Icons Series: Sharon Tate

When you think of the style icons of the Sixties, a few names probably come to mind: Twiggy, Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin, Jean Shrimpton, Anita Pallenberg, The Supremes, Cher…The sixties were a time for knee-high boots and shift dresses, pant suits, and otherworldly metallics. However another style icon many fail to mention is the mod, flower child, laid back and effortlessly classic— Sharon Tate.

Sharon Marie Tate was born January 24, 1943 in Dallas, Texas. Tate was an American actress and model who rose to fame in the 1960s. She began her career in small television roles before appearing in Hollywood films, and was regularly featured in fashion magazines. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic and dramatic acting performances, Tate was hailed as one of Hollywood's most promising newcomers. She made her film debut in 1961 as an extra in Barabbas and followed with the horror film Eye of the Devil (1966). Her most well known role was in the 1967 cult classic film Valley of the Dolls, which earned her a Golden Globe Nomination. That year, she also starred in the film The Fearless Vampire Killers, directed by her future husband Roman Polanski. Tate's last completed film, 12+1, was released posthumously in 1969.

On August 9, 1969, Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, and Steven Parent were murdered by members of the Manson Family in the home she shared with Polanski. She was eight and a half months pregnant.

As her sister Debra Tate wrote in the introduction to Sharon Tate: Recollection, an anthology of photos of the actress, “I always felt it was very unfair for her life to be remembered primarily for its final moments. Sharon had a magnificent life.”

Tate was mostly remembered for her exceptional fashionable and ahead-of-its-time taste, and her influence on fashion was mostly apparent through her sixties-infested California-girl wardrobe. A free-spirited and sultry approach to fashion was her motto and hippy-bohemian was her style of choice. Sharon’s style combined elements of mod, flower child and laid-back pragmatism (she loved the simplicity of a good pair of jeans and a T-shirt), and she frequently wore classic 1960s designers like Ossie Clark and Thea Porter.

Some of Tate’s most memorable looks include: Tate smiling in a mustard sundress; on her wedding day in her short, ivory silk moiré gown; suede-clad and sunglasses while gliding through an airport; appearing pensive in a thin, navy polo neck; grinning at the camera through a tumble of blonde hair, eyelids characteristically ringed with thick, black liner.

Her look heavily inspired the styling of Megan Draper on Mad Men, and continues to echo in the aesthetics of modern-day stars, including Lana Del Rey. It has also been emulated on the catwalks – from the delicate dresses, bouffant hair, and eye makeup in Julien Macdonald’s SS11 show, to Moschino’s SS 2017 Resort collection inspired by psychedelic 1960s LA. Jeremy Scott’s follow-up invoked both the book and film of Valley of the Dolls, taking its themes to a literal extreme in a series of paper-doll dresses. It’s there in Miu Miu’s pastel-inflected FW '10/'11 and earthy 1960s-inspired resort 2015 shows. In Gucci and Valentino’s FW '14/'15 collections, which both featured glitzy minidresses and belted coats. Arguably, it exists in the high, ruffled collars and puffed sleeves that have come to define Batsheva too.

Directly from an interview with Sharon’s sister Debra:

“Sharon preferred Clean, Elegant, Simple lines… Not frou-frou at all. She particularly liked antique camisoles. She didn’t like baggy clothes, she wasn’t into Granny Coats like others were. She liked tailored clothes, even her Peasant Tops were tailored. She had blouses with hook and eye buttons made with spun gold. She wore jeans and pedal pushers. Sharon disliked wearing shoes…Whenever possible, she would go barefoot or wear ballet slippers. Classic Ballet Pink was the preferred color –but she wore black slippers, too. I definitely remember that she had a pair of red ones, because she wanted to match a red mini dress, so we spray painted a pink pair, and made it red. Sharon wore big wide belts that went over jeans or skirts. She loved Chanel and Gucci handbags. Same brand for shoes, too. She had a big heavy, gold, Cartier cigarette lighter. Sharon loved big hoop earrings and thin Love Beads that were made of tiny glass beads…called Bugle Beads. She was not big on rings or heavy necklaces…I think she didn’t like rings because they brought attention to her hands and she used to bite her nails. Her real jewelry was a Cartier watch with a black reptile band.”