How to Dress like Fran Fine
Fran Drescher is a fabulous diva! I get so much vintage outfit inspiration from The Nanny herself miss Fran Fine. In my love letter to Moschino I talked about the amazing vintage Moschino looks from the show. Nanny Fine’s looks are bold, colorful, fun, yet methodical in the sense that she has many wardrobe staples. For me, observing her style is a lesson in developing a signature personal style. I love that on the show she re-wears a few items multiple times. To me that makes it feels more realistic and imitatable. If I could get my hands on that rainbow color blocked vest and jacket, both by Moschino, I would wear them over and over and over.
What may come across as a chaotic sense of style is actually pretty calculated in an amazing way. The clothes are tailored perfectly for her body, she has staple pieces that she combines with statement pieces, and she reuses color palettes often. With a wardrobe like this it’s easy to mix and match to create multiple outfits that are unique yet have a similar vibe. The tip here is to invest in good staple items so that when you buy statement pieces you find it easier to style them, meaning you will get more wear out of them. You don’t have to stick to neutral colors to be able to mix and match. You can have a distinct, loud color palette and still create many cohesive looks, just like Fran Fine.
The way that she dresses is a dream to me. A never ending source of vintage outfit inspiration. Here are some of Fran Fine’s wardrobe essentials that you can easily incorporate into your style. You probably already own a lot of these items, so you can try to combine them in different ways than you might be used to.
Black Turtle neck, miniskirt, & Tights
The black turtle neck, tights, and miniskirt are Fran Fine staples. These are the base layer for many of her outfits. I love these pieces because they work with so much. You can invest in a loud Moschino blazer and know that you will be able to style it by possessing these three simple items. The best part is you can take your look from winter to summer by removing the turtle neck and the tights. A black miniskirt and a bold blazer, blouse, or vest is a great summer outfit for going out on the town, or for dinner on patio. For summer too, you can also switch to a white, red, or pink miniskirt. Something I pulled from Fran Fine is to have to miniskirts in multiple colors that you can style in the winter with tights, summer without, and pair them with colorful tops, vests, and jackets. It is actually a pretty simple formula to look fabulous all the time.
color blocking
Color-blocked pieces are great to have in your wardrobe. You can find a color palette you like and color block your wardrobe based on that. Brenda Cooper, the costume designer for The Nanny, conceptualized Fran’s style based on the color blocked rainbow vest. Color blocking also looks great with black, as we see on Fran time and time again.
Another great example of Fran Fine color blocking is the fact that she wears many black, red, and white outfits. If you buy black, red, and white pieces, you can combine them together in multiple ways. But then you can also combine them with other colors, black and white basically go with everything. Fran wears a lot of different colors, but the colors you see her in the most are red, white, black, pink, yellow, orange, and purple. She is the lady in red (while every body else is wearing tan) after all.
Bold Patterns
No one does bold patterns quite like Fran Drescher. You can probably guess what I am going to say next - you can easily style bold patterns if you stick to your color blocking, and make sure you have the staple pieces to style the louder pieces with! All my points build off of each other. There are four patterns that you see her in most often: animal print, harlequin, stripes, and plaid. They are expectedly unexpected - she often shows up in a skin tight animal print outfit, but they are styled in so many different ways over the course of the show. It is interesting to me to take something so loud, and basically normalize it to your style.
It is easy to wear bold patterns year round by adding or removing other items. Take plaid for example. While it might seem like a winter pattern, you can certainly wear a colorful plaid year round! Just pair it with a mini skirt and some strappy heels and you’re on your way to feeling like a fabulous diva.
I am particularly fond of the harlequin patterns and black and white stripes because they are so 90’s Moschino and emblematic of Moschino’s roots. Franco Moschino created a style and brand that never took itself too seriously. Clown couture. These days, people are so afraid of looking silly. Clowns have such a negative connotation. Franco Moschino himself was allegedly dubbed the “Clown of Couture”. The harlequin print and the clown aesthetic are essential aspects of Franco Moschino’s original vision. I think clowns are amazing and I love clown couture. Cirque du Soleil comes from Montreal where I was born. I was a fashion clown for Halloween last year. If I wear something and someone tells me it reminds them of a clown, I would say good, thank you. In this theoretical situation I am assuming the person doesn’t mean it as a compliment. However, I have had similar comments made to me about what I am wearing, and if this has happened to you this is your sign to ignore those comments. Your style isn’t for everyone else, it is for you so wear what you like! When it comes to clown couture, the girls that get it get it.
a Statement blouse
Bright colorful blouses and white ruffle blouses were a must for Fran Fine. She had many variations. Throwing on a ruffle blouse with a blazer and a mini skirt is another easy way to look chic and elegant but with some spice. I like that. I like to feel eleganza and picante at the same time. A bold blouse is an easy way to elevate a plain mini skirt and blazer (things you probably already have in your closet). Instead of looking like you are going to the office, you might look like you are going to a fancy Venetian clown convention, or any kind of party where people actually like to have fun.
Vests
Fran fine has basically mastered layering. Are we even surprised? With the turtle necks, skirts, blazers, and tights yes, but we also have the vest! The vest is another fabulous item that can elevate and add depth to your outfit. I believe you can wear a vest in the warmer months too. You can wear a vest over a statement blouse, with a miniskirt for a night out, instead of wearing a blazer or jacket. You can wear the vest without anything under it and with some bold hot pants and sandals. In the colder months you can extra layer - blouse, vest, jacket. Such a great look. Layering is so chic.
Sequins and Metallics
Nothing like sequins and metallics to add some pizzaz to an outfit. Most of the time, when Fran Fine was going to a party or event, she would wear something with sequins, or something metallic. If you want to really feel like you’re in the diva party mood, I think loud sequins are the way to go.
Check out some Fran Fine outfits I styled below!
