Queens of Music, Masters of Style.
One part self-preservation, equal parts boredom and a love of female musicians and the clothes they inspire, this photo project came with strict guidelines: Pay homage to one female musician each year from 1970-2019 who appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 that year using only items already found in my Austin apartment.
2000: P!nk
“There You Go” Reaches #7
It wasn’t until this project that I finally watched P!nk’s debut video. In fact, I was going to include a different artist on this list until I did. Setting aside the fact that the early 2000s music videos seemed intent on placing women in skate parks without ever actually letting them skate, I couldn’t get over that hair and gangster AF floor-length yellow coat she wore. So here we are.
Alecia Moore’s style is hard to nail down - in just her first 3 years of fame, her hair color changed from pink to platinum blonde to black. She’s rocked pageboys, fauxhawks, pixies, and braids. But come on. We know this hair.
Fun Fact: Nothing in this image is the color it is supposed to be. I made my Photoshop subscription money back on this one.
2001: Britney Spears
“Stronger” Reaches #11
Yeah, I know she hit the ground running as early as 1999. But when it comes to Britney, is there ever really a year she doesn’t end up on the charts?
I remember the bucket hat (and obviously, the schoolgirl ensemble) in “Baby One More Time.” The red pleather jumpsuit in “Oops, I Did It Again.” The iridescent green waitress uniform in “(You Drive Me) Crazy.” I was there for all of it. But the first time I remember someone over the age of 16 talking about Britney Spears was the release of her “I’m A Slave 4 U” video. It was the inspiration for this outfit, and for a lot of our parents to suddenly become prudish about belly buttons.
Style-wise, Spears is most noteworthy in my memory for popularizing trucker hats. But countless articles from Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and Elle disagree with me.
2002: Christina Aguilera
“Dirrty” Reaches #48
So, I was shocked to find out that Aguilera’s “Dirrty” only reached 48 on the charts. I remember this song being everywhere, again, often on the tongues of the finger-wagging Boomers who raised us.
This image is an amalgamation of her various looks, though mostly a nod to her “Stripped” album cover, released in black and white. The hair extensions and multiple shades were accomplished in this photo by tying in shoe strings and old friendship bracelets (high school comes full circle!). Had to throw in that corset in recognition of her later “Lady Marmalade” video, plus that horrendous denim hat she wore to the 2001 VMAs … the grey version of which I wear on the regular.
2003: Avril Lavigne
“I’m With You” Reaches #4
The ties … I just couldn’t with the ties in 2003, the year I graduated high school. Avril Lavigne was for my younger brothers at a time when I was discovering Tori Amos and Ani Difranco (10 years too late, but come on. A feminist is made, not born.)
Just because I felt like I had transcended simple tunes like “Sk8er Boi” and “Girlfriend” doesn’t mean the majority of my peers had. I saw backwards hats, pinstripes, baggy cargo pants, camouflage, graphic T-shirts, and Converse sneakers make a resurgence even into my college years. And who was I to judge? I was wearing North Face jackets and knock-off Ugg boots without the shame they deserved.
I couldn’t hate on the pink washaway streak in the hair, though. And one day I’ll work up the nerve of a 17-year-old girl and do it.
2004: Fergie
“Let’s Get It Started” (Black Eyed Peas) Reaches #21
If you have never seen the video for Black Eyed Peas’ 2004 debut “Hey Mama,” stop what you’re doing and watch it immediately. Yes, the song is still their best (come for me), but it’s Stacy Ferguson’s ability to dance in the world’s tiniest plaid skirt that you’ll notice first.
This video was everything my freshman year of college, and the song itself was responsible for my first Limewire-virus-inspired computer crash. I never got into the short skirts thing, but unnecessary leg warmers? Studded belts? Multiple bracelets? Vests as shirts? Newsboy caps? Check, check, just check to all of it. And I wasn’t alone.
