Does Inspiration Lead to Imitation? Courtney Love Launches Fashion Line “Never The Bride”
We’ve all grown up hearing “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” I’m sure my mom said that to my older sister back when I tried to copy her every move and hang out with her friends who were 6 years my senior. My sister probably rolled her eyes and went about her way, no big deal, right? But what if the person admiring you was not your younger sister, but instead a big name celebrity (with a history of crazy). It’s well known that Courtney Love has been admiring the work of Dawn Younger Smith, our locally loved fashion designer a.k.a. the “Boudoir Queen”, for a few years now. The Boudoir Queen, who started her fashion journey 10 years ago when she started up-cycling vintage clothing, has specialized in making stage clothes for famous musicians such as Patty Griffin, Imogen Heap, Shawn Colvin, and yes, Courtney Love.
After the Hole front woman initially made an $8,000 purchase of Boudoir Queen clothing from the designer’s Etsy store several years ago, the relationship of Courtney with the Boudoir Queen may have started off as nothing more than a simple artist admiring another artist’s work, but has now turned into, well, possibly something else.
Courtney Love just recently launched her own fashion line “Never the Bride” posting the first photos of the clothing on her Twitter just a few days ago. The singer has described the line as “repurposed Edwardian, Victorian with an edge” and told the Huffington Post ”This is the stuff that I would wear if I was young enough to not look like Bette Davis in ‘Whatever Happened After Baby Jane?’.” Hmm…sounds eerily familiar, right? Let’s break down some of the Never the Bride images that have appeared on Courtney’s Twitter alongside some older Boudoir Queen images, shall we?….
Let’s keep in mind that oftentimes artists do have similar aesthetics, and after all, the Boudoir Queen and the former rock star are indeed the same age and both have a longtime appreciation of vintage clothing. But wouldn’t you think Courtney, who last year had a lawsuit filed against her by the Boudoir Queen (for libel and defamation, among other things) be trying to separate herself from the designer? That lawsuit by the way was settled out of court and by the end of 2014 Courtney will have paid the Boudoir Queen just over $400,000 (turns out insane Twitter rants can be quite costly when you’re a celebrity). In a recent article in the Statesman about the Boudoir Queen and her life long journey from makeup designer to fashion designer, it states that Dawn would like to put the infamous Courtney debacle behind her. But with this recent Never the Bride clothing line making its online debut, I wonder if she can?
It’s not news that artists inspire each other and even imitate one another, especially in the fashion industry. Big designer brands such as Chanel or Louis Vuitton are constantly having their designs knocked off. Everything that walks the runways during New York Fashion Week will somehow find itself reinvented in a less expensive way for the mass consumer market. Although while normally it is already well established brands who are setting the trends and inspiring others, in the case of the “Never the Bride” line it looks like perhaps the opposite is happening.
Those who are famous have an automatic platform where their voices and ideas can be heard. For those of us without a world wide known name, we have to work a little bit harder to be heard. I just hope that the voice of big time celeb Courtney Love does not drown out the voice of our Austin-based fashion designer. But perhaps Courtney’s big mouth and delusions will once again be the cause of her own demise. Courtney recently stated on her Pinterest that the major retail website Net-a-Porter would be carrying her line. Net-a-Porter quickly and publicly denied this claim. Will Courtney’s Never the Bride clothing line even be available for purchase anywhere? I don’t know and I doubt that many people care. But, the Boudoir Queen’s designs can all be found on her Etsy store, a site that Courtney Love will most likely continue to purchase clothing from.
Joanna Wilkinson
keep austin stylish
I don’t see it…
By the way, didn’t Love use vintage 30′s clothes? I see it more as her and Boudoir Queen imitating vintage designers. But isn’t this what fashion is all about, imitating the past?
imho both lines are horrid. I know I’d look like a clown if I tried any of these outfits.
jannet, they are both shabby chic. Fashion emulates itself and then, reinvents itself. It’s the beauty of the beast.
Both lines aren’t exactly high art.
Clownish or not, both lines are superior to mom jeans. If you can’t take the heat stop reading about sexy.
The Boudoir Queen has a cult following. By now those customers they have reached and enchanted will follow them to the ends of the Earth regardless who comes after. If we were discussing music, I could say the same about CLC.
sorry, website is here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bijoux-dOdalisque-Handmade-Fine-Gemstone-Jewelry/19216402578
I’m not seeing it either…unless they’re both going for hot mess.
I’m not seeing it. This “article” sounds like a personal vendetta. I always thought Boudoir Queen knocked off old designers like Poiret. Everything is inspired by something. What I’ve noticed from reading the BQ blog is that she’s flattered if big-name lines have similar themes as hers, and she goes nuts if smaller designers have the same themes. She’s not that original. No one is.
I don’t see “imitation” either, and I can’t believe I thought this “article” was just the thoughts of a fashion lover. There’s more to it, isn’t it? Was it written to spam other sites and hope BQ gets some free publicity?
