Little Edie, fashion icon

The Maysles's film has ballooned in popularity thanks to the 2006 Tony Award-winning musical "Grey Gardens" and now an HBO movie starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange that premieres Saturday. True confession: The first time I watched the documentary, it struck me as a very tragic skit from "The Carol Burnett Show." I could easily see Burnett doing a wild-eyed impression of Edie, singing, dancing, and lingering over sepia-tone debutante photos while bickering with her mother (a role made for Vicki Lawrence).

The more I watched - some would say my "Grey Gardens" knowledge borders on obsessive - I saw something else. Little Edie, faded fashion model, almost socialite, and would-be starlet, was not just a tragic flibbertigibbet who was caretaker to her ailing mother and all those cats. She grabbed the role with zest and aplomb. And, most importantly, she survived her emotional train wreck of a life with true style. Counter to all logic, Little Edie, a woman who lived below the poverty line in a house that was one giant health code violation, has emerged as a true fashion icon.

"I think the reason why people are so fascinated by her, especially in the fashion industry, is that Little Edie had this playfulness about her," says Catherine Marie Thomas, costume designer for the HBO film. "There is a playful element to the way she dresses that people are fascinated by. It's akin to a young boy or girl in their mother's closet, and that fascination with becoming something other than who you are and escaping reality."

Escape she did. Instead of turning to wigs, Little Edie hid a devastating case of alopecia with sweaters and skirts draped over her bald head. Like the silent screen glamour goddesses of yore who preferred turbans, Edie knew how to create fashion that would cause double takes. Her inventive homemade couture has inspired designers ranging from Marc Jacobs to Calvin Klein. The Olsen twins are continually flaunting their inner Edies. On the latest DVD release of "Grey Gardens" designers Todd Oldham and John Bartlett gush over Edie's impact on fashion.

"She was really brilliant in the way that she mixed patterns," says Thomas. "She had this way of combining things. You couldn't really tell if they were two or three or four garments she was wearing. She was also a master draper. She understood fabric and how it molded to the body. Drew and I were just fascinated by the things that she figured out."

I find all this particularly inspiring. With a recession making all of us take another look at what's lingering in our closets, it's good to know that Edie managed to turn the outdated contents of her bureau into high fashion. If you haven't seen her style, please drop everything, head to YouTube, and search "Best costume for the day." Prepare to be dazzled. While Edie's cousin, Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, was donning Oleg Cassini and Valentino, Little Edie was creating her own fashion world.

"I think she's the anti-Jackie," says Charles Schoonmaker, who is designing costumes for an upcoming Lyric Stage production of the "Grey Gardens" musical. "She provides another way of looking at clothing. Literally she turns her skirts upside down. Fashion designers are always putting a twist on clothes, and that's exactly what Edie did, in a very flamboyant way."

We've all been Edie at one time in our lives - perhaps not decked out like a tarted up Esther Williams holding a bag of Wonder Bread and a box of Cat Chow to feed the raccoons, but I think we've all over-dressed with no place to go and waited for someone to notice us. The only difference is that Edie pulled this off every day, with the kind of creativity that few of us could have mustered under such circumstances.

Christopher Muther can be reached at muther@globe.com.