Let It Rock
When I was in the seventh grade, I thought the most glamorous women in the world were the ones hopefully lingering outside tour buses at heavy metal shows.
Decked to the gills in spandex minidresses, stiletto ankle booties and lacey tights (99-cent Wet ‘n Wild lip-gloss tucked into their fringed shoulder bags), 80s rock groupies, to my unworldly eyes, embodied all things bewitching.
I eventually pieced together that these lingerie-wearing band-aids were, more often than not, Hooters waitresses looking for love in all the wrong places (by then I was wearing 12-hole purple Doc Martens). But their va-va-voom style still colors my fashion eye.
And lately, those colors have been intensifying. All over L.A., the sartorial hallmarks of 80s hair metal—rock’s most lampooned chapter—have been reemerging. Only this time, the look doesn’t stem from a specific music scene. And girls aren’t only dressing to ensnare; they’re also borrowing looks from the boys on stage (who were basically dressed in glammed-out drag anyway).
At a recent night out at Silver Lake club Spaceland, I glimpsed a pair of hipster girls in tight stretchy mini-skirts, stiletto booties and cropped leather jackets—one motorcycle, the other “Wanted Dead or Alive” fringey. Days later, during a 2 a.m. Ralph’s run, I spied a twenty-something channeling 80s video vixen Tawny Kitean in a strapless minidress and lace-up stiletto ankle boots sauntering down the bread aisle.
The homages aren’t ironic. Local girls rocking this look hard are too young (and too far removed from the Sunset Strip scene) to be making a conscious effort to dress like Def Leppard die-hards.
But talking straight fashion, the only thing separating them from the Playboy wannabes I used to stand in line behind for Cinderella tickets was the absence of towering, laquered bangs.
There have been hints of the genre’s reemergence for a while now. Late last year, a tough-girl aesthetic crept into the fashion zeitgeist. Black leather jackets, PVC black legging-pants, formfitting 80s dresses and freakishly high statement heels materialized. The Olsen twins, those pint-sized fashion plates, channeled Joan Jett’s tough-girl style, and heavy black eyeliner became omnipresent at fashion-y Hollywood parties.
But now the counterculture look du jour has moved into brasher, sexier territory. Call it a backlash against the dour fashion that emerged at the beginning of the recession. Because really, who’s not up for a little decadent frivolity these days?
The trend is thriving at fast-fashion chains including TopShop, Urban Outfitters and H&M—all of which are hawking looks fit for a guest spot in a Warrant video, including skin-tight minidresses, mirrored aviator sunglasses, lacey tights, torn jeans jackets and strategically ripped leggings.
Designer fashion has also been dabbling—albeit more indirectly—in hair metal style for the past two seasons. Biker jackets and vests were ubiquitous for fall, as were embellished and leather leggings. And everyone from Armani to Miss Sixty served up those leather caps with chain-framed brims worn by Jon Bon Jovi back in the day.
Hopefully, by the time the era’s crunchy permed coifs return (and rest assured, they will), we will have moved on from this miniskirts-with-fringed cowboy boots moment in time. As good as it is to see my old idols, the redux is already feeling a little too spot-on for comfort.
