{"id":46890,"date":"2022-04-07T23:48:28","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T03:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=46890"},"modified":"2022-04-07T23:55:13","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T03:55:13","slug":"throwback-thursday-looking-like-liza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/throwback-thursday-looking-like-liza\/","title":{"rendered":"Throwback Thursday: Looking Like Liza"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Liza Minnelli’s appearance at the Oscars last month<\/a> reminded me that I have a personal \u201cNever Is the Next New Thing\u2122\u201d<\/a> situation to report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I usually apply \u201cNever Is the Next New Thing\u2122<\/a>\u201d to fashion trends, having long observed that the most provocative\/grating\/startling looks \u2014 the ones that make you say, \u201cI would NEVER wear that!\u201d \u2014 are the ones most likely to become trends, big or small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every so often, I have a private \u201cNever Is the Next New Thing\u2122\u201d<\/a> transformation. For example, in 2008, I gave the hairy eyeball to Martin Margiela’s famous tabi boots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click for my disapproving post.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 2011, I had to confess I’d fallen for not just one, but two pairs, of Vivienne Westwood animal-toe shoes. Not the same, obviously, but definitely heading down a new toe path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click for the confession.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

More recently, out of the blue, I find myself coveting an actual pair of the Margiela tabis. Fourteen years turned me from a hater into a fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting back to Liza, I’ve been told I look like her all my life. Even though Cabaret<\/a><\/em> is one of my favorite movies — specifically because Liza is so irresistible in it — I always disliked the comparison. It was never clear from the speaker’s tone if being a Liza-alike was a good thing. In my first couple of months of blogging, back in 2007, I found this kind of comment annoying enough to write a post titled “Life Is Not a Caberet. Stop Calling Me ‘Old Chum’!<\/a>” because, as I said, “Some guy told me I look like Liza Minnelli, which was not exactly the #1 compliment of my life.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five years later, I did get one of the top compliments of my life, related to Liza. The circumstances were memorable <\/a> I described the moment in a blog post:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“… a man at the table next to us on an L.A. restaurant patio ask<\/em>ed,<\/em> \u201cDo you know who Liza Minnelli is?\u201d I had been peeking at him all night. He was a large man with a white beard who was wearing biker-esque clothes and a black leather top hat, kind of like a rough-trade Santa Claus. He was sharing his bread with his dog, who was bigger than a small pony.  I said, \u201cYes, of course.\u201d He said, \u201cHas anyone ever told you \u2026\u201d and I said, \u201cOh, people have told me that I look like Liza, though not in a long time.\u201d He said, \u201cNo, you don\u2019t look like Liza. You\u2019re what Liza has been trying to look like all her life.\u201d I thanked him and he went back to his bread basket and large dog. The peculiar compliments are often the most gratifying ones, don\u2019t you agree?”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When a rough-trade Santa Claus tells you that you look like Liza’s #goals — well, that’s clearly flattering. Interestingly, I was inwardly defensive of Liza, thinking, “But she’s the original!” At any rate, my attitude changed. In early 2020 — one of my last pre-pandemic social outings — I even paused by Liza’s photo in Carnegie Hall to take a “twins” picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click for my original Instagram post.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I outdid that last Halloween. After watching “Mein Herr” from Cabaret<\/em> on repeat, I tried my best to go full Liza. I required makeup-artist assistance to fake the skinny brows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That’s blurry Liza in a screencap on the right. Click to see the genuine skinny brows I had in 1994.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The hat I wore was an old party favor that I kept just in case I ever needed it. (And I DID need it! Packrats for the win!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click for my original Instagram post.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The look wasn’t bad but I thought my hat, shoes, and hair could have been better. Also, I had a black manicure rather than Liza’s signature “Divine Decadence” green. Escandaloso! I’ve actually been contemplating a redo next Halloween, just to get it perfect. I can see it now: I’ll wind up dressing like Liza every year, each time making extravagant additions. Check with me in 2025: I’ll probably be carrying a chair, surrounded by dancers in shabby lingerie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click to watch “Mein Herr”<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liza Minnelli’s appearance at the Oscars last month reminded me that I have a personal \u201cNever Is the Next New Thing\u2122\u201d situation to report. I usually apply \u201cNever Is the Next New Thing\u2122\u201d to fashion trends, having long observed that the most provocative\/grating\/startling looks \u2014 the ones that make you say, \u201cI would NEVER wear…<\/p>\n

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