Your question: I want to start personalising my style
Dear Mookychick,
I'm a happy kind of person, I have great friends and a great boyfriend, and my life is better than ever right now. I love going to shows, and singing with my band... I'm definitely a rocker.
But there's just one problem. I don't feel like my style reflects that.
I'm 18 and I've just finished school. I think that now everything else in my life is changing, it's the best time for me to make some changes to my wardrobe. My style is very plain and boring, jeans and a t-shirt are my staple items and I want to know how I can stand out from the crowd like women such as Kat Von D, and Hayley Williams (of Paramore) do. They're edgy, and they make people look at them and quite frankly - they're hot! I have no problem with my confidence, it's just that whenever I go to buy new clothes, I end up choosing the same kinds of things.
I'm stuck in a total style rut! Do you have any advice on what to look for when buying clothes? (I've tried DIY and only succeeded in proving I can't sew haha!)
HELP!!!
Love, Anonymous Me xxx
The Mookychick answer to your problem
Ashley says...
Gather up everything in your wardrobe that makes you feel bad when you
wear it. Put it in a bag. Rent some John Waters movies, drink a pot of
coffee and truck your bag of stuff to the nearest thrift store to swap
'em out.
A little bit of Hel-Looks, a dose of Mink Stole and a lot of
not giving a damn about what other people think, so long as you're
confident and you get off on making people look at you strange. But
look, you don't want to look like Kat Von D or Hayley Williams.
That
Suicide Girls/Urban Outfitters distressed T-look is about as edgy as
the uniform of a Gap employee.
Magda says...
Okay, take a look at one of the hottest, rockingest, hardest-edge women in music - Kim Deal. One thing you'll notice is that her wardrobe staples pretty much consist of trousers and tees. Why? Because she still looks foxy, and they're comfortable wear for (a) all-night binging, (b) waking up in the afternoon after an all-night binge, (c) mucking about on stage with a guitar. The secret to Kim Deal's stylishness is that she wants to wear clothes that are fun and suit her, but further than that, she clearly couldn't give a shit. She extends her wardrobe with beanie hats and comfortable jackets. And this is genuine style - skaters have always dressed for wear-and-tear and the elements, and now we've appropriated their practical, functional dress sense and think it's cool as.
Because all your friends and boyfriend already think you're a hot rock chick, I'd say the jeans and tee style is working for you. So why not stick with that and branch out? Hunt down tees you like from the wealth of etsy-based independent tee shirt makers and customisers out there, so your tees look hot, and different, and each one tells a story - and of course you're supporting independent designers which is a very solid, rocking thing to do.
For trousers, branch out of jeans and start looking for other kinds of trousers (check Kim Deal with her natty plaid pants). Skate shops should give you an idea.
You can feminise this quite boysie look with accessories - retro girly stuff to contrast, and harder rock stuff to complement.
Don't forget beanie hats.
Lastly, keep the tees and start checking out skirts - a-line skirts that come up to above the knee are cute and can easily be worn by rock chicks on stage. In fact, not just skirts - it's essential for every rock chick to have a couple of vampy dresses in her wardrobe - stuff you can wear with boots to look glam as hell, with a touch of retro if you feel like heading that way.
Lastly, get a tattoo of a death's head moth on your wrists so that you are customised for the rest of your life. Oh, wait... that's what *I* was going to do :(
Sounds like you're all in the right direction and are having a great life. If you go to college after leaving school, checking out the thrift stores and strange little community-vibe clothes shops in the area will be part of the fun. Good luck!
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