{"id":929,"date":"2015-11-19T09:59:10","date_gmt":"2015-11-19T17:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/?p=929"},"modified":"2023-03-06T06:06:31","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T14:06:31","slug":"duran-duran-mtv-house-of-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/duran-duran-mtv-house-of-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Duranalysis: Duran Duran on MTV’s House of Style"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hide the lacy frocks! Nick and Simon have descended upon Sears!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the summer of 1993, back when Duran Duran was riding high on its post-Wedding Album<\/em>\u00a0renaissance,\u00a0Nick and Simon appeared on an episode of MTV\u2019s long-running fashion series\u00a0House of Style<\/em>. In\u00a0I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution,<\/em>\u00a0an oral history compiled by Rob Tannenbaum and Craig Marks, Nick says, \u201cGoing on\u00a0House of Style<\/em>\u00a0was one of the funniest things we ever did on MTV.\u201d He\u2019s right: The segment, in which the boys go a whirlwind shopping spree at Sears, is a trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there\u2019s no John Taylor in this, there\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0a tall, leggy brunet(te) with great hair and phenomenal bone structure: Cindy Crawford,\u00a0House of Style<\/em>\u2019s longtime supermodel host, who, as you all surely recall,\u00a0played<\/em>\u00a0John in Duran Duran\u2019s glamorous \u201cGirl Panic!<\/a>\u201d video. So it\u2019s pretty much just like having John on hand, except Cindy smiles more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nick, Simon, and Cindy arrive at the Sears in Glendale in a black stretch limo, geared up for an afternoon of shopping for budget-friendly casual wear. First up: Cindy and Nick examine a pair of striped t-shirts. Nick rejects them both: \u201cThere\u2019s too much brown in both of them, I\u2019m afraid.\u201d There\u2019s a snide joke at the core of the segment\u2019s premise\u2014\u201cha, ha, Sears is low class, and Duran Duran would never really<\/em> be caught dead shopping there!\u201d\u2014which is thankfully neutralized by the sunny charm of Cindy and the Durans*. The boys are on their very best behavior: Nick spurns the shirts because he doesn\u2019t wear brown, not because he thinks they\u2019re cheap-looking and ugly as hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

*\u201cCindy and the Durans\u201d is the name of my brand-new vocal quintet. You haven\u2019t lived until you\u2019ve heard our doo-wop cover of \u201cWild Boys\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apologies. I\u2019m getting goofy. This is a magnificently goofy segment, and the mood is infectious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simon leads Cindy over to a shirt that caught his eye: \u201cThis is actually quite nice!\u201d He seems unaware that it looks eerily similar to the (I\u2019m guessing vastly more expensive) shirt he\u2019s currently wearing. Hey, the man knows what he likes. And what he likes, at least on this sunny California day in 1993, are fuchsia button-downs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cindy tries to interest Nick in a sleeveless striped shirt. Nick recoils in abject horror: \u201cThat would expose my flesh! I\u2019d never do that.\u201d Yeah, Nick\u2019s not keen on showing skin. With some noteworthy exceptions\u2014remember that part\u00a0in\u00a0the \u201cSave a Prayer\u201d video where he forgets to wear pants?<\/a>\u2014Nick is a big fan of head-to-toe\u00a0layers<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next, Cindy browses for briefs: \u201cDo you guys need undies? Like, clean underwear when you\u2019re on the road?\u201d Simon stares at her wordlessly, his face scrunched up in consternation. Cindy tries again: \u201cWhat do you wear?\u201d Simon slowly shakes his head, and Cindy finally gets it: \u201cYou don\u2019t wear underwear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(Here\u2019s\u00a0Simon in\u00a0The Guardian<\/em><\/a>: \u201cI went commando for 20\u00a0years,\u00a0because a guy from another band told me that rock stars don\u2019t wear underpants. In Rotterdam in the 1980s, I was wearing these Jean Paul Gaultier trousers. I came off the stage\u00a0in\u00a0a star jump and they opened at the seam and everything was flying towards the audience.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccessories!\u201d Nick shouts and points across the store, cutting Cindy off mid-sentence. Cindy\u2019s expression of perpetual good cheer starts to slip just a little, like it\u2019s dawning on her that this assignment is, at moments, somewhat akin to a babysitting gig. I feel you, Cindy. If I\u2019m ever graced with the opportunity to meet Nick, here\u2019s how I\u2019m pretty sure it\u2019ll play out: We\u2019ll be having this amazing conversation about, I dunno, postmodernism or Bulgarian cinema or fancy shoes or whatever, and then in the middle of it, he\u2019ll shout out, \u201cAccessories!