February is the perfect opportunity to get busy on Valentine’s Day or, if you’re flying solo, tense up with cynical anxiety. The month is also Hollywood’s excuse to get all gussied up for the Oscars, while the rest of the unwashed masses watches as our economy sinks to lower levels than a PMSing Lauren Conrad on The Hills.
But who cares about love and money when there’s Fashion Week to distract us! With its solid-gold skin-tight suits (thank you Christian Siriano!), Holly Golightly gloves (ooh la la, Oscar…) and gossamer gowns paired with enthusiastically bedazzled tights (courtesy of the inimitable Zac Posen), there’s a flavor for all. So in that gloriously c’est la vie spirit (and in the spirit of the recently debuted feature Flashion Backward), here are our five best-dressed UI interviewees from the month of February:
5. Hockey
The solid, gritty, new wave quartet from Portland is more sensitive than their studious lack of grooming and so-appallingly-bad-it’s-good fashion sense may lead one to believe. (Anyone who can pull off a brightly hued tie-die t-shirt, white sunglasses, black bank-robbers hat and a giant ‘stache without looking like a drunken frat bro on Schlitz is an American treasure who must be preserved, respected and carefully studied by experts).
And when Hockey isn’t using its powers of fashion to fuck with our preconceived notions, they’re churning out danceable, aggressively funky bass and drum-happy tunes with lyrics that don’t suck, playing sold-out shows around the world and being good little soldiers in the bike-riding vegan army. Also, they’re scaring Asian ladies and sweating and crying because the aforementioned Asian lady is attempting to lube them up with moisturizing cream. Wait. What?
4. Jessica Lea Mayfield
The purveyor of twinkly ambient music who likes to “stare at the sky” while lovers kiss her and then sing about it in a lilting, honey-tinged achey-breaky voice looks like a punk-ass kid who robs gas stations (at least to gas station attendants in rural Vermont).
But her zany septum ring, blue eye-shadow, pixie cut and colorful scarves are no match for those wiley ol’ coots who make her pay for her gas upfront. Except then she robs them (accidentally!) thereby fulfilling their cherished, moldy stereotypes about crazy kids who put metal in their faces (“Can you imagine? I feel sorry for her parents!”) and ride around in vans all night doing God knows what.
Jessica, you can bring your punk-ass to NYC any time–we may even pump gas for you (but we’ll definitely keep an eagle eye on those sweet, slippery little fingers of yours).
3. Elvis Perkins in Dearland
The substantive singer-songwriter Elvis Perkins and his band–who’ve been compared to the incomparable Bob Dylan by critics and fans alike–seem like old hands at the whole music thing. They’re content to concentrate on creating beautifully honed, nuanced, melancholic music and playing actual shows more than wallowing in the drama and backstabbing so many other up-and-comers seem to genuinely enjoy.
And each band member in Elvis Perkins in Dearland is more adorably and effortlessly coiffed in Salvation Army-friendly indie gear than the last, making them even more laudable.
Of course, smarts, ambrosial appearances and pleasant demeanors don’t always guarantee a smooth passage from gig to gig. Nope. Sometimes staying in a hotel covered in shattered glass, hair and blood, managed by a gentleman who enjoys smoking his guests’ discarded ciggies (hey, everyone has their own method of recycling) is just part of the deal. But leave it to Elvis and co. to find the silver lining.
2. Novel
The R&B artist with a neo-soul and urban heart grew up all over the country, traipsing after his mom (singer Melanie Burke) and dad (Motown Records’ first A&R Mickey Stevenson), effectively cutting his musical baby teeth in the company of some of the world’s greatest living artists.
Oh, and Alicia Keys is a huge fan of Novel’s high-energy but intimate, swaggering but passionate take on R&B. While this would cause most artist’s heads to swell up and rocket off into outer space, Novel keeps his feet solidly planted on the ground.
His refreshingly down-to-earth POV is, naturally, reflected in his trademark laid-back sophisticate style–generally involving nothing more than a well-cut jacket, crisp, layered shirts and some sort of rad headgear.
The best part? Novel likes to interact with audience members off-stage during shows, and if you lay a big wet one on him, he’ll just take it in stride. Ah, the hefty price of being a rock star.
1. Matt and Kim
I have to cop to just a little bit of bias here. Matt and Kim hold a special place in my heart as fellow Brooklynites and for their all-around unceremoniously charming dispositions. Of course their brightly-hued punk-pop dance-party music doesn’t hurt either. Or the fact that they still appear to be in sweet, unencumbered love after several years in the cynical, fuck-happy entertainment world.
But really, let’s focus on the important thing here: Matt and Kim get the best-dressed award because they like to get down with matching sombreros, white belts and zippy, colorful, monochromatic little hoodies paired with spunky tanks and perfectly worn-in straight-leg jeans. Couples who can matchie-match without looking like the evil spawn of Lilly Pulitzer and Ralph Lauren and instead look like the chirpy little fairy birds they are deserve to win some sort of indie beauty contest.
Here they give a shout-out to the fashionable place that inspired it all, chicken crowd-surfing included.
TOPICS: Flashion Forward, Queequeg