Dressing Up
NEW YORK — Dressing down — for the office, special occasions and even supposed black-tie affairs — has been around so long today's teenagers and 20-somethings are over it.
Instead of embracing the sloppy look society has come to expect from its youth, this generation takes pride in pulling its look together.
"Young people are really excited about getting dressed up," said Eric Daman, costume designer for "Gossip Girl."
But he added there is nothing old or stodgy about the new "fancy."
"They like to mix a great little leather jacket with a cocktail dress, or they'll take that leather jacket and make it a New Year's outfit with a sequin blazer, a boy's tank top and skinny jeans and rock 'n' roll boots. They'll take a dress-up item and dress it down just enough," said Daman, whose style-advice book "You Know You Want It" was just published by Clarkson Potter.
"Gossip Girl" star Leighton Meester writes in the forward she had a more casual style before Daman persuaded her to start trying on trends.
"I feel so much more comfortable going outside of myself and dressing up; I appreciate designer clothing and beautiful material," she writes.
Spoken like a connoisseur of fashion — and Meester is 23 years old.
And there's no doubt Meester and co-star Blake Lively are considered trendsetters, with them turning out to attend, say, an afternoon fashion show in a cocktail frock. There's no grunge here as their on- and off-set wardrobes are chronicled by the press.
Perhaps it's not lost on these young stars the lasting fashion images of the class of celebrities just before them — Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears, included — are mostly disheveled "don'ts."
For 17-year-old Doc Shaw of Disney Channel's "The Suite Life on Deck," the turning point in his wardrobe came young.
"I've been dressing up for years. I like to know I look presentable."
Sure, he was teased a little in his Atlanta-area public school, he said, but now he sees 13- and 14-year-olds trending toward the geek-chic look. Shaw likes to think he was ahead of that curve.
And where did he get the idea dressing up gets you noticed for the right reasons? Music videos, he says.
Videos also exposed him to the brands Shaw now rattles off: his David Yurman jewelry, True Religion jeans, Tom Ford suit and Gucci shoes.
"Anywhere you go, you never know what can happen or who is looking at you. I want to look ready," Shaw said.
But even those who needn't fear the paparazzi have bought in to that look-good, get-noticed mentality.
Kyla Normand, 22, of North Kingstown, R.I., said she has always looked pulled together, even when she was still a student at the University of Virginia. The economic downturn has made a professional appearance a must for women her age, she said.
"The population of young people has to brand themselves as more professional and mature and capable of producing the same quality of work as someone with experience," Normand said. "Maybe it's materialistic, but dressing up definitely shows employers that a person values their job."
"Girls love sparkly stuff — innately," Daman said. But his suggestion for a young woman who really wants to be trend-right going into 2010 would be to wear matte sequins.
