Chloë Sevigny Has Seen Your Memes About Her Style

Hi, I'm Chloe Sevigny,

and this is my Life In Looks.

[upbeat mellow music]

Let the shame and regret begin.

This was my first real runway show.

I have a lot of memory of this day.

My father and my mother came,

and the show was, I think, at Bryant Park

and I remember taking, like, the subway back

to downtown with them after.

I can't remember if I opened or Kate opened.

All I knew is that I was way out of my league.

I was terrified.

And Mucha, the kind, loving woman that she is,

which a lot of people don't know,

gave me a few practice runs

and was very encouraging.

I think growing up in the '90s,

I never thought about, like, Sex sells.

Like, it wasn't something

that I was even trying to do in pictures.

And I think that's so pervasive now.

And so when I look back at photos of me and Isaia,

I think it's very, you know, innocent in a way.

Next one.

Okay.

Here we go.

This was at the premiere of Trees Lounge.

I'm wearing a vintage dress,

some tights that I probably got at Love Saves the Day,

which was a vintage store on Second Avenue in East Village.

The coat I'm sitting on was a Miu Miu coat

that I think they gifted me.

They were always very generous.

And I'm wearing a corsage

that I probably had made at the Gramercy Florist,

because I was obsessed with this film Streetwise,

and there's a girl in the film Streetwise

by Mary Ellen Mark

who wears a corsage on her winter jacket.

And I just thought it was like the coolest accessory,

and that was a big part of my life.

Trees Lounge was my second film.

I had made Kids.

People were becoming interested in me as an actress.

Somehow, I ended up having an audition for Steve Buscemi

for his directorial debut,

and he wanted me to do all this improving

and I was very shy,

and I think he almost fired me

and I was like, Don't worry.

I know I'm,

I'm failing you in this moment right now

because I don't have the wherewithal

to do this kind of improvisation.

But when we get on set,

I promise I'll deliver the goods.

This is me at the Oscars.

I was nominated for playing Lana Tisdel in Boys Don't Cry.

I am wearing an Alber Elbaz for Yves Saint Laurent

and Bulgari bracelets.

I remember, though, being very confused

or feeling guilty

that here I was, draped in all this finery

while the girl I portrayed

was still back in Nebraska,

having lost her loved ones.

I knew that the photo would probably come up

for the rest of my life,

so I wanted to do something more timeless.

The plunge is a little deep for me now,

I might,

I have to admit,

and I still own this gown.

It's in storage.

And I think I still own those satin Manolos.

I see my little toe peeping out there.

Those were my first pair of Manolos.

Don't own any of the jewelry.

Had to borrow it

and give it back.

Acting in Boys Don't Cry was, to me,

it was one of my greatest opportunities as an actress,

'cause the movie was talking about so many issues -

still is -

that I think need to be brought to the forefront

and could hopefully expand people's minds.

Okay.

This was for Vogue by Annie Leibovitz

in Helmut Lang,

who I had become friends with

through Ingrid Sischy.

She was the editor of Interview Magazine,

and I miss her dearly.

I just remember just being in awe of her studio

and her as a personality

and just thinking,

Wow, I can't believe I'm even here,

getting my photo taken by this person,

this icon.

And of course I was in love with Helmut

and everything he did.

People really love this dress on Instagram.

I've seen many memes around this dress.

This is Mark Jacobs for Louis Vuitton.

Super fun.

This top is small.

I think a lot of the times

earlier on my career

and I didn't have a stylist,

I would see it on the runway

and my publicist would call it in

and I would just hope and pray that I fit into things.

And oftentimes, it would be last-minute

and I'd have to just kind of wear something

'cause I didn't have, like, somebody there

with a rack of alternatives, so...

And I think this works.

This is cute. This is cute.

It's a lot of boob, but, you know.

I feel like I'm getting more comfortable here.

I probably, again, did my own hair and makeup.

Wish I had that body right now.

[Chloe laughs]

Oh, well.

Keep going.

Okay.

This outfit, I got a lot of ridicule for.

