Urban Outfitters SHEET magazine

What a load of SHEET // Five unlikely summer style icons

This article was published in the second edition of SHEET, the in-house fanzine for Urban Outfitters Europe celebrating all the badass talent *waves* working within the company, and released in tandem with the opening of the brand’s 8th shiny new London store, Urban Outfitters Camden. Ooh!

Urban Outfitters SHEET magazine

After the ROARING success of previous unlikely fashspiration posts (Brian Harvey and er, Mystic Meg) as this summer’s trends range from the sublime to the ridiculous, I think it’s important to stop (Hammer time!) and pay homage to the original influences of our wardrobes this season. However tenuously sketchy (ahem) they may be…

Unlikely style icon no 1: Mrs Doubtfire

Robin Williams himself made this very comparison on Twitter, following Kim Kardashian’s Met Ball dressing disaster back in May:

Yeah Robin, you did. To be fair, the SOFA wore it better than Kim.

Gurrrl (boy?) rocks a head-to-toe floral and a decent twinset – LOL away but both Toppers and Motel are purveyors of a matchy-matchy bralet and skirt combo, with Iggy Azalea and Katy Perry practically squabbling over the printed Dolce & Gabanna set (my bet’s on Iggy, let’s be honest you wouldn’t mess with her).

Katy Perry Vs Iggy Azalea Dolce & Gabanna

Not only that, but this is THE summer of the all-over printed playsuit. Believe. Yeah. Dude looks like a lady.

Unlikely style icon no 2: Oscar the Grouch

Oscar the Grouch

OK, so bear with me on this one. This is more beauty than fashwan, but an important trend, nonetheless.

GONE are plucked-to-the-BONE and then penned-in-with-a-marker-pen Scouse Brows (thank faaaack), and BACK are the bushy, au naturel eyebrows thanks to Queen Delevingne. And Oscar the Grouch. DUR.

And also: Hello? The kid lives in a dustbin. Don’t get much more STREET than that. Think about it, think about it (don’t think about it too hard. Hanging around in an actual dustbin – not recommended).

Unlikely style icon no 3: Lauryn Hill c.1993

Sister Act 2

Circa Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (don’t get me started on Whoopi Goldberg. she deserves a WHOLE POST dedicated to her services to shoulder pads and diffusing ALONE).

Think crop top and baggy stonewash denim (Timbs optional) – in fact the whole cast gets a shout-out for WERKING block colour, dungarees, snapbacks and printed shirts. Sha-TING! If you wanna be somebody, and you wanna go somewhere, you’d better wake up and pay attention. And wear stonewash. (Seamless).

Unlikely style icon no 4: Lizzie Webb

Lizzie Webb

The original American Apparel poster girl. (See also my mum in the early 90s during the ‘no pain no gain sweatbox phase’. Minus the thong leotard. Don’t ask. Still scarred.) Oh COME ON. The head-to-toe block colour sweats. The pastel hi-tops, the orig Disco Pants and crop tops. THE WHITE SOCKS. Lizzie’s got steez.

Unlikely style icon no 5: Shampoo

Girl group Shampoo

Girl group Shampoo

Not the hair product. The questionable girl band* from the 90s.

Howevs, who KNEW their style would have a (MUCH) more lasting affect on us than their music. Let’s start with the barnets – fuelling our current obsession for ALL 90s-style hair accessories – clips, grips, flowers, feathers, braids, scrunchies, JEWELS, pastel highlights, stripes, dip dyes. NEED I GO ON? (I will).

They also rocked a strong lip (see also Alisha’s Attic for services to strong 90s Fem Lip colours). The raglan-sleeved tops, THE PINK DMS. Naff off, Spice Girls.

Unlikely style icon no 5: The Hamburglar

The Hamburglar

NOT ONLY a poster boy for the current fast food fashion trend that’s so hot (dog) right now, but no one rocks monochrome statement stripes quite like the Hamburgler (apart from Beetlejuice. Oh). Gurrrl (OK, boy) also got a strong smokey eye going on, and check out those kicks. What’s not to like?

*Loose term, ‘kay?

  • Comments

  • Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

TOP