Yesterday on January 25, 2017 we all learned the sad new one of our favorite style icons, Mary Tyler Moore had died at age 80. This is not one of those cases where someone died and I did not think about her recently, either! She is a part of our fashion icon reference book! On Second City Style and on Fountain of 30 we have constantly referred to her style for her 60s style Capri pants and flats as Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, and the multitude of fashionably work-appropriate looks she wore as the liberated Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 70s. Her characters were not just dressed to be fashionable, but it was the actress herself who was the style icon. No one but Mary Tyler Moore could pull off these looks with her enviably model slim figure! The dancer in her allowed her to move so gracefully – she practically floated.
As a child in the 70s, my best friend and I aspired to move to the city (Chicago for us) and rent cute little apartments in the same building … just like Mary and Rhoda! The apartment would be complete with a wooden initial “M” on the wall (although mine would be a “C”). To be free and independent like Mary Tyler Moore (we never called her Mary Richards) was what I actually strove for throughout junior high and high school, and after college, and actually I did it! I can’t say I wore clothes quite as fashionable as Mary Tyler Moore did, since that part was hard to achieve.
I will quote myself in an article on Fountain Of 30, “Look to everyone’s favorite 70s style icon, Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards for inspiration.” She wore everything so well!
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I admit I was not aware she had been diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 33 and spent much of her career battling the disease, and had health problems since a benign tumor removal in 2011. We were lucky to know Mary Tyler Moore, even if it was only on TV. Along with her talent as an actress and comedian, her style legacy will live on forever!
P.S. Yes I know the lyrics are “Who Can Turn The World On With Her Smile?” but both smile and style are correct!
Pictued Above:
Mary Tyler Moore (top left) in capri pants as Laura Petrie in the1960s on “The Dick Van Dyke Show”
Mary Tyler Moore (red pea coat, black turtleneck and pleated skirt, denim jacket, bandana and yellow sweater, and famous photo in navy military jacket as she throws up her hat) as Mary Richards in the1970s on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”
Mary Tyler Moore (bottom left) receives the Life Achievement Award at the 18th Annual Screen Actors awards in 2012.
Image Layout: Fountain Of 30
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