A NEW STYLE ICON HAD EMERGED: I was hesitant to give Amal Alamuddin Clooney a “style icon” title when I honestly hadn’t heard of her until recently when she represented Julian Assange from Wikileaks, and then became George Clooney’s fiancée (now wife – see photos from the wedding).
And I was worried that the label might be somehow demeaning considering her incredible credentials as a human rights barrister.
But who says that you can’t be clever and fashionable? She’s clearly embracing the ladylike styles I love, which means more to me than any Kardashian, and ought to be celebrated.
So here’s a tribute to Amal Alamuddin Clooney’s fashion as we’ve seen it so far…
Why is she fabulous?
Let’s get her impressive professional credentials acknowledged before we move on.
Amal Alamuddin Clooney works as a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London’s Holborn area, in the legal district near Grays Inn. The firm has offices at both 10-11 and 53-54 Doughty Street.
The area is busy with law and media companies, and historically famous residents. The writer, Charles Dickens once lived at 48 Doughty Street, and wrote his classic novel, Oliver Twist here, and the location is now home to the Charles Dickens Museum.
Doughty Street Chambers, office of human rights barrister Amal Clooney
At Doughty Street Chambers:
Amal Clooney is a barrister specialising in international law, human rights, extradition and criminal law. She has represented clients in cases before the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as in domestic courts in the UK and US.
Amal also provides advice to governments and individuals on international law, and has been appointed to a number of UN commissions including as adviser to Special Envoy Kofi Annan on Syria, and as Counsel to the Inquiry launched by UN human rights rapporteur Ben Emmerson QC into the use of drones in counter-terrorism operations.
Amal is fluent in French and Arabic and has particular expertise in international criminal law and the Middle East region.
Amal Alamuddin with her client, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange
She’s been admitted to the Bar of England & Wales (Inner Temple) and New York Bar (2002), which enables her to practice internationally.
Since 2011, Amal has been involved in the repatriation of the controversial Elgin Marbles, the ownership-disputed Parthenon sculptures currently being held at the British Museum. Following her honeymoon in October 2014, she travelled with famed barrister Geoffrey Robertson QC on an invitation from the Greek government. More here.
Check out her profile on her employer’s website, Doughty Street Chambers, in London.
And there’s more here.
Prior to her employment with Doughty Street in 2010, she worked:
- as a student law clerk at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the offices of Sonia Sotomayor, who is now on the Supreme Court of the United States
- at the International Court of Justice and was one of two NYU-sponsored clerks at the Court, clerking for Judge Vladen S. Vereshchetin from Russia and Judge Nabil Elaraby from Egypt
- at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York for three years as part of the Criminal Defense and Investigations Group, which included the criminal probe of Enron and Arthur Andersen
- in the Office of the Prosecutor at the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon and at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
In addition, she has lectured students on international criminal law at:
- SOAS (University of London)
- The New School in New York City
- The Hague Academy of International Law
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Buy Amal Alamuddin’s legal text, The Special Tribunal for Lebanon: Law and Practice (Oxford Monographs in International Humanitarian and Criminal Law), co-authored with Nidal Nabil Jurdi and David Tolbert.
What’s her background?
Amal Ramzi Alamuddin was born on February 3, 1978 in Beirut, Lebanon, and has joint British-Lebanese citizenship. At the time of her wedding this year, she was 36.
When Amal was two years old, the Lebanese Civil War (1975 to 1990) was waging. The Alamuddin family moved to London and settled in Gerrards Cross, a village in Buckinghamshire, England, just outside the M25 loop, on the border of Greater London.
A postcard of Beirut, Lebanon, where Amal Alamuddin was born
Family
- Her father, Ramzi Alamuddin, is a retired professor of business studies at the American University of Beirut, who is from Baakline, a suburb of Beirut
- Her mother, Baria (née Miknass) is the foreign editor of the Pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat, and is from from Tripoli in Lebanon
- She has three siblings: one sister, Tala, and two half-brothers, Samer and Ziad, from her father’s first marriage.
Religion
- Her father is Druze (a quasi-Muslim sect in Lebanon that is part of the Shia Islam denomination of Islam)
- Her mother is Sunni Muslim.
- Her husband, George Clooney, was raised as a Roman Catholic, but now says he’s agnostic.
Amal as a college fresher at St Hugh’s, Oxford University in 1996
Skills and education
- Dr Challoner’s High School in Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire
- Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence (Oxford’s equivalent to the LLB) at St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford, where she received an Exhibition scholarship and the Shrigley Award, graduating in 2000
- Master of Law at New York University School of Law, where she received the Jack J Katz Memorial Award for excellence in entertainment law
- She speaks fluent English, French and Arabic.
Learn more about Amal Clooney via Wikipedia.
So, she married some actor?
She married American actor, director and producer, political activist and humanitarian George Clooney, 53, in Venice over a weekend in September 2014.
A lot of us got a little excited by all the frocks and glamour – see my post and photos here.
So why is she a new style icon?
In no particular order: She makes an effort, she dresses for her height and shape, she sets a good example for other women, and she mixes it up with excellent choices.
It’s like she’s studied the classics (Babe Paley, CZ Guest, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Bianca Jagger) and the newbies (Sofia Coppola, Lauren Santo Domingo, Olivia Palermo, Marion Cotillard, Diane Kruger, Alexa Chung, Taylor Tomasi Hill).
The easiest way to describe her style choices are “goofy” for casual wear and “ladylike” for work and formal occasions.
I’m not a fan of the multicoloured, multi-patterned casual pants she seems to fond of (memories of bad 80s outfits for me!) but I love her daytime office chic and evening glamour.
Her favourite labels so far include Dolce & Gabbana, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen,Giambattista Valli and Oscar de la Renta, each of which featured during her wedding weekend.
You can shop for these brands here:
- Net-a-Porter
- Alexander McQueen
- Oscar de la Renta
- Harrods
- Dolce and Gabbana/D&G
- Harvey Nichols
- Shopbop
- Nordstrom
- Stella McCartney
- Mytheresa
- Bergdorf Goodman
- Neiman Marcus
- Giambattista Valli
- Saks Fifth Avenue
- Barneys New York
Revisit her wedding photos and all the fab frocks, plus a look at the Clooney’s new manor house on a private island, outside London:
Scroll through the full collection of Amal Clooney’s style here:
Re-pin these photos via our new AMAL ALAMUDDIN CLOONEY board on Pinterest.
You might also like:
So, what do you think? Does Amal qualify as a style icon in your book? Leave a comment below.
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Cheers, Natasha
www.myLusciousLife.com
