{"id":2791,"date":"2021-04-07T21:56:49","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T21:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=19125"},"modified":"2021-04-11T12:08:12","modified_gmt":"2021-04-11T12:08:12","slug":"billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/","title":{"rendered":"Billie Holiday’s Fashion Was An Act Of Defiance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Billie
Billie Holiday (Photo: Charles Hewitt\/Picture Post\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is a scene in Lee Daniels\u2019 <\/span>The United States vs. Billie Holiday<\/span><\/i><\/a> when the legendary jazz musician (portrayed by Golden Globe-winning actress Andra Day<\/a> in the title role) <\/span>is denied access to an elevator in a fancy hotel<\/span><\/a> with her (white) friend Tallulah Bankhead<\/a>. \u201cYou\u2019ll have to take the service elevator,\u201d the Black attendant tells Holiday. Adjusting her fur shawl \u2014 paired with large diamond earrings, a matching necklace, and a floral dress made custom by costume designer Paolo Nieddu<\/a> \u2014 Holiday walked away. But it\u2019s Holiday\u2019s reaction \u2014 pulling herself together within seconds by recentering her fur and walking out of the hotel lobby, head held high \u2014 is an example of how she used her clothing as armour.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI could see around me many Black American people whose excellence was rewarded with very harsh treatment by the government, or the system in Hollywood, or the theatre system or whatever,\u201d Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and the film\u2019s screenwriter Suzan-Lori Parks<\/span> told the Los Angeles Times when the biopic was released<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI did the math and realised it must have had something to do with the status quo, you know? The powers that be must have had some hand in Billie Holiday\u2019s downfall. The biopic reframes Holiday’s legacy and confronts the United States government\u2019s conspiracies to stop her from singing “Strange Fruit,\u201d a haunting song focusing on the epidemic of lynching in the American South during the early 20th century. Former Los Angeles Times jazz critic <\/span>Leonard Feather<\/span><\/a> described it as<\/span><\/a> \u201cthe first significant protest song in words and music, the first unmuted cry against racism.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Holiday wasn’t only protesting with her voice, but with her appearance also. Day told Entertainment Weekly<\/span><\/a> she considered Holiday\u2019s looks an act of defiance, particularly her diamond jewellery. \u201cIt\u2019s important when we talk about her fashion that we remember how radical it was for a Black woman to be in her position during that era,\u201d <\/span>Day told<\/span> Vogue<\/span><\/i> earlier this year.<\/span><\/a> \u201cMainstream society had a problem with seeing Black women in the context of success. In those days, uppity was still part of the vernacular. People said, \u2018How dare she wear diamonds, how dare she wear fur,\u2019 but she dressed as a woman of her stature should have. She represented herself exactly as she wanted to and that in itself was revolutionary.\u201d Holiday\u2019s fashion was very much part of her activism but it was joyful, too. <\/span>\u201cBillie was a global superstar during her lifetime and set trends,\u201d<\/span> Day told <\/span>Vogue<\/span><\/i><\/a>. \u201cIn the film, we\u2019re in [clothes] that are accurate for the period, and it feels modern because she was so ahead of her time. In the 40s, she was wearing the cowl-neck sweaters that became popular in the 1960s, designers were making clothes especially for her, and magazines around the world would document each outfit she wore.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Billie
Billie Holiday (Photo: William P. Gottlieb\/Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Fund Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The United States vs. Billie Holiday<\/em> costume designer Paolo Nieddu tells <\/span>GRAZIA<\/span><\/i> it was important for Holiday\u2019s portrayal in the film to be glamorous. \u201cLee Daniels said that he wanted her to look like Black excellence,\u201d Nieddu said. Holiday travelled the world, she played Carnegie Hall, but she also was a New Yorker and a woman living in Harlem during the golden age of jazz. \u201cAll artists express themselves through fashion,” he confirmed. “I thought it was really important for me to make sure she had that star quality at all times.\u201d In his research, Nieddu (who has also brought the characters to life through clothing on the <\/span>SATC<\/span><\/i>\u00a0movie, <\/span>Confessions of a Shopaholic<\/span><\/i>, and Fox\u2019s <\/span>Empire<\/span><\/i>) found that Holiday was always \u2018done,\u2019 and was someone who enjoyed fashion a lot. He worked with Prada on nine costumes to ensure the film\u2019s visuals were as impactful as the actual story. Prada is timeless, Nieddu told <\/span>GRAZIA<\/span><\/i> of the collaboration, because of its \u201dmodern yet vintage feeling that\u2019s still very feminine with its the-mid century glamour.