My friend Tara Subkoff designed a line

called Imitation of Christ,

which I had a lot to do with the genesis of.

Our first show was in Los Angeles.

I helped style and walk it.

And then we had a show in New York

at a funeral parlor

and we were using all old clothes

that were reconstructed,

and I'm wearing some Nicolas Ghesquiere Balenciaga shoes,

which I still have.

It was raining.

I'm wearing a raincoat, which is vintage YSL.

The tea dress was some '40s whatever vintage

and the Ray-Bans were what I got a lot of slack for.

I got so much slack in the Us Weeklys

and the other tabloids

that my manager -

or maybe she was my agent at the time -

and my publicist made a conference call to me

to tell me that I had to stop wearing them

because there was so much negative press around them

and they were embarrassed for me.

[Chloe laughs]

Here I am

at one of my presentations

for one of my collections that I collaborated with,

designing for Opening Ceremony,

which was a store and brand

in Downtown New York.

This was a collection called The Five Dresses.

So I made five different dress patterns

in five different patterns.

[Chloe laughs]

So if you like the shape of one dress,

you could have it in five different patterns or color ways.

I thought it was clever. My idea.

I think I did five or six collaborations with them.

I always just said

I'm not sure I wanted

to put any more product out into the world.

I was really grappling with that,

and I would have girls come up to me

and be like, I saved all my money to get the shoes.

I know that feeling and that desire,

and I didn't know if I wanted to,

like, feed into that so much.

That being said,

I still have done little capsule things

with friends here and there,

more as a way

to help bring awareness to friends' brands.

This is when I won my Golden Globe

for my portrayal of Nicki in Big Love.

This is a Valentino gown.

It's a beautiful lavender hue.

This photo doesn't do it any credit.

And when I was walking up onto the stage

to receive my award,

the gentleman who escorts you up the steps

stepped on my train

and the whole train tore,

and if you watch the video, you can hear me,

Ah! My dress!

Because I heard it tear behind me.

I mean, Nicki was a character that,

I mean, I love and and miss

and I think she was, you know,

the most complicated of the sister wives.

She was bridging the gap between,

you know, the modern world

and the world she had grown up on the compound with.

I kind of think of it as litmus test

when people come up to me

and be like, Oh, that Nicki was such a bitch.

I was like, No, she was just very misunderstood.

I think when I was offered this role,

I had been living check-to-check

and doing mostly indie work,

and I was supporting my mother and myself.

I think I just was kind of tired

and, you know, I was in my late 20s

and I wanted to, like, buy an apartment

and I just wanted to have some more security.

But it was a real choice then

to do TV,

'cause it was very much like you were either on TV

or you were in the movies.

Here I am walking in front of St. Mark's Church.

I actually lived on this block.

This cute number over here was Ginnifer Goodwin.

She was on Big Love.

She played Marge.

And she was shooting a film on this block.

I went to visit her

'cause she was in my front yard.

I'm wearing one of my favorite pairs of Levis,

some Chanel clogs,

very fancy clogs

that I think were a sample

that somehow I hoodwinked them into giving me.

Most of my luxury items were gifts.

A vintage Cramps shirt

that I think I got at Metropolis,

which was around the corner.

Suspenders.

Did I need to be wearing them?

Probably not.

I think I had a tendency to, like, over-accessorize

because I found myself not very interesting

just on my own,

so I would pile stuff on.

It was just like an an ode to things that I loved.

You know, I loved the Gavin Watson Skins book

since I was a teenager.

I was very inspired by all those photos

and punk and ska scene.

So I think it was just a,

a way of celebrating

that history,

kind of what they mean

and the history of street style.

This is when I first started working with Haley Wollens,

who I love and admire.

And this was,

I think, one of the last times

I was invited to attend the Met Gala.

Through the Looking Glass theme

and JW Anderson designed this beautiful garment

from vintage fabrics for me.

We were looking at, like, silhouettes

from his current collection.

I remember then

wanting to go out to the parties after

and not being allowed to wear the jewelry.

[Chloe laughs]

Getting all, Now my luck is ruined.