\u201d and wander off in pursuit of shiny things, and I\u2019ll never see him again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It seems Nick has found the display of patterned satin clip-on ties. He\u2019s thrilled<\/em>. \u201cThis is my favorite thing in the whole store,\u201d he chirps happily as he hauls the entire tie rack into the changing room with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When he emerges, he\u2019s covered in dozens of clip-on ties. Cindy starts doing a rough tally, estimating ten bucks per tie: \u201cYou\u2019re wearing a lot of money here.\u201d Nick replies, \u201cI knew I could find a three hundred dollar outfit at Sears.\u201d He is very, very proud of himself for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Simon models shorts while Cindy provides a running commentary on the view from behind: \u201cGood butt, he\u2019s got a good butt going on.\u201d Notice that now he\u2019s wearing the cheap Sears fuchsia shirt instead of his own fancier fuchsia shirt. I\u2019m going to quickly remind you that Simon isn\u2019t wearing underwear, which means there\u2019s a very real possibility some unsuspecting dude once bought a pair of shorts at Sears that had previously cradled Simon Le Bon\u2019s naked junk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At Nick\u2019s suggestion, they all head over to the ladies\u2019 department, where Nick and Simon don lacy white frocks. Nick demurely keeps his pants on beneath his dress; Simon does not. Throughout this segment, Nick\u2019s pants will change color from white to chartreuse and back again. The likeliest explanation, of course, is that he found a pair of suitable Sears pants in some footage that didn\u2019t make the final cut. Because we\u2019re talking about Nick, though, we can\u2019t dismiss the possibility that he habitually brings back-up clothes with him while shopping, just in case he feels like a mid-spree wardrobe change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since Cindy\u2019s been acting as their personal shopper, Nick and Simon return the favor and search for an outfit for her. Simon finds a sleazy black mesh half-shirt; Cindy is totally game for wearing it, though she does have one request. She leads them over to the customer service phones: \u201cCan you call and order me a black bra?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Nick and Simon (who is now padding barefoot around the store while wearing an adorable pair of striped pajamas; there\u2019s going to be nothing left in Sears that Simon\u2019s junk hasn\u2019t touched by the time he\u2019s done) browse through the lingerie section of the Sears catalog. Simon reads off bra specifications: \u201cB\/C cups have adjustable stretch straps. D\/DD\/E cups have adjustable non-stretch tricot straps. Weight: thirteen pounds<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to Simon, I now realize I\u2019ve been mispronouncing \u201ctricot\u201d all my life. He\u2019s right; the final t is silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simon orders Cindy\u2019s bra: \u201cDo you have that in a buxom 34B? You do? Fab.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cindy manages to look stylish and even somewhat classy in a black mesh half shirt. Cindy, it should be mentioned, is consistently great in this segment, setting just the right laid-back tone. Conversation flows easily; they seem like three friends hanging out together, goofing around and acting like big dorks at Sears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They wrap up their excursion with a look at clothing from the Zip & Dash line, which, the nice sales clerk explains, are essentially breakfast coats, i.e. something you can throw on quickly and wear around the house while still looking presentable. \u201cSo it\u2019s like, zip and dash,\u201d Nick sagely notes. In the background, Sears shoppers covertly stare at the supermodel and the internationally-famous pop stars browsing for sensible polyblend housedresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Housedresses! Housedresses for everyone! Cindy, Simon and Nick all model their choices. Once again, Nick keeps his pants on underneath his dress; Simon appears to be inadvertently mooning the lady emerging from the dressing room behind him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And with that, they\u2019re finished. They lug their gigantic bags of purchases out to their waiting limo and climb in, satisfied with a job well done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duran<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That was far more charming than it had any right to be. Downright adorable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hide the lacy frocks! Nick and Simon have descended upon Sears! In the summer of 1993, back when Duran Duran was riding high on its post-Wedding Album\u00a0renaissance,\u00a0Nick and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-duran-duran"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=929"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1541,"href":"https:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929\/revisions\/1541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morganrichter.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}