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Holiday\u2019s story is tragic. She died at 44 after being repeatedly targeted by the government<\/a> but as Nieddu put it, Holiday\u2019s use of fashion as resistance was a shield against those demonising the singer for her struggles. \u201cShe never let them see her sweat,\u201d he said. \u201cShe lived her life. I think she took those low moments as a way to shine brighter. Billie had something to say and she said it unapologetically. She looked as powerful as her words were and it showed in how she presented herself with her clothing.\u201d Nieddu hopes viewers not only remember Holiday for wearing a flower in her hair and long gloves but as an icon in the same regard like Elvis, David Bowie, or Tina Turner<\/a>: music icons with great style. \u201cTo me she is in that league and she was a pioneer,\u201d Nieddu said. \u201cI definitely would want people to look at her and not think of tragedy but her clothing, style and individuality,\u201d he continued. \u201cShe was so avant-garde. I want people to say, \u2018wow Billie Holiday is a fashion icon.’<\/em> Now that people have seen this movie, it creates a new sort of vision of Billie Holiday in their head. I hope I did her proud,\u201d said Nieddu.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is that the government took down this woman,\u201d Daniels said of the iconic singer<\/a>. \u201cShe was a civil rights leader, an icon in fashion, a Black woman, and a brilliant singer. Like most African Americans in that era, she grew up impoverished and had a complicated past. She did what she could do with her upbringing, but she was a hero.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28001,"featured_media":2793,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[260,65,35],"yoast_head":"\nBillie Holiday's Now Iconic Fashion Was An Act Of Defiance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cIt\u2019s important when we talk about her fashion that we remember how radical it was for a Black woman to be in her position during that era,\u201d said Andra Day, the actress who starred in The United States vs. Billie Holiday.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Billie Holiday's Fashion Was An Act Of Defiance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIt\u2019s important when we talk about her fashion that we remember how radical it was for a Black woman to be in her position during that era,\u201d said Andra Day, the actress who starred in The United States vs. Billie Holiday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grazia Middle East\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-11T12:08:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/04\/billie-holiday-fashion.jpg?fit=1280%2C720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/\",\"name\":\"Billie Holiday's Now Iconic Fashion Was An Act Of Defiance\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-07T21:56:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-11T12:08:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"\u201cIt\u2019s important when we talk about her fashion that we remember how radical it was for a Black woman to be in her position during that era,\u201d said Andra Day, the actress who starred in The United States vs. Billie Holiday.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Billie Holiday’s Fashion Was An Act Of Defiance\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/\",\"name\":\"Grazia Middle East\",\"description\":\"Grazia's Middle East Site\",\"alternateName\":\"Grazia ME\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Billie Holiday's Now Iconic Fashion Was An Act Of Defiance","description":"\u201cIt\u2019s important when we talk about her fashion that we remember how radical it was for a Black woman to be in her position during that era,\u201d said Andra Day, the actress who starred in The United States vs. Billie Holiday.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Billie Holiday's Fashion Was An Act Of Defiance","og_description":"\u201cIt\u2019s important when we talk about her fashion that we remember how radical it was for a Black woman to be in her position during that era,\u201d said Andra Day, the actress who starred in The United States vs. Billie Holiday.","og_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/","og_site_name":"Grazia Middle East","article_modified_time":"2021-04-11T12:08:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/04\/billie-holiday-fashion.jpg?fit=1280%2C720","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/","name":"Billie Holiday's Now Iconic Fashion Was An Act Of Defiance","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-04-07T21:56:49+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-11T12:08:12+00:00","description":"\u201cIt\u2019s important when we talk about her fashion that we remember how radical it was for a Black woman to be in her position during that era,\u201d said Andra Day, the actress who starred in The United States vs. Billie Holiday.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/billie-holidays-fashion-was-an-act-of-defiance\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Billie Holiday’s Fashion Was An Act Of Defiance"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/#website","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/","name":"Grazia Middle East","description":"Grazia's Middle East Site","alternateName":"Grazia ME","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Grazia Middle East","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/2791"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}