Taxi: Rocking Dirty Downtown Urban Glam

I've been wanting to do character ever since I bought this wig for Leonora.  It's her new "signature hair", and in addition, it makes her a dead ringer for Marilu Henner!

There is a lot to be inspired by in the show "Taxi."  The cab drivers (all but one) have dreams and aspirations that just seem within reach, and they consider working at Sunshine Cab a temporary job that they can leave behind after they succeed in their real careers.  Sound familiar?  Elaine Nardo (this character) wants to be in the field of fine art.

I had the shape of this garment in mind before finding the fabric.  I originally wanted to do a yellow/b-w checker combination thing to give her "taxi-colors", but I ended up using an aqua crepe for the undershirt and this cool patterned jersey material for the jacket instead.  The color brings out her eyes much better than yellow. compare/contrast.  (By the way, I found the picture of Elaine in that shade of blue AFTER I made the garment.  The fact that they are the same is just a wonderful coincidence that affirms I made the right color choice).

Since Elaine wants to be an Artist, and also Sunshine Cab is based in Lower Manhattan, I wanted to combine the two looks.  I wanted the whole thing to look a little dirty and wrinkled.  The under vest has permanent wrinkles ironed-in.  The grey trim on the jacket is made out of one of my old tank tops with paint stains.  I rubbed sidewalk chalk on the jeans to make them look dusty and worn.  But I also wanted her to look artistic and glamourous.  The vest is shiny.  The jacket is meant to resemble one of those oversized dramatic ponchos that a stereotypical New York female artist wore in the 70's.  The pants are super fitted and not sloppy.  I think I did a good job at mixing the two looks.