Versace Holiday Saga. Courtesy of Versace.
Though universally popular, soap operas get a lot of abuse: the acting is criticised for being overdramatic, the storylines are picked apart for their inconsistencies, and the style is labelled tacky. Still, there is a growing movement within the zeitgeist that is less concerned with having ‘good taste; and is openly indulging in the decadent golden-era of ‘80s soap operas. Versace and Valentino both borrowed heavily from daytime programming for their holiday campaigns—the former producing a multi-chapter series about a baroness, a record-label owner, her dead lover, and a daughter who is tricked into marriage to steal her family’s money (created for Baroness magazine with performance artist Sarah Baker), while the latter went straight to the source, casting Dynasty’s Dame Joan Collins as their leading lady. It seems that all the things that people poke fun of the genre for, may be the same things we love about it.
Acting
Versace Holiday Saga. Courtesy of Versace.
Is it believable that there are certain circles in which one person has an evil twin, another has a long lost sibling, multiple people come back from the dead, and everyone is constantly falling into or waking up from a coma? No, but it does make for compelling character development. We all want to know if the evil twin will be more attractive, why the long lost sibling was lost, if the undead will have an eye patch and see which confessions are made at the bedside of the unconscious patient. When life is this crazy you can’t blame anyone for dramatic pauses, theatrical hair tosses, slamming doors and storming out of rooms.
There is also a crossover appeal for expressive soap opera stars. When classic soap opera stars—appearing across Days of Our Lives, Melrose Place and The Young and the Restless—Lisa Rinna and Eileen Davidson joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2014, they quickly became some of the franchises most formidable personalities.
Style
Courtesy of Valentino.
Over time, the glamour of dramas like Dynasty and Dallas has become less aspirational and more a form of kitsch escapism. For half an hour, it is nice to believe there is someplace where people wear diamonds at the dinner table and treat the office like a Mugler runway. Gone are the times where going out for a martini meant throwing on a cocktail dress, but sometimes its nice to slip into a world filled with party dresses, dramatic suits and cufflinks that sometimes may even link a person to a murder.
Make-up
Courtesy of Baroness by Sarah Baker.
In the age of #nomakeup and 20-minute hair tutorials on how to make it look like you just got out of bed, a “done” look is surprisingly refreshing, despite the layers of powder and frosted lipstick. The category may be ‘daytime’ but the eyes are smokey by default. And as the patron saint of soap operas, Susan Lucci, has been teaching us for decades, sometimes blending your bangs into your hair is overrated, a few perfectly curled and immoveable pieces in front hide wrinkles, while the billowing mane in back adds drama.
While series that run for decades and shamelessly replace actors may never be considered prestige television, they have definitely won a place in our hearts, and on our mood boards.