I feel like this really came together

because of Haley's genius,

and she's really made me feel so much more confident

in my looks and my body and my style.

And I think that's really what a great stylist can do

is help you kind of own yourself more.

Still, if I'm going somewhere she's not around,

I'll send her a photo,

and she'd be like, Oh, this shoe's cuter than that shoe,

or something like that.

She loves a pointy shoe.

I'm more of a clodhopper,

'cause I'm a true alternative girl,

but [Chloe laughs]

I try to heed her advice.

The next.

Ah.

This dress came up recently.

Olivia Rodrigo was wearing it

in one of her Vogue videos.

It was a gift from my dear friend Miriam Lang.

When I turned 40, she had hauled it down to Mexico.

I had my 40th birthday in Tulum

with a handful of friends, like you do.

It's pretty basic now,

but then I guess it wasn't.

It has a belt and jacket.

I noticed that she wasn't wearing the belt,

which I found odd

because it's cute.

Wearing some Miu Miu clodhoppers,

glasses.

No idea.

Smirk, terrible.

[Chloe laughs]

It's just like a awful paparazzi shot.

Here I am walking for Simone Rocha in London.

I went over to be in the show.

She said she was having real girls.

I had first seen Simone,

I saw, like, a sock with pearls,

like a pantyho with pearls.

And I was like, Who is making these pantyhose with pearls?

Who is this person?

Then I discovered her garments

and fell in love with the world that she creates

and the fantasy.

I remember walking with a slight smile,

which is something I try and do

so I don't look dour.

I just wanted to look friendly.

I feel like all, you know,

the young girls on the catwalk,

they don't look that friendly.

And I was like, You know, I'm really,

I'm happy walking.

Why should I look dour?

Oh.

This is my wedding day.

I married my husband, Sinisa.

We got married in Darien, Connecticut,

where I grew up, in a small church,

and this is the reception,

which was held at a park

where I had done a lot of acid as a teenager.

And I'm wearing a Glenn Martens

for Gaultier Couture custom gown,

and Sinisa's wearing custom Bottega.

I feel like wedding dresses are very hard.

It's very hard to do something original.

I did have three looks at my wedding.

Why? I don't know.

I feel like I spent halfway changing.

[Chloe laughs]

Haley and I got together

and we just thought about

who were our favorite designers right now,

who could we approach?

Glenn Martens.

And then JW made a dress

that I wore in the middle,

at the reception,

and Casey Codwallader made a kind of catsuit

for the after party.

So I got three different flavors.

I don't regret a thing, actually,

and wish I could go back and do it over and over again.

This is me in Hollywood.

I think we were on the Paramount lot

shooting a Mugler video.

I was squeezed into this one.

It's real cinched, as they say.

I remember being like, Can I do this?

They were having like Amber and Shalom

and, like, all these older supermodels,

and I was like, I don't know how I'm gonna do this.

Like, Bella Hadid, all these girls.

I was like, Whoa. Weird.

I'm gonna look like a fool.

But I knew the filmmakers would take care of me.

I think I often also like that,

like, doing shoots

with stylists or photographers

who I really admire,

and letting them kind of project

whatever they want to onto me,

and my own personal style, I feel like,

is kind of maintained.

I feel like my hem lengths might be getting a little longer,

but I think maybe it's time to transition

to a little more subdued elegance.

I feel like I don't need to maybe pile it on

as much as I used to,

but I'm still, like now, in a gray cardigan,

Mickey Mouse.

So holding onto something.

This is me as C.Z. Guest

in the new season of Feud.

C.Z. Guest was a famous socialite

and style icon.

Adds a lot of pressure to play someone

who people hold in such high regard.

I know we tried to be as specific to her as possible,

poring over research photos of her,

and the costume designer was obsessed with accuracy

and resourcing vintage looks

from very specific shows

that she knew aligned with the year

and time period that we were filming specific scenes for.

And it was just so great to give myself over to her

and put all my trust in her

and let her dress me like a little doll.

[upbeat mellow music]

And that was my Life in Looks.

Thank you, Vogue.

[upbeat mellow music]