VIDEO VOGUE : Everybody Gets Into the Act
Guest shots of actresses, legions of dancers and casts of thousands populate the current crop of music videos. All those clothes come from places as diverse as Barneys New York and, closer to home, Melrose Avenue hip-hop shops.
Group Efforts: Forget Frank Sinatra and Elton John and their assorted duets. The hottest act is the unlikely combo of funky divas En Vogue and rap divas Salt-N-Pepa. In their joint “Whatta Man” video, to be released as soon as it squeaks past the censors, the diverse styles of high glamour and sexy street meet.
En Vogue’s favorite stylist, Danny Flynn, gave the groups curve-conscious grunge clothes to go with hair wiz Danilo’s wrapped, spit-curled and braided concoctions and Kevyn Aucoin’s fashion-layout-worthy makeup.
The Matthew Rolston-directed video features clothing from funky New York City boutiques, department stores and thrift shops. There are Maxine Jones, in a Patricia Field girlfriend T-shirt, thrift plaid shirt and little leather shorts from Barneys; DJ Spinderella (Deirdre Roper), in black briefs and a brown vinyl vest; Terry Ellis, in a short, tight, unbuttoned cardigan with a Screaming Mimi brown suede mini; Pepa (Sandy Denton), again in fashionable black briefs, black bra and Gaultier Junior jacket; Dawn Robinson, in Adidas leggings, combat boots, black bra and thrift-store plaid shirt, and Salt (Cheryl James), showing the most skin in her Exit 1 patchwork knit crop top and denim cutoffs.
Flynn disguised noticeably pregnant Cindy Herron in a striped Urban Outfitters shirt, oversize Gaultier Junior jeans up to her armpits and a turban made from a plaid flannel shirt.
Star Turns: In “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Norman Bates-ish fantasy video set in a morgue, Kim Basinger’s elaborate lace wedding gown was designed in a group effort by the actress, director Keir McFarlane and stylist Jeffrey Hill. . . . Actress Alicia Silverstone wears a breathlessly short stretch suede lace-up dress by designer Betsey Johnson in the new Aerosmith virtual reality video, “Amazing.” The dress is available in the designer’s shops on Melrose Avenue and in the Beverly Center for $141. . . . If you want a Chrome Hearts quilted black leather jacket or vest similar to Cher’s in “I Got You Babe,” the video with Beavis and Butt-head, it will set you back about $985 for the vest and a heart-stopping $8,000 for the jacket, at the Maxfield boutique in West Hollywood.
Fred and Ginger Encore: Spats and Converse high-tops mix it up in one of the most stylized ensemble videos on MTV, “Steppin’ Out With My Baby,” by veteran crooner Tony Bennett. Director Marcus Nispel, whose distinctive high-energy look has been seen in George Michael’s “Killer/Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” wanted this video to be a “modern-day tribute to Fred Astaire,” notes stylist Robert Molnar. His ballerinas, hip-hoppers, dapper Freds and retro Ginger ended up in clothes borrowed from the Helen Storey and Ghost showrooms, as well as Bennett’s closet. Molnar was set to snap up one costume shop’s chiffon and lame evening gown for Ginger even before he was told the dress had been worn by the real Ginger Rogers.
Another ensemble video, “Cantaloop,” by Us3, also has great jazzy/hip-hop style that was done on a shoestring budget with clothes from Melrose and La Brea shops, stylist Chris Strother says. Its characters wear casual clothes from Spike’s Joint West, the Stussy Union, Retail Slut and Beat Non Stop; thrift pieces from Jet Rag, and baby-doll dresses from Mitra Modelle. The green chiffon dress, which looks like something Ann-Margret might have loved in the ‘60s, was a $7 gem at Colours.
Double Takes: The vampire in Lenny Kravitz’s new video, “Is There Any Love in Your Heart,” is indeed top international model Eve Salvail, who has been seen on Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier and Chloe runways. You can recognize her by the dragon tattoo on the back of her bald head. . . . The lead singer in the Swedish band Ace of Base (“All That She Wants”) looks remarkably like Hillary Rodham Clinton--down to the Hillary-in-Vogue turtleneck, plain blazer and headband-era bangs.
