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Few people have quite so distinctive a style as Helena Bonham Carter.
The 53-year-old actress is never a slave to the latest trends and is always uniquely herself with her fashion choices. Take the premiere of The Crown – which drops on Netflix today – where Carter wore a fantastically witchy outfit. It was a black tulle dress with a full skirt by Ryan Lo, given extra flair with pastel feather boas coming off the bodice. It’s everything we’ve come to love from the British actress: gothic, extra, and more than a bit mysterious. You really have to hand it to Carter – she has managed to cultivate an instantly recognizable and entirely unique sense of style over the years. Here’s how…
9OPEN GALLERY
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Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
All-Black Everything
Even from her early years on the red carpet, Carter showed off a love of black outfits, often in interesting materials like shiny satin and paired with sheer black tights.
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Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
Black is often seen as a subdued color, but Carter manages to inject her looks with a lot of personality. She goes for a ‘more is more’ approach to fashion – lots of necklaces, earrings, and hair accessories. In fact, she once jokingly told CNN: “I think that I think I’m a Christmas tree.”
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Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
This outfit from the 2019 Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Awards carries through the same style she had in the 90s: shiny black material, sheer tights, and mussed up hair. Those shoes must be a favorite because she has worn them time and time again – and again.
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Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
Trying on Tartan
When she’s not wearing all-black, Carter’s pattern of choice is tartan. This is probably due to her close relationship with Vivienne Westwood, a designer who champions the use of tartan in her work.
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Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
Historically a way of identifying different Scottish tribes, tartan became part of the underground subcultures of London in the 70s and was worn by rebellious figures like Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols.
Carter herself is known for being a rule-breaker, so it’s no surprise that she’s drawn to tartan. She told People in 2011: “Fashion is all about having fun. I think fashion has been hijacked by the fashion industry creating rules on what one should wear, and I feel like breaking the mold and seeing that the world won’t crumble.”
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Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
Many of Carter’s fashion choices have a costume element to them, and that’s on purpose. She told People: “For me, fashion is all about fantasy and putting unlikely things together. That’s what I love. I genuinely love dressing up.”
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Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
If It Ain't Broke
The actress certainly is consistent with her fashion choices – not only does she often wear Vivienne Westwood’s designs, but she also tends to choose the exact same silhouette and neckline of dress, involving a corseted bodice with a low-draped V cut across her chest.
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Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
If the neckline isn’t draped over her arms, she goes for a strapless style in the same corset shape.
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Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
She rewears her favorites, too. Carter has been pictured in this Vivienne Westwood dress multiple times over the span of nearly 15 years, and it encapsulates her style perfectly.
When CNN asked Carter if she saw her style as being eccentric, she simply replied: “No, I’m just being myself.”
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