She's been a bitch, an ape, a bones-for-britches pie-hungry hag and a witch. Move over Hollywood, there's room for only one Helena Bonham Carter and she's not playing doll in any Gucci drama. Style Clinic's Kitty McColl dissects the clothes that maketh the lady.

Helena Bonham Carter is a conundrum; born into blue blood English heritage as the great-granddaughter of Prime Minister Asquith, on paper she makes for a perfect poster girl for the reserved British acting establishment. In reality, she cuts a considerably more eccentric figure. Having described herself as ‘the antichrist of fashion’, Bonham Carter is not one to follow the crowd. 

Initially her character choices pigeonholed her as a quintessentially corseted English rose in a handful of Merchant-Ivory period dramas, but Bonham Carter thought ‘no, screw this, I’m breaking free of that image’ and instead chose to portray a monkey in Planet of the Apes. Before that there was the unhinged lover of Brad Pitt/ Edward Norton in Fight Club and Voldemort’s favourite witch in Harry Potter. 

Her fashion choices became as varied as her roles. In more recent years, she has embraced the entire spectrum of her wardrobe, sometimes all at once creating rag tag combinations that were hitherto unheard of on the red carpet. Both on and off duty, her attire may often resemble a crazy lady who owns purple cats, but at least Bonham Carter is giving us an image of a celebrity who is a real person. There’s no flawless make-up or gym honed body favoured by Gwyneth or Madonna, just a real woman who happens to be a talented actress. 

Tim Burton, her long-term partner and madcap director, has proved the greatest influence on her style. Since they shacked up, Bonham Carter has become as sartorially skewed as some of his creations. Her electrocuted hairstyle is plucked straight from Burton’s Edward Scissorhands, while the disparate roles she’s played as Mrs Bucket from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and pie-hungry wench in Sweeney Todd reflect her simultaneous real-life roles as mother of two and buxom muse.

Bonham Carter’s look is singular; she picks her way through different decades of style and may well wear them all together with a blatant disregard of the latest trends. The press frequently lambastes her for her choice of attire, but as one of Britain’s finest actresses, and as much a national treasure as the Queen’s Corgis, it’s hard to imagine she would care. Plus she could probably hex them if she wanted to.

Words: Catherine McColl
Illustration: Federica Ubaldo