Editor’s note: Welcome to Dear Costume Department, a new bi-weekly feature brought to you by our fashion-minded friends from Of a Kind, a curated shopping site of limited-edition goods by emerging designers. With each installment, they’ll bring you a head-to-toe look inspired by a buzzed-about pop culture personality — complete with info on where to grab the pieces for your own closet. Enjoy!
We decided to kick off this column with a real toughie: Lisbeth Salander — specifically, the Rooney Mara version of her that we’ll see in David Fincher’s highly-anticipated adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. According to the cover story in November’s Vogue, Mara not only had to get several facial piercings, bleach her eyebrows, and shave half of her head for the part, but she also had to lose weight to achieve the necessary “boyish and awkward” look. We’ll make things a lot easier for you. God knows that Hot Topic sells plenty of clothes that would be well-suited to Salander, but these finds — all from indie designers — are about a hundred times cooler, and would turn Daniel Craig on in spite of himself.
A cage ring from the hotter-than-hot jewelry designer Pamela Love. It’s, like, a metaphor. For Lisbeth’s emotions.
A sexy (but still plenty subversive) tank from Eighteenth — in black, obvi.
A fierce-ass leather jacket from Veda (by the New York designer Lydsey Butler). The high collar is perfect for skulking around on the DL.
A Haerfest black leather backpack that can hold a laptop — or two or three.
A pewter-and-gunmetal body chain from A(r)mor that can make even the simplest of black tees look tough as all hell.
Jeffrey Campbell boots with the sort of treads that can handle some long days on Hedeby Island and really sell the whole troubled youth thing.