In A 2020 Style Slump? Let Bianca Jagger’s 1970s Style Lift Your Spirits

So ingrained into pop culture history is the image of Bianca Jagger atop a white horse at Studio 54 in 1977, that she felt compelled to set the record straight over thirty years later. In a letter to theFinancial Timesin 2015, Jagger wrote to clarify that she did not in fact ride in on the horse, but simply sat on it fleetingly (the nightclub’s co-owner Steve Rubell had procured it as a surprise for her birthday).

Details aside, the image will eternally be crystalised into our collective consciousness as an emblem of a decade of decadence. In 1970s New York, the place to see and be seen was Studio 54 – the legendary nightclub where the achingly beautiful, the ridiculously wealthy, the prodigiously talented and the astonishingly famous came to party. Andy Warhol, Liza Minelli, Debbie Harry, Truman Capote and Diane von Furstenberg were all regulars. And Jagger? Well, she didn’t just go to Studio 54, she was Studio 54.

1970s New York couldn’t feel more different from 2020 anywhere. If that was the era of going out, this has been the age of staying in; the up-all-night to our in-all-year. A flick through Jagger’s best looks of the time is therefore an experience of painful pleasure. Looking at her smouldering in the early hours, we wonder if we will ever go out again?

The answer, of course, is yes. And when we are granted the liberty to do so we promise to never, ever make our excuses, and to absolutely channel the Jagger spirit. She made an art of after-dark dressing. Her go-to pieces? Fluid dresses by her friend, and another Studio 54 fixture, Roy Halston; preferably one-shouldered, in slinky metallic lamé or lavish jewel toned jersey. There was a pared-back ease to the pieces that was the antithesis of control-pants-required, high maintenance glamour.

But if that all still sounds like a little too much effort for you, then consider the other style lessons we can learn from her. For instance, we can all take some inspiration from her fearless attitude to accessorising. Chokers were a Jagger favourite, as were hats (from spangled berets - take noteEmily in Paris, this is how it should be done - to bowler hats to the wide-brimmed one she wore to her wedding). Sunglasses, by the way, are absolutely ok for after dark. Go figure.

But Jagger wasn’t just a creature of the night. Her confident command of tailoring is also worth revisiting. In particular she had a soft spot for white suits. It takes a confident woman to wear head-to-toe white on a plane – as she did, impeccably – but when we finally take flight again, wouldn’t it indeed be wonderful to make an event out of travelling? We might not be part of the jet set, but we promise to never take an EasyJet flight to Spain for grated every again.

Of course, Jagger’s most famous white suit moment came courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent’s column skirt and Le Smoking jacket, worn sans blouse, she opted for to marry Mick Jagger in Saint Tropez in 1971. It was what we might call a moment, and still looks ridiculously cool today (Emily Ratajkowski certainly seems to have taken notes, she channelled Jagger vibes in the Zara suit she wore to her 2018 wedding) . Probably Paul McCartney, Keith Richards and Brigitte Bardot won’t make it onto your wedding guest list, but nevertheless, the low-key glamour of the look will still resonate with brides today, who are increasingly moving away from traditional wedding dresses.

But beyond all the dresses and the suits and the accessories, the most stylish thing about Jagger has absolutely nothing to do with clothes. For decades she has been an activist, fighting for humanitarian and environmental causes. Thanks to social media, today it can often feel like the glitterati jump on causes as a personal PR exercise, but Jagger was doing it long before it was fashionable. Harnessing her platform for positive change has always been part of Jagger’s modus operandi – the great clothes are just an added bonus.