I am firmly on Team Helena Bonham-Carter for this year’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar race, although I know Melissa Leo is likely the one to beat. I adored Helena in The King’s Speech, and I’ve grown to love her in real life. She’s fun, she’s sassy, she’s witty and she’s cool. She doesn’t take herself too seriously, and she doesn’t take the awards season, with all of its fashion drama, too seriously either. Helena just spoke to People Magazine about why she wore two different colored shoes to the Globes, and why fashion rules are made to be broken:
The King’s Speech star — and Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress — Helena Bonham Carter is the first to admit she’s made a few fashion mistakes on the red carpet but that’s not stopping her from dressing up in non-traditional styles.
“Sometimes I get it right and I sometimes I get it wrong,” Bonham Carter, 44, tells PEOPLE. “But fashion is all about having fun. I think fashion has been hijacked by the fashion industry creating rules on what one should wear and I feel like breaking the mold and seeing that the world won’t crumble.”
Known for her eclectic fashion choices, Bonham Carter raised a few eyebrows by attending the Golden Globe Awards wearing one red and one green shoe simply because she wanted to.
“Why not wear mismatching shoes? Who says we can’t? I was just having fun,” says Bonham Carter. “For me, fashion is all about fantasy and putting unlikely things together. That’s what I love. I genuinely love dressing up.”
One person Bonham Carter praises is Lady Gaga for her daring fashion choices.
“I love the way she dresses. She’s like a work of art,” she says. “Anybody who is inventive, different or has fun like her, I love and admire. I’m amazed that she’s able to stand up in some of those shoes she wears.”
When asked what it’s like to be compared to the “Bad Romance” singer, Bonham Carter demurs, saying “I feel honored to be compared to her but I would probably be called Lady Haha. She’s fantastic.”
So what can we expect on the red carpet at the Kodak Theatre come Feb. 27?
“Maybe I will wear the exact same [Vivienne Westwood] dress I wore at the Golden Globes but with matching shoes,” she says with a big laugh. “Or put the shoes on my head!”
[From People]
God, don’t give her any ideas, people. You know she’ll do anything. She would totally get Vivienne Westwood to fashion a headpiece made out of mismatched shoes. She would totally wear a trash bag and bucket to the Oscars, just for laughs. And while I respect Helena’s attitude and her indomitable fashion sense, wouldn’t it be interesting, JUST ONCE, to see Helena dressed impeccably and beautifully? Wouldn’t that be the real shocker?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Love her!
Gotta love her!
“impeccably and beautifully”
By my definition, she does already. 🙂
It’s funny that so many people love her– myself included– yet she’s pretty eclectic and out there!
any other celebrity and we’d be ripping on their fashion… but for her it is just LOVE
i agree I do want to see her all proper just once because i know she can be gorgeous!
She’s. Awesome. And I agree-it would actually be shocking to see her completely straight laced. But I love her quirkiness.
Why would you want her to be as boring as the rest?
I agree with you Kaiser; she should go for the all out glamor look at one major event, just for kicks.
She is a stunning woman and she would look stunning on the red carpet in a classic designer gown. That being said I rather she didn’t tone it down for the Oscars.
Absolutely love this woman. Wish more women in Hollywood were like Helena and didn’t take themselves so seriously.
Her and Tilda Swinton are the best. <333
Her style suits her bubbly personality. If anyone can pull this off it’s her. But it would shock us out of our knickers if she did a glam look. One could only love her
I actually really like the mismatched shoes with that outfit. It’s cute. They are the same style shoes, just different colors so it kinda works.
Ah remember her from the pre-Tim Burton/Fight Club days? She used to wear such fantastic classic stuff and then she just went a little insane. Love it, but it’s still insane.
Anyone remember that lavender dress she wore back in the day? The one that used to be her grandmothers? I remember thinking it was stunning back then…
http://l.yimg.com/eb/ymv/us/img/hv/photo/movie_pix/oscars/70th_academy_awards_photos/helena_bonham_carter/oscars2.jpg
Gah, I just love her.
I don’t mind HBC’s funky dresses or her mismatched bridesmaids shoes, but the hair looks awful. Just looking at it makes me itchy.
Also, did she always have this unique fashion sense? I don’t remember her as being flamboyant before she hooked up with Tim Burton.
Never you change, Helena.
@Flourpot – Absolutely!
Well that’s nephew’s philosophy, why wear matching shoes. BTW he is 5
i love her sense of whimsy and fun when it comes to fashion. i would totally wear that grey polka dotted dress.
I have a daughter that is just like her. She loves mismatching shoes, socks and outfits, wearing pieces from several outfits to make a unique ensemble that is 100% her. There have been times I’ve had to stop myself from making her wear matching things, usually out of worry about what her preschool teachers would think. Then I reminded myself that their opinion of me is far less important than my little girl’s happiness.
I like her style and all but it’s not like she’s unique or like she’s breaking some kind of fashion barrier that no one has broken before.
I mean, people who are “quirky” always make a big deal out of how “interesting” they are and how “unique” they are but most people who are “quirky” are in the same “quirky” mold.
“Look at me, I mismatch shoes!”-so does your average 5 year old.
I knew a girl at school who wore different colored shoes. All the goth kids thought they were “unique” even though there were about 30 of them. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to do your own thing, it just bugs me when people act like that somehow makes them more special or different. How you dress doesn’t make you special or different, your personality, your feelings, your outlook on life are the things that really matter.
I love her though-she’s a great actress and I’m totally rooting for her to win best actress. The King’s Speech is a wonderful film.
Marla Singer for President!
I love her, too. She’s all substance and not too much of the superficial.
