Fringe Binge for Nonstop Tina

The Movie: “What’s Love Got to Do With It”

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The Setup: Film biography of rock star Tina Turner (Angela Bassett), chronicling her humble beginnings, professional rise and fall and tumultuous marriage to bandleader Ike Turner (Laurence Fishburne, pictured with Bassett). Based on Turner’s autobiography “I, Tina.”

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The Costume Designer: Ruth Carter, whose work has appeared in “Malcolm X,” “School Daze,” “Jungle Fever,” “The Five Heartbeats,” “Do the Right Thing,” “Mo’ Better Blues” and other films.

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The Look: The late ‘60s and ‘70s weren’t the easiest fashion eras to digest--after all, women were going around in chamois halter tops and bell-bottoms, and men like Ike Turner were deep into stiff-collared Edwardian velvet coats. But Carter re-creates it all without making the looks too unfathomable. At the same time, she takes the best of the past and reassembles it into what appears today to be exciting fashion discoveries.

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Triumph: The revenge of the fringe. Not since the flapper era has fringe looked as good as on Turner. Her beaded, fringed mini-dresses don’t just reflect light, they never stop shaking. Watching Bassett move in them makes you wonder why every female performer at the time didn’t think of the same look. Turner was a friend of fringe offstage too. Her character wears several great fringed leather jackets in the film.

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The Bell-Bottom Threat: To those too young to have been there, the film will help explain what all the fuss is about in the current ‘60s and ‘70s retro fashion revivals. The movie could send everyone older back 20 years--Turner’s white bell-bottomed suit could even work for the office. However, her clingy chamois and suede gear--including another bell-bottomed suit and frayed performance dresses--should only be worn by the physically fit.

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Quoted: “There was a lot of ugly ‘70s stuff I wasn’t willing to relive,” said Carter. “I could have said everything has to be real ‘70s, but you want to love the clothes when you see the movie. The craze then was synthetics, but I didn’t want to use embossed polyester.”

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Sources: Most of the clothes were custom-made. The beaded dresses were made by Sylvia’s Costumes in Los Angeles. The fringed leather jackets are by DKNY and Claude Montana. The chamois suit is vintage. Ike’s ruffled Edwardian shirts are from Richard Tyler. Turner’s high-heeled performance shoes were made by her original cobbler, L.A.’s Di Fabrizio. Her platform shoes are from Anne Klein.