Music muses

WOMEN in the music industry have always exerted a major influence on how other women want to look.

Since the start of the last century, music muses have also become fashion leaders whose personal styles have inspired not only with their music but also their distinctive looks.

Artists as diverse as Joni Mitchell (hippie flower child), Debbie Harry (fearless New Wave chameleon), Patti Smith (personification of punk androgyny) Courtney Love (kinder whore Lolita), Florence Welch (nouveau bohemian) and Beyoncé (Wonder Woman diva) have been imitated by fans, provided inspiration for designers, and created businesses from their fashion nous.

Some of these performers have been very commercially astute in realising the potential of their own distinctive image, using it as the springboard for launching brands, perfume ranges, or clothing lines, (Courtney Love and Beyoncé) while others of the older school such as Joni Mitchell, Patti Smith, and Debbie Harry have perhaps remained truer to their anti-establishment roots by refusing to capitalise commercially on their anti-establishment styles.

Regardless of their business acumen, what all these women have in common is a very distinctive sense of who they are and an ability to communicate that visually through a unique personal sense of style.

Many had limited resources when starting their careers and had to utilise unconventional sources for their fashion — thrift stores, menswear, and vintage garments were an inspiration (primarily because they were so cheap), but out of this necessity they forged unique styles that made them stand out from commercial mainstream fashion.

Four of our favourite muses are:

Joni Mitchell

70 this year, Joni Mitchell was the original free spirit or bohemian beauty queen. With her poker straight long hair, bare feet, razor sharp bone structure, and fierce blue gaze she was a compelling visual presence from the start.

She subsidised her early music by working in fashion stores and always had an interest in clothes: “I worked in ladieswear and I modelled. I had access to sample clothes that were too fashionable for our community … I would go out on the streets dressed to the T.”

This wry melancholy muse who was half-Californian beach babe and half-Nordic goddess was the epitome of flower child fashion with her flowing boho maxis, vintage satins and flowers in her hair — she embodied the natural clothes, hair and jewellery of the ’70s perfectly.

Sienna Miller was hugely influenced by her style during her boho phase and recreated her stylistic references for a new generation in the noughties.

Her romantic yet dramatic style has inspired Matthew Williamson throughout his design career, as well as Alberta Ferretti, Alice Temperley, and Kate Moss.

Debbie Harry

If you could define the chameleon-like Debbie with any one label it would be the punk Marilyn Monroe. Her platinum blonde hair, spiky attitude, dramatic cheekbones and tongue in cheek glamour were a potent blend. With the success Blondie’s disco/pop/punk album Parallel Lines in 1978 the former Bunny Girl was thrust dramatically into the limelight, a place she seemed to feel innately comfortable. In her early thirties when Blondie achieved success, Harry was very self-possessed and had created a stage look that blended hard-edged glamour and punk flourishes. It comprised a blend of body-con day-glo pieces from designer pal Stephen Sprouse, biker leathers, tight leggings, shorts, minis, jumpsuits, mohair knits, masculine blazers, leopard print, and slogan tees. Topped off with metallic make-up, dramatic red lips, and Rayban wayfarers, she knew how to command attention on stage and off. The fact she was stunningly beautiful yet didn’t take herself too seriously only added to her appeal. She reinvented her image constantly and fearlessly. One of her favourite moves was to wear a wedding dress on stage for the song ‘Rip Her to Shreds’ and then rip the dress asunder. Courtney Love, Gwen Stefani, and Madonna have all been influenced by her cool downtown chic. This autumn/winter’s punk trend as interpreted at Fendi, Chanel, and Versace, is directly influenced by her style.

Patti Smith

Iconic is the most over-used word of modern times but is the only way to describe this lady. Patti Smith’s stark androgynous image has essentially remained unchanged for her entire career, yet is still a commanding presence. She is the “Godmother of Punk” and the 1975 cover for her breakthrough album Horses, shot by lover/friend Robert Mapplethorpe, was a startling image that retains its intensity today. Standing in her masculine shirt, loosened tie, and mussed bed-head hair it was unclear whether this was a man or woman directing their frank gaze onto the world. Emerging from the cool ’70s sub-culture of downtown clubs Max’s Kansas City and CBGB’s, her image reflected her distaste for traditional femininity or prettiness. She dressed from thrift stores and showed that a woman can command attention without being pretty — her ugly yet beautiful face was challenging not conventional. Her androgynous look featured breton stripes, utilitarian boots, ripped jeans, motorcycle jackets, button-up shirts, and battered coats. She described her image in the New York Times thus: “My style says ‘Look at me, don’t look at me. It’s ‘I don’t care what you think ….’ ” Her punk attitude belies the fact she is well versed in fashion: Nowadays she is more likely to wear cerebral designers such as Anne Demeulemeester for whom she has modelled and served as muse. She has inspired this seasons’s androgyny trend popularised by Paul Smith, Jil Sander, and Heidi Slimmane at Saint Laurent.

Courtney Love

When asked to describe her personal style during the grunge phenomenon of the ’90s, the Hole frontwoman christened it Kinder Whore, a provocative yet apt description, typical of this unconventional musician and actor. Her look then as the Queen of Grunge was a mix of tattered baby doll dresses, vintage florals, slouchy cardis, scuffed boots, tartan flannel shirts, and ripped jeans all topped off with bleached hair, messy red lipstick, and dark eyeshadow. Now 49, she has transformed into a sleek couture goddess who does the red carpet with a theatrical sense of style uniquely her own. Featured in the campaign for Saint Laurent she has come full circle and launched her own clothing line, Never The Bride, which has a strong Edwardian and Victorian influence paired with Love trademarks such as lace, satin, and florals, all juxtaposed in unconventional ways. She was a source of inspiration for Marc Jacob’s 1992 grunge collection at Perry Ellis (which got him fired) and which has now re-emerged as a major fashion story for autumn/winter in the collections of Dries Van Noten, Rodarte, Jacobs, and Saint Laurent.

These music muses all created their own looks: not for them celebrity stylists or professional hair and make-up artists — they created their own looks, sourced and styled their wardrobes, created their own stage looks, and directed their own appearances for album covers and publicity material. A potent mix of creativity, personal awareness and distinctive taste defined how each created their image to reflect their personal aesthetic and music. It is a tribute to them all that their looks still continue to inspire fashion today and that the authenticity of their personal style strikes a chord with new generations decades on.

Patti Smith defines their raison d’être when she states: “I didn’t understand why we had to present a different picture of ourselves to the outside world.”

It is this uncompromising attitude that reflects the frenetic rebelliousness inherent in their truly stylish yet unexpected mix of style and substance.