Pushing Daisies was, for two brief shining seasons, some of the best television out there. It was the story of Ned the Piemaker, a man with the ability to bring back the dead with a touch. He can only bring them to life for 60 seconds before something else must die in order to balance out that life-touch. The other downside is that if Ned touches that living thing again, they fall down dead. Again. Permanently. Bummer. Ned uses his gift to solve crimes, working with a PI to speak to the dead for a minute to find out the circumstances of their death. He brought back to life his childhood love, Charlotte “Chuck” Charles, in order to find out her murderer, only to leave her alive. And never able to touch her again. And they fall deeply in love. Major bummer.
Pushing Daisies was fun, quirky, and visually stunning. And because of this, too good for TV and got cancelled. (I don’t want to talk about it.)
But the best part of Pushing Daisies was how the fabulous clothes that Chuck wore on a regular basis. Leading to one of the items on my life list: “Dress like Chuck.”
A strange style icon to emulate? Possibly. But her clothes are a modern quirky mix of 50’s sweetheart and 60’s mod girl. Lots of a-line dresses, pretty florals and cardigans. (I like cardigans. I’m an old lady like that.) And it’s not just me, there are loads of bloggers who love Chuck, especially this Flickr poster who built a style guide around the character.
My favorites? (Large images abound.)
Okay, I know this is huge, but it needs to be. Stop looking at those shoes for a second. No, I know, they’re great. But I want you to check out this dress for a second. Pretty boat neck*, fun skirt…. do you see it? IT’S LACE! I KNOW, awesome, right?? Now let’s look at the shoes again… *happy sigh*
Okay, so this is a uniform of sorts as a “Bee Girl” (Don’t ask, watch “Bzzzzzzz!”) but the while the design looks like a rug in a hotel, the bows and bee pin slay me. SLAY ME! Plus, I love up-do’s. And yellow and black piping.
YELLOW SWEATER DRESS. I want it. And her fabric flower in her head. And that pie stand in the foreground. But the dress first. Priorities, people.
Yay cardigans! Pair it with a sweet buttondown top and circle skirt and you look like you’re about to walk into a malt shoppe for a soda with the girls. I loves it.
That pose just says, “Oh, I’m sorry. Did we just take your grandma’s couch, throw in a bubble dress and a pencil skirt and mix it around and then pop out with an outfit made of awesome? Yeah. Yeah, we did.”
Okay, fellow style aspirants. If you could dress like one person or character for the rest of your life, who would it be?
*I originally called this a bateau neckline. However, the always fabulous Ms. Bunny of bunnies’n’beagles said that a boat neck scoops deeper than a bateau. See how smart she is? Go read her blog.
Kind of a Mess 
Wow, love her clothes. LOVE that red dress. I couldn’t help but think how awesome that would be as a BM dress. Anyone? (I need to stop reading wedding blogs, clearly.)
My style is very “Annie Hall”-esque, or, for a more modern example, Dr. Cameron from House. (But, I never did like the blonde hair.)
Oooo, good call on the BM dress. Although I can’t look at BM anything without thinking “bowel movement.” (I’m all class.)
And I love Dr. Cameron’s style. You’re right though, blonde was not a good look for her.
Inara from Firefly. For reals. She’s so elegant, and sexy. Even in her ‘hanging around the spaceship’ clothes. I girl can dream, right?
Jethro LOVES her. I kinda do too. Everything she wears is so classy and looks SO comfy as well as beautiful. Plus, I’d kick an old person for her hair…
You’re in my head. Like, for serious. Case in point, today, I am wearing:
– Alice blue bateau-necked a line dress. Complete with full skirt. Because I’m a girly girl today.
– Belted cardigan
– Pretty brooch – see above
– Heels – also see above
So yes, we’re on the same page.
LOVE IT. You’re my hero.
I am pretty sure my next sewing project will be that red dress. Though I may give it a bateau neck instead… I love vintage/retro/period clothing so, so much. (though, as a gal whose primary fashion requirement is comfort, it takes a special occasion for me to actually don such things and the requisite shoes.)
GOD, if it is, PLEASE show me pictures. I used to be able to build when I was doing theatre, but now my skills are severely lacking. I admire/envy you.
well, I do have about 17 projects ahead of it… but I did just establish my personal “working hours” for the sewing room (business my wife & I are trying to get off the ground…) so it could happen this year.
Okay, this was uncanny. Because when I picked out my wedding dress pattern, it’s with her in mind. As in very few days ago. Lovely!!
But that’s for dress-up. For day-to-day my ideal self is way more jeans/blazer oriented.
I AM IN YOUR HEAD.
Nah. I just have excellent taste like you. And I’m a jeans girl too, I just want to be a Chuck. And I will, one day….maybe. Hopefully….
You will. I do dress like that occasionally, I am just in the stage now of accumulating sassy accents for jeans.
oooh Jo, are you sewing your dress yourself?? we did that and it was awesome. (uh, and I totally felt like I was playing dress up all day long…)
My mom is! I’m going to help but I’m pretty sure it would make my heart stop if I was solely responsible. I’m really excited though.
You know she’s English right? Just a fun fact.
You know, I forgot about that! It always freaks me out when the Brits do American. Like House. Weird.
But you’re claiming her mostly because you’re marrying one, aren’t you?
I went through a year-long phase where the criteria I used for buying clothes consisted entirely of, “Would Angelina-Jolie-as-Mrs.-Smith wear this?” (I now own a lot of Stuff in Black…)
I like the retro style a lot now, but am still really self-conscious about being able to pull it off.
(And Pushing Daisies was hands down one of the best shows ever. The aunts? Kristen Chenoweth? Emerson Cod’s pop up books? So unjustly canceled 😦 )
Oooo, SEX-AY! But I’m with you on the self-conscious. That’s why I have her on my life list, a reminder that I need to be more brave!
And shave all the time and not just most of the time so I can wear those pretty dresses.
The only reason I watch Human Target with my husband is so I can watch Chi McBride and pretend he’s Emerson on a secret assignment.
I still like to play the YouTubes of “Morning Has Broken” or “Birdhouse in your Soul” when I’m feeling melanchony. Ellen Greene makes me hapy.
Oh my god-“Morning Has Broken” makes me cry every single time, but in such a good way. It has ever since I was a little girl, and I begged C to have the crowd sing it at our wedding. Still not sure if it’ll flow, but it makes my heart weep like a guitar. Gently.
okay.
you are my favorite.
i ABSOLUTELY adore pushing daisies…have BOTH seasons on DVD…i want to name my first daughter Chuck – and very well might actually follow through with that – and she is completely and irresistibly adorable!
Um…..how did I miss that you had started a blog????? And I LOVE Chick’s dresses. And that show overall. It inspired me to buy a green Chuck-like retro dress with with white polka dots and daisy details. I have not yet worked up the guts to wear it though. 😦 And I don’t yet have the right shoes. But I think there are yellow sunshine-y heels in my near future, so that might fix that problem. 🙂
I generally would like to be Anna Friel!
Oh how I miss Pushing Daisies. I think it was the most beautifully shot show ever. And I loved me some Piemaker Ned!
Did you know there is going to be a comic series continuation? I’d much rather have it on my tv – but I’m still pretty excited!
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/01/bryan-fuller-has-started-writing-pushing-daisies-comic/