Black Book – August 26, 2009

Sure, she was still a child in the ’80s. But given her string of command performances, we knew that Claire Danes was perfect for our fashion story on the revival of powerhouse dressing inspired by the greed decade. After all, her strength on-screen — and off — made Zac Efron quake in his boots at the mere thought of working with her in Richard Linklater’s upcoming film, Me and Orson Welles.

As it turns out, she was refreshingly down-to-earth on that set—and on ours, where, in the penthouse of Manhattan’s Cooper Square Hotel, she gamely stepped into this season’s outré fashions with ease (and the occasional half-roll of the eyes). At one point, Danes, who is set to wed actor Hugh Dancy this month, found herself flat on her back, legs in mid-air, with two stylists yanking boots down on each foot: “I’ve never felt so infantilized in my life.” Clad in unwieldy high-heel boots, she laughed about the irony of the situation. “I was playing a character that was seemingly undefeatable and powerful,” said Danes, “yet I couldn’t move. I was actually pretty feeble. But who cares? It’s the land of make-believe.”