“I’m with the band,” The Art of the Groupie Style
The snow in NYC that was once white has turned into muddy slush and now a new trend cycle is upon us to match the edgy glamour of the city. 2008 Twilight-core is on its way out and that can only mean one thing. The “2014 Tumblr Girl” as Vogue reported (though I predicted it first) has strutted her way back into our lives still with her Black Water in hand and American Horror Story at the tip of her tongue, but this time she’s back with a twist. You see, as a fashionable society, we have found ourselves at a crossroads between the 70s influences in the current mainstream and the upcoming 90s grunge revival that was brought to us by the “2014 Tumblr Girl” era, but what we fail to realize is the sheer amount of overlap between the two and as you continue to read, you’ll see how meshing them will make you the ultimate primadonna fashionista.
Photo: 2014 Tumblr grunge feed (Instagram)
First coined in the 60s, the word “groupie” describes a young girl who has a devotion and often follows singers regularly. These female fans were often divided on if they preferred the sweet, psychedelic men of the Beatles or the brooding bad boys of The Rolling Stones. Though the term used to be considered an insult with the women being slut-shamed for the sex they had with these singers, it is now something modern-day fangirls are welcoming with open arms, often taking inspiration from Penny Lane and Pamela Des Barres. Fangirls are often diminished to being crazy and obsessive purely for being girls, but without their love and devotion, the rock stars we induct into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame wouldn’t have gotten there. You often see Gen-Z envying the lovers of celebrities like Alexa Chung, Camille Row, Suki Waterhouse, and Bianca Jagger for not only their relationships but also for their style.
Photo: Pamela Des Barres and The GTOs (Girls Together Outrageously) by Ed Caraeff (Getty Images)
No matter which era of rock you reference, there’s a certain disheveled and unkempt beauty about a groupie. In the 90s and 2014 revival, you could often see her with band t-shirts and leather jackets that are just a bit too loose on her as if she’s just borrowed clothes from her rockstar boyfriend. If you thought high-waisted ripped shorts and fishnets were out, you’re sorely mistaken because that’s how our rock babe likes to dress in her summers. Her hair falls effortlessly as if she just rolled out of bed and her makeup is naturally dewy with a dark red lip during the day and a smudged eyeliner look once the night falls. There’s a darkness, an edge, an essence of what the French call “masculin, feminin” with dainty, loose-fitting slips and a pair of hard Doc Martens.
Photo: Lori Mattix & Queenie Glam (Pinterest)
The complete opposite can be said for the 70s glam rock queen. Where the 2014 Tumblr Girl prefers sleek leather jackets, the 70s groupie favors a glamorous fur coat. Maximalism is her middle name, wearing whatever knick-knacks she collects on the road to show she belongs with the singers whom she adores. Everything is big and sparkling. Her sunglasses meet her forehead, her earrings just barely touch her shoulders, and her shimmery tights reflect the light shining from the disco ball at Studio 54. Her eye makeup is bright and her lips are glossed and she’s ready to see Mick Jagger sing “Brown Sugar”.
It’s when the groupie becomes the rockstar herself, that we get the aesthetic so many will be striving for in 2022. The starlet has eclipsed the influence of the man she loves which results in us idolizing her instead of who she idolizes. She’ll keep the leather jacket from the 90s, but she’ll add fringe to it to maintain the glamour of the 70s she can’t live without. She’ll continue to wear her loose-fitting blouses but will make sure they are always embroidered in gold. Her hair will still fall in stunning untidiness but in a modern wolf-cut style. She’ll keep her dark eyes and untamed attitude to resemble Victoria De Angeles and her music taste will mesh U2 and The Strokes to spit out Inhaler.
As a result of the groupie’s fame and glorification, she has the freedom to take the best parts of rock fashion across every era and subcategory of the genre and strut her stuff proudly.
With social media outlets like Twitter and Instagram, celebrity stalker-esque accounts like Deux-Moi, and platforms like Wattpad, which allow young people to create a fantasy in their heads surrounding their favorite stars, fangirl culture is at the highest it’s ever been. The idea that a famous singer would pick you out of the crowd and you’d enter a torrid love affair is perpetuated by every “Rockstar Boyfriend, Model Girlfriend” Spotify playlist and it was only a matter of time before these fantasies manifested themselves into fashion. These playlists, you’ll find, have oldies but goodies like Led Zeppelin's “Black Dog”, 90s hits like Oasis’ “Roll With It”, and modern classics like Arctic Monkeys’ “A Certain Romance”.
Photo: rockstar gf aesthetic (Twitter)
All of these show that not only do the guitar riffs and shredded vocals of rock music transcend time, but they are the bridge between both the 70s glam rock aesthetic and the 2014 Tumblr Girl. Rock music is the reason why when you feel like dressing like a rock star's lover who can’t decide between a leather jacket or an afghan coat. Rock music is the reason why we deem Devon Lee Carlson and Bebe Buell as style icons. They were inspired by the music created by the men they loved to be innovative in fashion and influence us to dress the way we want now. To fully dress like a rock star’s girlfriend is to fully embody a persona. It’s not enough to sport a pair of platform boots and a band tee shirt. It is to eat, sleep, breathe, and most of all love the music that birthed what we know as the “Groupie Style.” 🎸