She can do no wrong for me. I LOVE her. She should so win that oscar. Shes always a brilliant supporting actress in everything she is cast in. I’ve never seen her as the lead in something though. Maybe I have to dig through imdb. Idk
As long as the shoes are of the same style it isn’t a problem, it would be more unusual to match converse and a stiletto (and uncomfortable).
I like her style though, and I think that a normal look would do nothing for her, I mean she’s beautiful because she has her own style and personality.
I remember one day when I found one left shoe and one right shoe of different pairs–same style, but different colors. And I thought, “Well, there’s one for each foot, so what’s the big deal?” I was four. But I still think there’s a certain amount of logic to it.
Yesterday I watched ”A room with a view” from 1985 and I loved it! she was awesome, so fresh and cute, it’s funny how she does this crazy characters nowadays
No offense to anyone who likes her, but I always think she’s looks like an escaped mental patient. xD
Not just because of the mismatched clothing, but the wild hair & sort of crazy wide-eyed expression, like the cameras are always catching her off-guard. xD
But the fashion industry always takes itself too seriously, I do agree with her there. And I haven’t seen anything she’s been in, so I’m not casting judgment on her capability as an actress.
I’m rather tired of her and her very *deliberate* quirky clothing. I don’t mind people with quirky tastes. But HBC has gone beyond that, into the realm of “Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!” Her dresses are the fashion equivalent of an attention-starved child making armpit noises. This is another of her armpit noise outfits, “Look at me!” It’s gotten really old.
Come on — we’d all bash her for losing her quirky, interesting sense of style if she DID wear an “impeccable and beautiful” (ie, more traditional or “normal”) dress to an awards show. I think she should stay just the way she is.
@ whatever
Ahhhh, thats beautiful. Let your kid be a kid. Hell, they deserve it.
I like her shoes – port and starboard! Plus I like shoes that are designed to be deliberately mismatched.
Loved her since A Room with a View.
Thankfully, she’s stayed cool. Unlike some…
“Then I reminded myself that their opinion of me is far less important than my little girl’s happiness.”
well played, whatever… well played, indeed.
Hahahahah!! Lady Haha!!
THat cracked me up!
Her style suits her to a T. She’s awesome.
She looks crazy but it’s working for her!
Is there something funky(er) going on with that dress – in the top pic the strap is on her left side, in the 2nd pic the strap is on the right. I do love her and hope she keeps doing whatever she wants fashion wise, she makes it interesting!
I just love her! Do YOU Helena!
That’s a character. ADORE HER !
Wethever@ I like you more and more each post 🙂
I love her! She’s badass, and she thumbs her nose at all the superficial fashion rules. She’s a great actress and a cool person and doesn’t need to follow any fashion rules to look cool!
Well, why not wear mismatching shoes? Maybe she couldn’t choose which colour to wear so went with them both?
a few days ago my 5 year old daughter wore mismatching knee high socks and the same shoes in 2 different colors out to the grocery store…i can only hope she is as creative as helena when she is older!
She’s right. Symmetry’s overrated.
Is that Lily Tomlin standing behind her in the first pic??
@cherry rose – I think Tilda Swinton and HBC should go as a couple to the Oscars. I would swoon!
she is more beautiful than so many other middle aged stars. her beauty cannot be fabricated or airbrushed or perfumed; it comes from her soul.
She is so beautiful. I respect her personal style. She is bold and fun
I bet she has another pair of shoes just like that at home.
Kaiser,
You say that but let’s be honest if she showed up her hair done all normal in a simple but graceful black dress you’d miss the old her. I think the same thing once in a while but I know for a fact I love how she dresses and it gives me confidence to sort of wear what I want.
It’s obvious that she does love to dress up unlike Lady Gaga, she doesn’t do it for attention or be “an artist” … she does it cause she loves dressing up and that’s what fashion should be up. Seriously, fuck the fashion industry and their snotty attitude on what’s “right” or “wrong” which half the time makes no fucking sense to me anyway.
My daughter is 7 and she LOVES us to buy the same shoe in two colors and then she wears one of each. I love it.
Helena, honey, you can be as ridiculous as you want. However, we can also be as critical as we want. You do stupid things to garner attention and then you complain about the attention you receive.
So that’s where she got the idea changing out the shoes, from her little girl! That’s so cute…she must be her daughter’s idol.
OMG, I love her. She’s awesome. I didn’t really even pay attention to her before this episode but she’s totally won me over. I am so tired of people taking everything so seriously and making arbitrary rules. As long as she’s not walking out butt naked, who cares! She’s absolutely right. The world should be much more fun and lighthearted especially about things that don’t matter like fashion. It’s like trying to teach someone the “right” color to like or the “right” food to eat for breakfast. Show your personality, Helena! Wear whatever the hell you want.
@#50 can’t see the name. Where have you ever read where she complained about the attention she’d gotten for her sense of style?
I’ll be honest, my socks NEVER match.
I can’t be bothered.
We shouldn’t just judge Helena because of the way she dresses, but the awesome work she does. I think she may have some crazy ideas but the thing is, if you dare wearing something anyone else wouldn’t, you become a fashion maker, not a fashion follower…
I love the way Helena Bonham Carter dresses. I have dressed a lot like her for about six years, and I didn’t even realise it until three years ago. She is an awesome actress and she does dress beautifully and impeccably in her own way.
I love Helena. It would be boring if everyone dressed normally anyway. I mean the paparazzi would have nothing to write if everyone dressed normally. There has to be a few fashion daredevils and I take my hat off to them. Helena said in an interview. I’m still not that mature. Who wants to be? Not me. Everyones a child at heart. It just depends on whether they chose to act on it. Always be your own person Helena and never let criticism change you.