Style Icons: Female »Chrissie Hynde

Rocking Lady of Rock

Chrissie Hynde is a women of rock who actually rocks. Leather pants, ripped tees, a mouth made for swearing, a mullet, and a career as a band front-man that was usually reserved for men, Hynde defined an iconic, cool and tough style for women in music.

An Ohio transplant in London, Hynde began with ties to Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood in their store Sex before playing in several bands that didn’t work out. Eventually, her own creation, The Pretenders took off, giving us some of the best new wave hits of the era and a one memorable hot waitress video.

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Posted on November 19, 2010

Style Icons: Female »Marianne Faithfull

Singer and Icon

Part smiling innocence of the girl next door and part scandal ridden sexpot who got into mischief with the Rolling Stones, the inimitable Marianne Faithfull was one of the most interesting it girls of the 1960s. A singer in her own right, she was also well known as one of Mick Jagger’s girlfriends and The Girl On A Motorcycle.

Today she is on top again as the raspy voiced grandma of cool but, of course, her wild days didn’t initially lead to such apparent happiness. She suffered truly crippling drug addiction and anorexia for decades before finally emerging wiser and well with a new singing career. We’re glad she made it.

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Posted on November 9, 2010

Style Icons: Female »Ari Up

Punk Pioneer

With her dread lock Medusa hair and monotone voice, Slits singer Ari Up was a pioneering feminist in punk music. She had a flamboyant look that was part rave, part toddler with a Rasta twist and a generous helping of hooker thrown in. Clearly beholden to no one in the way she lived her life, she was a mentor to many and one of the most interesting, if overlooked women in punk who at times lived off the grid with the indigenous people of Indonesia and Brazil. She continued making music, even getting the old band back together last year, up until her untimely death yesterday. She was 48.

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Posted on October 21, 2010

Style Icons: Female »Joan Collins

Fabulously Bitchy

Joan Collins has probably been spouting her mouth off about all sorts of people and things for years, just recently Hello Magazine has decided to take notice and her quotes about Jennifer Aniston (saying she’s cute but not beautiful — which is totally true by the way) are making headlines. I am just glad to see the excessively glamorous star is still a catty bitch.

Most well known for her portrayal as Alexis Colby on Dynasty, Collins was also quite a foxy young thing before that career making role. I am surprised she never made it out of campy B-movies in her early career, but, I am sure she doesn’t regret a thing. She’s managed to live fabulously in a very champagne and caviar dreams way.

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Posted on October 14, 2010

Style Icons: Female »Nina Simone

High Priestess of Soul

Nina Simone was not only a strong unique voice with a wildly prolific and eclectic career, but an outspoken activist, mother, and fashion icon whose bold, hypnotic stage presence and vivid costumes and headpieces (oh, to wear a turban with her panache) earned her the awesome moniker “The High Priestess of Soul”.

Her voice was powerful and could be joyous and melancholy at the same time. Perhaps it told of her long struggles in her personal life. She was known to be difficult (well, maybe that’s an understatement – she did shoot two people in annoyance) but most of her problems gained some insight when after her death it was revealed that she was bipolar and possibly schizophrenic.

Her music however, could never be tainted by her personal problems. From pop to jazz to folk, she lent her talent to all genres of music (and is even sampled often in hip hop). She made the world her home and paved a way for herself beholden to no one. And as you can tell from the photos, she did it all while dressed to kill.

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Posted on October 6, 2010

Style Icons: Female »The Shangri-Las

Leaders of the Pack

I have a love for girl groups. The Bangles, Go-go’s and Pointer Sisters were inspirations to a young me and who can help but love The Runaways and even The Spice Girls, who brought the genre back to the spotlight? It all began in the dawn of rock though with bands like the Shirelles and Chantels and this week’s style icons, the slightly more rough and tumble Shangri-Las. After all these are Queens girls born and raised, who took their name from a local restaurant (doubtful that it’s the kebab one still standing in Elmhurst) and sang about their bad ass boyfriends who lived fast and died young. They reported packed guns (seriously – read the wikipedia entry) and always rocked the pants instead of the prim dresses of the time.

Of course their biggest hit is the melodramatic Leader of the Pack, but my favorite is the excellent Remember (Walking in the Sand).

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Posted on September 26, 2010

Style Icons: Female »Peggy Moffitt

Iconic Muse and Model

Is it just me or does Peggy Moffitt personify the style vibe of today as well as she did in her swinging sixties heyday? Would love to see her walk the runway, I mean, she looks just as dashing today with her signature “five point” hair do and bold eyes and would lend some quirk to the lovely 1970’s Lauren Hutton styles that are coming down the runways.

Moffitt gained fame and iconic status from her work with two men: designer extraordinaire, Rudi Gernreich and husband/photographer William Claxton.

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Posted on September 18, 2010

Style Icons: Female »Franca Sozzani

Editor of Italian Vogue

As Fashion Week is underway, might as well praise one of my favorite ladies in the biz. Franca Sozzani‘s personal style is classic and elegant and her signature smile and wavy blond locks are quite stunning even if she’s not quite as visually recognizable as some (less risk taking) editors.

However, as the editor of Italian Vogue since 1988, she’s elevated it to the pinnacle of fashion magazines, certainly the most daring and inventive. It’s the one magazine I wish I had a subscription to – too bad it’s way expensive and the few times I’ve been a subscriber, they’ve been consistently stolen (everyone is Italian Vogue crazy!!). I wish more magazines would take notes (though many of the lesser known, but more interesting new magazines seem to have already).

Plus I want to get some good words in before I see her guest stint on the “high fashion” cycle of ANTM just in case she’s some bad news kind of crazy. Her work is so inspiring, though, I’m not sure I would care.

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Posted on September 12, 2010

Style Icons: Female »Musidora

Silent Era Vamp

The exquisitely exotic and gothy Musidora (born Jeanne Roques) was introduced to me by this week’s movie pick, Irma Vep which imagines a fictional remake of Les Vampires, the silent serial that made Musidora famous in France in the early 1910’s. With her heavily kohled eyes and gorgeous alabaster skin, she shines in the dramatic styles she donned. Aside from her stunning looks and personal style, though, she was quite a pioneer in the cinematic world. At a time when women rarely worked beyond the roles of actress or costume designer, she was both a director and producer. Many of her works are sadly lost.

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Posted on September 5, 2010

Style Icons: Female »Cher

Entertainer

I am not naive enough to be hopeful enough to imagine that Burlesque, Cher’s latest dance across the silver screen will deliver anything near the genius camp of Showgirls, but the trailer did get me thinking about Cher. Her music’s never been my cup of tea, and I could say much, much worse about her second coming with the Europop “Do You Believe” period, but I won’t.

After all, she’s an icon who has proven herself to be a sometimes good actress and most importantly has always been a true glamour chameleon and daring provocateur with her wardrobe. No one else does Bob Mackie and head dresses like her.

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Posted on August 29, 2010