I sat frozen with amazement. My jaw dropped, my eyes widened, my heartbeat quickened. The coiffed, color-coordinated perfection leaping jubilantly in the video before me was just too much to handle.

I must admit, I was watching the newest One Direction music video.

What struck me as I watched the gleeful video, released Sept. 20, were the perfectly styled outfits worn by each of the band’s British heartthrobs. Rooted firmly in the boy-band tradition, their ensembles coordinated wonderfully while giving each member his own identity. For example, Zayn, with his tattooed forearms and grungy plaid shirt, portrayed the loveable bad boy. Alongside him sang nice-guy Niall in an orange T-shirt and matching sneakers.

Setting aside my One Direction fangirling for a moment, the point of these musings is that celebrities’ fashion is a huge part of creating their public images. People have always paid attention to the personal style of the rich and famous, but these days, stars are under even more scrutiny. From music videos to award shows to a trip to the coffee shop, every event merits attention.

Fashion brands are taking advantage of this and exploiting celebrity personas to enhance their images as well. Nowadays, many labels will give clothing to actors, models and musicians — completely for free — just to have their brand’s name as the answer to the ever-present “Who are you wearing?” question.

Kim Kardashian has been the subject of some recent style scrutiny. Her style has noticeably changed since beginning her relationship with Kanye West. An Aug. 22 video clip posted by E! Online shows Kanye and his stylist paying Kim a visit with the intention of cleaning out her closet. He encourages her to ditch her embellished, girly clothes, expressing his particular aversion to a shearling-edged, patent leather Louis Vuitton duffel bag.

Judging by recent photos of Kim, she took Kanye’s advice to heart. She’s ditched the colorful looks she once favored and adopted her beau’s darker style. The couple is now seen in mostly black-and-white ensembles, often with leather featured heavily. Kanye has even gotten Kim into a pair of the pearl-encrusted, high-heeled booties he designed with Giuseppe Zanotti.

In terms of her image, Kim seems to be confirming her relationship with Kanye. Perhaps she is trying to assert that this one won’t fail like her past flings. She’s certainly giving Kanye a lot of control over her wardrobe and, personally, I think it suits her. I’ve always thought Kim and Kanye were perfect for each other, and their coordinated couture just reaffirms their compatibility to me.

Kim and Kanye are the ultimate creatures of fame. I’m fascinated by their style, but I do realize how ridiculous their fashion obsessions are. A Saturday Night Live skit from Sept. 22 did a good job of parodying rappers like Kanye whose expressions of flamboyant luxury contrast their street-wise hip-hop beginnings.

Jay Pharoah and Kenan Thompson play rappers Suede and Fort Knox whose mixtape features tracks like “Rollin’ in my Burberry Beret.” Later in the skit, Suede declares: “Now y’all know that every rapper’s got his own fashion line, and so do we.”

As preposterous as celebrity fashion buzz can get, we can all take a hint from the likes of One Direction and Kim Kardashian. Imagine how wonderfully dressed the world would be if everyone had his or her own band of paparazzi. Celebrities use clothing very strategically these days, and though you probably don’t have a movie premiere to attend, you can do the same. Fashion is about fantasy, so let’s all play dress-up and pretend we’re famous.

Ian Simon-Curry is a junior public relations major. His column appears every other Monday. Follow him on Twitter at @incrediblyian. He can be reached at insimonc@syr.edu.

Published on October 1, 2012 at 8:48 pm