Virgo A La Mode

Virgos are overlooked when it comes to style. Wedged between dramatic Leo and preening Libra, pragmatic Virgo is often seen as neat and nimble but not a fashion leader. But in reality, fashion has a strong Virgo placement.

Distinguishing details count in fashion’s endless cycles. If, for example, circle skirts come back every three to five years, the new batch will only sell if they’re significantly different from the old models, and it takes a Virgo-like approach to get such nuances spot on.

Similarly, seasonal collections are strongly influenced by Virgorean notions of eloquence and continuity: each brand wants its collection to be coherent and make a statement.

But more importantly, Virgos have often been able to challenge and even overturn old hierarchies in fashion and beyond. Their witty, no-nonsense attitude can help prune back fashion’s excesses and inspire elegance and an ethical approach to consumption.

With this Virgo Sun and New Moon opposing Neptune, it’s time to take inspiration from some Virgos who, unlike Beyonce, fabulous though she is, are truly their sign. Here are my top three:

The lately deceased Hollywood actress Lauren Bacall was born with brains versatility and beauty. I love the story of how on the set of To Have and Have Not, aged eighteen, she turned vulnerability into power. Legend has it that when she asked for a match to light her cigarette, the seasoned Humphrey Bogart threw a box of matches at her. The mortified Bacall shook from head to toe until she realized that ‘one way to hold my trembling head still was to keep it down, chin low, almost to my chest, and eyes up at Bogart’.

This was the beginning of ‘The Look’ that earned Bacall a sultry reputation, a throng of film roles, and Bogart as a husband… I think there’s something so distinctly Virgo about Bacall’s canny ability to turn terror into grace and seduction. I also love how she shunned frou-frou and bling and let her luscious hair and feline, wide-set eyes be her main jewels.

The celebrity fashion stylist and editor of Violet and previously Lula magazines, Leith Clark, is another Virgo who stands firmly by her style ideal. As a teenager, Clark felt alienated by the uber-sexualized, glamorous images of models in magazines, who seemed to be posing for an invisible man. He had nothing to do with what she found beautiful and felt about clothes.

So Clark pursued a more woman-orientated vision and styled her models and celebrity clients in a more expressive, Bohemian manner. Like Bacall, Clark prefers to keep hair and make-up natural so that the model appears as herself and not as a mask. Interestingly, Clark’s magazines have grown up with her. We’ve seen her gravitate from the scrapbook style Lula, with the by-line, ‘Girl of My Dreams,’ to the more sophisticated Violet, a magazine inspired by creative women of all ages.

Finally, my yoga teacher Nadia, who revealed she was a Virgo when she insisted that another student should straighten their wonky mat, has enlightened me since I began yoga almost a year ago. In my first class, all traumatic memories of school P.E. faded because a rose candle was burning, and Nadia walked in all soft-voiced and Audrey Hepburnish in a deep blue knit jumper.

The opposite of my P.E. teachers, Nadia has that rare combination of eloquence, attention to detail, and a lightness of touch. All super-Virgo traits, wouldn’t you agree? She can spot a saggy plank pose from a mile away and insists that the offender redeems themselves, but at the same time encourages her students to be as organic and flowing as trees in their poses and transitions.

True to her Virgo Sun, she shuns branded exercise gear in favor of olive greens, sapphire blues, and the occasional slogan t-shirt.

For me, these women are inspiring in their earthiness because they show us how to be beautiful on this planet and not in some alternate, amplified universe. Their ability to work with reality (whether a tricky work scenario or the fallible human body) is truly magic.

Katerina Pantelides is a dress historian and writer living in London. A Libra with Neptune rising, she is interested in the relationship between fashion, beauty, and the occult.

Image: Carmen Kass – Yelena Yumchuk – Vogue Nippon