Fun Fact: Stacy Ferguson used to sing in a soulful AF all-woman group in the mid-‘90s called Wild Orchid, and the difference in her look is hilarious.
2005: Kelly Clarkson
“Since U Been Gone” Reaches #2
I sometimes forget that Kelly Clarkson was the first-ever American Idol winner. With 3 Grammys, a handful of Country Music Awards and a talk show to her name, not every winner of that show went on to such great heights. In fact, other than Carrie Underwood, nobody has come close.
Style-wise, Clarkson has run the gamut. But the “Since U Been Gone” video, clad in Converse sneakers, multiple bracelets, a graphic T-shirt and the World’s Least Flattering Pants, was in that lovely era before we learned we had to blend our highlights, and when fedoras reigned supreme.
I don’t own the World’s Least Flattering Pants. Those belong to Clarkson. Unlike the fedora she totally stole from that dude in the video. So I pulled out some distressed sweatpants, in remembrance of his trashed apartment.
2006: Rihanna
“SOS” Reaches #1
Robyn Rihanna Fenty had a song hit #1 each year from 2006 to 2012, and she generally lands atop the charts whenever she opens her mouth. Also, remember “Pon de Replay,” her first single in 2005? It flew under the radar and only hit a measly #2 on the charts. But we love her anyway.
I’ve loved Rihanna’s style in each of those years, most notably in the 2010 Warhol/Jamaican/Salt N Pepa-inspired “Rude Boy” video and also the acid-washed 2011 “We Found Love” video, which won her her 6th Grammy. (She has 9 to her name)
That said, in trying to honor her in this shoot, it was the 2007 hit “Umbrella” that was the easiest and most obvious. And also my first chance to wear a vest as a shirt.
2007: Taylor Swift
“Teardrops On My Guitar” Reaches #13
Oh, I’m going to get so much ire from half of the 3 people who actually read this blog. To the 1.5 of you who don’t care that much about Taylor Swift, we are sisters in arms.
For the rest of you. Yes, I know how many inaccuracies are in this photo. Yes, I know she doesn’t wear a cowboy hat in the “Teardrops on My Guitar” video. Yes, I know her dress is green. No, I don’t particularly care. Consider this image an homage to the Taylor Swift I liked - the one who wrote “15” and “Mine.” The one who blew us away with songwriting and who so perfectly transcended her roots in what I’ll kindly call “Americana” and not country to become one of the greatest pop stars of this generation. Not the one who, honestly, seems like kind of an asshole.
Also, she wore almost this exact dress to the 2005 Academy of Country Music Awards, so I’m counting it.
2008: Alicia Keys
“No One” Reaches #3
Years I tried to get Alicia Keys’ likeness and failed:
2001: “Fallin” (I couldn’t get the hair right.)
2003: “You Don’t Know My Name” (I couldn’t get the hair right.)
2012: “Girl on Fire” (I couldn’t get the hair right.)
So here we are, rocking (appropriately) a Wonder Woman wig tied back in the world’s puffiest ponytails, an off-the-shoulder sweater and grey jeans for the “No One” video, which had a distinctly golden hue. The song was the most-listened to song on the radio in 2008 and won her two Grammys.
I still tear the necks out of my sweatshirts in an attempt to get this look. I loved that video.
2009: Miley Cyrus
“Party in the USA” Reaches #2
Oh, Miley. The world watched you stop just short of growing up, and they still have hope that you one day will.
Not me. Cultural appropriation aside (sarcasm, we should never ignore that) I find her brash tendencies, ever-changing public presentation of her sexuality and inability to keep her foot out of her mouth fascinating. It’s a nice reminder to all of us straight, white women out there how the rest of the world sees us when we speak without thinking.
OK, Miley bashing aside. There’s a lot to be said for transcending a life of privilege to launch your own career advanced by a network dedicated to showcasing lives of privilege, and to then gain your own sense of self while continuing to embrace your hard-won life of privilege.
Fine. I can’t stop Miley bashing. But I really liked her shorts in this music video.