Mary Berry crowned queen of the high street style icons

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/sep/26/mary-berry-crowned-queen-high-street-style-icon

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A 79-year-old grandmother famous for her lemon drizzle cake might not sound the most obvious style-setter, but Mary Berry, now on her fifth series of The Great British Bake Off, is giving Rihanna a run for her money.

For Thursday’s episode, Berry’s new hairstyle garnered admiration on social media, but it is her jackets that continue to win compliments and get shop tills ringing.

Across blazers, bikers and bombers, the baking judge has developed a signature look since the show began in 2010 – with print and colour brightening up the baking tent. This season, the Marks & Spencer crane bomber jacket worn in episode seven was a particular hit on Twitter. While no longer in stock by the time the episode aired, the store saw it as an opportunity to promote other similar styles on their website.

“Mary consistently looks sophisticated and modern,” said the store’s style director, Belinda Earl. “We were thrilled when she recently wore M&S.”

This isn’t just the usual celebrity endorsement: retailers are now familiar with the Berry effect. With up to eight million people tuning in to watch every week, Berry gives them huge exposure for their product. When she wore a Zara tropical print bomber jacket in 2012, Nick Grimshaw tweeted that she looked “dope” and the style sold out within days.

In a somewhat unlikely twist, she arguably had more hand in the bomber jacket going mainstream than Ryan Gosling, who wore one to play a getaway driver in 2011’s Drive.

First as a cult favourite, Berry’s fashion influence has grown rather than faded. Hannah Almassi, the fashion editor of Grazia magazine, explains the appeal of Berry. “What Mary has been choosing to wear looks fresh and striking but not inappropriate, unapproachable or boring,” she says. “She’s mastered the art of showing her personality without detracting from the job that she’s there to do.”

Berry’s clothes are also, crucially, attainable: they come from high street stores including M&S, Zara and Oasis.

Notably, her style reach stretches beyond women of a similar age. Glamour magazine, a publication aimed at women in their 20s and 30s, ran a feature with Berry in their September issue, and Almassi pits her alongside much younger celebrities. “Jessie J may wear her bomber with hot pants and good hoops,” she says “but with simple jeans Mary always looks comfortable and casual, yet still put together.”

“She’s encouraging women of 20 or 80 to try something new,” says Nicola Rose, fashion and creative director at Red magazine. “She’s showing there are opportunities in fashion and you don’t have to conform.”

Berry fits into a growing appreciation of older women’s style across fashion, more typically a world with youth as its focus. Almassi points to cult fashion favourite Iris Apfel, the 93-year-old who inspired a range of shoes from Jimmy Choo, and the popular blog Advanced Style, which posts photographs of stylish older women and served as a casting pool for Lanvin advertising.

Lena Dunham is currently producing a TV series based on the memoir of Bergdorff Goodman’s personal shopper, 85-year-old Betty Halbreich.

And the influence of Berry, beamed into living rooms every week, shows no sign of waning. “When I get to Mary Berry’s age, I don’t want to wear beige,” says Rose. “If she’s our style icon, I say applaud it.”