Factory Girl

A couple of months ago i got to see Factory Girl starring Guy Pearce as the american underground artist Andy Warhol and Sienna Miller as Edie Sedgwick, the poor little rich girl who starred in many of Warhol's short films in the 1960s. I found the movie good, though not great at all. Impossible to take your eyes away from Sienna's inspired performance (one of the best female actings last year) and of course, the costumes she worn throughout the film.

The movie focus on Edie's life after she meets Warhol in a party. The central figure of the Pop Art movement gets fascinated by her beauty, style and social status (Edie was a heiress and a socialite), then he invites her to visit his film studio, The Factory, where she will become a regular visitor, doing a brief appearance in Warhol's Vinyl. Though her movie time was short, it generated quite some interest that Warhol decided to use her in many of his upcoming films, transforming Edie in a "superstar".

An avid smoker, drinker and later on, drug-addicted, Edie drowned in self-destruction, dying in 1971 at the age of 28, of a possible accidental intoxication. From what's see in Factory Girl, not many people tried to help her from sinking. It's clearly suggested that she was sexually abused by her father during her childhood years, and her mother didn't seem to care. Edie had an affair with singer Bob Dylan (though they never use his name in the film, he's portrayed by Hayden Christensen as "the musician"), and the brief relationship ended without her being aware of it. Guy Pearce's Warhol doesn't make it any better for her. From what's seen on the screen, he only used her for his own benefit, and worse, his whole underground filmmaking appears nearly superficial and fake. I don't know if the film intended to question his artistic talent, but that's how i see it.

Edie had a short modeling career, appearing on Vogue on march 15, 1966 and earlier in 1965, featured as a youthquaker. Her fashion spread in a 1965 edition of Life magazine labeled her "the girl with the black tights", as she worn black opaque tights with everything else. Her unusual sense of style consisted in shift dresses, black leotards, striped sweater dresses and statement earrings. She cut her natural long brown hair short and dyed it blond, and her eyes were always dark-lined and filled with fake eyelashes. Over three decades after her death, Edie's style still sways fashion trends.

Get Edie Sedgwick look, wearing:

Shift dresses, like this Jonathan Saunders satin dress

Pointy-toe pumps, like this classic Christian Louboutin look

Black opaque tights like these from H&M

Chandelier earrings (check it here)

Watch the Factory Girl trailer and Edie's star debut as Warhol's muse in Poor Little Rich Girl (right click on the hyperlink).