Taigan Fetch Magazine by Taigan

One of the seminal moments in fashion occurred during the early 1990s. Style replaced Fashion. It made sense—there were so many choices, the latter became too hard to define. In any given fashion season, there is no longer a pre-ordained single look, but a variety of looks from which to choose: ‘40s style man-tailoring, ‘50s retro couture, ‘60s Mod Squad, ‘70s Bohemian Chic. You want it? Somewhere you can find it. Style gave women license to find the inner “them”, to embrace a look that suited their body type, to make them feel more comfortable in their skins.

Now, as we enter the second decade of the second millennium, I am sensing a hunger not just for style but for glamour. My book THE POWER OF GLAMOUR (1998) profiled eleven actresses (including Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Carole Lombard) from the silent movie era up to World War II, otherwise known as the Golden Age of Cinema. In those days, glamour meant intrigue, mystery, knowing how much to reveal and when to reveal it. What these stars practiced both in public and private was akin to glamour’s original meaning: witchcraft.

There’s no point in celebrating the icons of a bygone era. It’s been done to death by me and other style writers. But these days when I look through the celebrity rags and fashion magazines showcasing the current actresses, celebutantes, medialites and—ugh—reality television stars I’m stumped. I rarely come across a photo of anyone that prompts me to say to myself, “Wow. She looks great. Dress, accessories, hair and makeup—it all works. She sends a message.” Is my eye too old and tired? Am I too invested in the past? I don’t think so. I love glamorous clothes. My own guilty fashion pleasures are sequins, jeweled appliqués, anything gold or silver, feathers and fur. I appreciate bling and flash; I love a show-stopper dress.

But rather than my trying to decipher what glamour means in 2010 and who has it, I reached out to several young fashion-conscious women between the ages of 25 and 35. I was surprised by what they had to say. I thought asking them to define glamour as opposed to style would be more elusive to them, that the very notion might seem archaic. I was dead wrong.

“Glamour is style on steroids,” says advertising executive Mia Lehmkuhl. “It’s over-the-top luxury. In an age when most celebs are just hangers for the clothes a stylist chooses for them, I see people like Sienna Miller, Rihanna, Kate Bosworth, and my all time favorite, Kate Middleton, as current representations of glamour. I think glamour has always been about risk taking, trying new things, and in the next decade the envelope will continue to be pushed further—as evidenced by Lady Gaga.”

Minnie Mortimer, a Los Angeles based fashion designer, says, “Glamour is as much a mindset as it is an outward appearance. That’s why it’s so hard for us to reproduce the effect. The glamorous have an awareness of their bodies and comfort in their own skin and this is the main reason we find them so attractive. It takes skill and confidence to meld your clothes and body into a style that is in essence you. A truly glamorous woman can make a prison jumpsuit look stylish.”

In New York, architect Laura Weatherly believes that “Glamour is entangled with style, but also transcends it. There’s more intelligence and mystique to glamour. It depends on a woman’s character, how she carries herself. The most glamorous women are smart, beautiful, funny, and not shy about expressing themselves.”

Music producer Kelly Fulton defines glamour as “working off the classics, and integrating the ‘frosting’ of modern trends in a way that brings fresh life to those timeless foundations. Glamour and style are different, you can wear casual clothes with style and yet they won’t necessarily look glamorous….To look glamorous is to look expensive. This was true of glamour in the past, where female celebrities were adorned in furs, magnificent cuts from top designers, and beautiful fabrics and textures. Today, it seems to have translated into a combination of the old rules, topped with how much gold you can integrate into your wardrobe. People who I think have achieved glamour in the modern sense: Kate Moss, Eva Green, Angelina Jolie, Beyonce Knowles, and Marion Cotillard.”

Georgia Tapert, owner of Georgia Tapert Living: “To me glamour is not looking like everyone else. It’s taking chances but not looking as if you’ve tried too hard. Some of the most glamorous women are usually not the ones following the trends, but rather incorporating something that might be of the moment into their signature look.”

Okay, now I’ll share my definition. What is glamorous in print is different than what is glamorous in person. The old time movie stars had a serious advantage over the stars today: Black and white photography. But in the flesh the meaning, for me, is still the same no matter what the era: Glamour belongs to the male or female who has the ability to change the temperature of the room as soon as he or she enters it.

Annette Tapert is the author of The Power of Glamour and The Power of Style. She has written extensively on fashion and style for a variety of publications, including Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, and Architectural Digest. She is also the mother of Taigan’s own Georgia Tapert.

Pictured above, from left: Supermodel Kate Moss, the epitome of insouciant glamour in a chic fur jacket and loose blonde hair on her way to a London dinner; French actress Marion Cotillard, in black satin and just the right touch of bling on her wrist, channels old-fashioned movie star glamour–albeit with a lot more leg–at this year’s Golden Globes after-party; Beyonce beams confident, elegant, all-American glamour after an appearance on the David Letterman Show last spring; French actress Eva Green demonstrates why she was the first Bond girl to break 007′s heart.

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