On twitter there’s like an attention seeking contest… Boudoir Queen and many friends/fans, have been spamming The Huffington Post, British Vogue, Net A Porter, etc. with this “article”. Oh, and Joanna Wilkinson, the writer, happens to know BQ.
All I see is a personal vendetta, it’s pretty obvious now. If you want to play dirty this is a free world, but I think it’s lame.
I know pretty much all of the fashion designers who are based out of Austin because I write about the fashion scene in Austin. When I saw Courtney Love’s line my first thought was “wow that looks a lot like Boudoir Queen.” Given the past history between these 2 and after researching it more thoroughly, this article was something that I felt I had to write. Yes I am a lover of fashion, but I am also a journalist.
Joanna,
I understand that you love fashion, but you just sound amateur in this “article.” You don’t sound objective. A journalist needs to have objectivity first. This “article” reminds me of when girls get mad at each other and make fake penis drawings on each other or call each other fat with graphics online. You can do better than this, I believe.
This is such a great article! It’s so right on target. Using another designer’s clothing for an advertisement is just plain wrong. We all know who plays dirty and it certainly isn’t the Boudoir Queen.
Bravo, Keep up the great journalism!
Hi, Dawn.
My daughter Sky has modeled for Boudoir Queen in the past. She has fallen in love with her clothes and styling. Considering that the BQ show was the most anticipated fashion show during Austin Fashion Week, and then Boudoir Queen won the Trailblazer award for best designer, I think that she may be on to something… Something wonderful! She has made my daughter become interested in fashions of the past which also inspires her to ask questions about history. Bonus! BQ is romantic, beautiful and decadent! I can’t wait for the day when we walk into Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, etc., and see a Boudoir Queen store in store! Hmmm, I wonder if each one will have its own cat?
The Boudoir Queen’s claims of ‘intellectual property theft’ are tiring. She started repurposing vintage 10 years ago, a time when a collective trend started to surface simultaneously from resourceful individuals all over. I was there too. She wasn’t the first. She won’t be the last. The message is, just do your thing, do it well and don’t worry what everyone else is doing.
I don’t think it’s fair to say Dawn is claiming “intellectual property theft” (at least from this piece). She’s not quoted here as saying anything to that effect.
And yes, designers are “inspired” by each other all the time, but there’s a difference between a designer even plagiarizing another designer’s work and the fact that this PARTICULAR famous person has it out for Dawn (she’s said so publicly) and then goes and creates a line that looks awfully similar.
Someone mentioned that this sounds like a personal vendetta. Well, yeah. Dawn had to sue for defamation for basically being bullied and lied about over social media and then that same person rips off your work? How would you feel?
I hope for Dawn’s sake that maybe Courtney Love’s marketing machine will make the look more popular with major retail (simply based on her fame) and then they’ll call Dawn to actually buy instead of working with Ms. Love.
Agree with Matt, and want to add and reiterate that there is an actual Boudoir Queen dress obviously IN THE SHOT in one of Never-bride’s photos. That’s a total F-U to BQ if I ever saw one. If it weren’t for this fact, I’d be on the fence. Because it is, I’m Team BQ.
Might I remind you all, we children of the 90s were there to witness the marketing juggernaut that was Ms Love, who turned controversy into an art form and further into dollars. We didn’t even have Google’s search bots back then to cross reference content. Every tweet, every blog, every Etsy discussion board that lights up over this feeds the controversy, and benefits both of them.
So yeah, it’s meant to be a big dig at BQ, but it won’t hurt her. Not at all!
Good work Joanna. Can’t believe you caught that BQ dress in the back of the NTB shot. Glad someone is standing up for Austin’s own. Hopefully your article will spread the word!
Absolutely – given Love’s history of harrassment of those who fall afoul of her, it takes a lot of courage to write a piece like this. Kudoes!
[...] A fashion blogger recently pointed out the similarities as well, including even spotting Boudoir Queen items in [...]
Long time BQ fan and fashion historian here (I write and lecture about the fashions of the Belle Epoque and 1920s), and I’ve watched this situation as it has evolved. The design similarities have crossed the line from “inspiration” or simply being products of the same creative zeitgeist – there are other images that have been released in which the parallels are even more marked, and then we have the details of sewing a stone into the hem and using BQ pieces in her shoots – a clear demonstrative of how imitative her both her designs and styling are. As another article has revealed, Love has taken up her harrassment again via printerest and is now accusing Younger-Smith of being “obsessed” with her…a curious allegation when it’s she who is obsessively repinning BQ photos, commenting on them, making derogatory remarks about the designer and her collection. It’s strange, creepy, unbalanced behaviour.
Courtney Love is just plain MENTALLY I’LL. Her so called “fashion line” is going NOWHERE fast. Her dresses will never be returned from the shoots. “dude” sounds and looks mental in a manic phase right now, at least on twitter. She should invest in a jewelry line with Sam Lufti like Sam tried to talk Britney Spears mom into. THIEVING DRUGGIES popping there pills etc. Dawn won along time ago!!