was pregnant, I went through a couple months where I looked at hundreds of designer handbags online but ultimately I couldn’t land on a choice. I didn’t understand the nuanced differences that each brand represented.
The whole research experience felt off. I mean I wore a Beauty and the Beast t-shirt, with overalls, for about 4 years of college. The logo trend? The Nude Trend? It’s not that I’m opposed to luxury or sexiness per se, no no….what I mean is, it just doesn’t motivate me to heal. I asked my younger sister what she is noticing in NYC from a fashion perspective, and she replied:
Non binary hottie wearing corset over 90’s grunge tee and baggy jeans and Doc Martens and chain necklace….i see that like, 3x per day…
dressing like an alien kind of vogue too: ala Grimes (elf ear plastic surgery)…
and then theres a whole chic lower east side scene mostly black that I don’t really know but may overlap with Balenciaga labels…
but Kardashian nude is not in common in NYC as far as I see, prob much more LA
Noted. I look at my closet filled with pre-pandemic me, and I do not know where to start.
Enter Helena Bonham Carter. A genuine badass. Just what the doctor ordered.
She always plays someone a bit off kilter. You may know her from more recent appearances as Princess Margaret in the The Crown. I fell in love with her in Fight Club where she played the wacky Marla Singer, the love (and hate) interest of Tyler. Just to share two classic Marla quotes:
"I got this dress at a thrift store for one dollar. It's a bridesmaid's dress. Someone loved it intensely for one day, and then tossed it. Like a Christmas tree. So special. Then, bam, it's on the side of the road. Tinsel still clinging to it. Like a sex crime victim. Underwear inside out. Bound with electrical tape."
"You fuck me, then you snub me. You love me, you hate me. You show me a sensitive side, then you turn into a total asshole. Is that an accurate description of our relationship Tyler?"
Her filmography includes a number of Tim Burton flicks as she was his long time muse (and partner) including Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland. Great cameo in Les Miserables too.
HBC’s style since the 90’s has been the absolute anti-hero of the red carpet. As described in Russh:
In a world of clean girls, sexxed up collections and sanitized, heavily curated style, Helena Bonham Carter's is the mid-course sorbet. Mixing art, femininity, fun and a little life-inflicted chaos, it's hers we feel ourselves drawn to as fashion continues its nostalgic beat.
What does HBC inspire in someone who has been wearing the same sweats for a while now, longer than I wish to recount. HBC provides that reminder, that flicker of my past. She has stayed authentic, from her 20’s to 30’s to 40’s and now 50’s. All the while never bending in her crusade.
I realize that just because her style is kooky does not mean it’s easy to achieve the look, at all. It’s perfectly imperfect, certainly expensive, original, and most importantly hers. But it’s not about necessarily emulating her.
The HBC photos speak to me like a character in a graphic novel, and tell me, come on Rebecca, you can do this, one day at a time, your wacky side will come back, your careless and fun anti hero spirit is still there, and when you emerge, you’ll waltz down the street, goth kilt underneath, shopping bag with notebooks, a couple croissants, whistling the tune: because because because becauseeeeeee because of the wonderful things he does!
Much love from the Healingvrse,
Rebecca
I love HBC. She seems kooky in a very genuine way. She does not try to be anybody else. She is perfectly comfortable being herself, regardless of how uncomfortable that may make anyone else feel.