In today’s world, what’s old is new again. Between fashion nostalgia and the mainstreaming of vintage hauls, more and more, we’re looking to years past for inspiration. And why shouldn’t we? Sometimes the answer isn’t buying new clothes, it’s working with what you’ve got. With This Old Thing?, we’re bringing you all the fashionable details, red carpet memories, and styling tips you’ll ever need—straight from the celebs you love.
A fashion icon since she was a tween, Kiernan Shipka has been turning looks in the public eye for over a decade. Since breaking into the collective consciousness as Mad Men’s dryly sarcastic Sally Draper, Shipka has gone on to topline Netflix’s Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina and play opposite Susan Sarandon in Ryan Murphy’s Feud: Bette And Joan. She’s also a venerable social media presence, posting beautifully photographed ‘fit pics to Instagram. In her latest film, Wildflower, Shipka plays Bea, the sardonic teenage daughter of two intellectually disabled adults who’s trying to decide whether she should take off and go to college or stick around and care for her family.
We caught up with Shipka while she was out promoting the movie, using our time to talk about 90-year-old jeans, what she learned from the Mad Men costume department, and why she thinks “Timmy” Chalamet is always and forever a fashion icon.
On Her "Wildflower" Wardrobe
One of the key pieces to her character is [how] the amount of responsibility she has leads to her not thinking about herself as much as she has to think about other people. It's an interesting thing when the wardrobe of the character has to seem as if it's almost an afterthought, but also still informs everything about them and tells you everything you need to know.
What I really liked about Bea’s style is that she's not interested in taking fashion risks. I knew that I wanted the clothing to feel like she was comfortable, and we ended up landing on a really simple floral that’s a little tomboyish and a little girly. There's an ease I think that she looks for in clothing. Her style is reflective of her keeping things simple in that area of her life.
On Falling in Love With Fashion
I was really young, because it happened when I was going into fittings with Janie Bryant, who was the costume designer on Mad Men. When you're surrounded by the most insanely amazing vintage stuff, it's pretty hard not to feel the pull. So I was really a baby when I started looking at what was then Style.com and then it became kind of an obsession around 11 or 12.
Janie was the person who told me style could tell a story. That to me is such a beautiful piece of advice. It might sound simple, but she continued to reiterate that the things that I was wearing meant something. It's not just about clothes looking good. I haven't ever forgotten that. When I think about fashion that way, I get way more excited about it.
