Literally as long as I can remember, music has been one of the biggest influences in my life. The way a song can paint a picture of a world or a person is really pure magic. Listening, you just get to see it all in your head like a perfect little movie, and it can inspire a whole new way of thinking, or way of living if it has the power. I’ve always been really inspired stylistically by music.
One of my first memories of listening to something of my own selection was when I was 7 years old.
My family went on a road trip to San Antonio to visit relatives, and the drive from my hometown was about 5 hours. My parents have always had a top-notch taste in music, and my dad has always been really into the White Stripes. ‘Seven Nation Army’ kind of grabbed ahold of my little 7-year-old self and showed me what rock and roll can do, and how it can make you feel. Such an intensity comes through such raw vocals, heavy bass lines, and a melody that’s like a pile driver into your subconscious. I sat in the back of our suburban with my dad’s portable CD player, headphones on, listening to that track over and over and over again the whole way there. I think subconsciously I decided I wanted to dye my hair black when I was about 8. Thankfully my dad does hair and made my 8-year-old Jack White dreams come true.
Music has such a power, and it always seems to play a role in how I dress or how I want to present myself for a period of time. Elton John’s ‘Tiny Dancer’ is one of those tracks that just evokes such an image of this dream girl that you just aspire eternally to be. “Blue jean baby/ L.A. lady/ Seamstress for the band”. Goals. And Alex Turner’s ‘Arabella’ is such an intergalactic queen. “Arabella’s got some interstellar-gator skin boots/ She’s got a Barbarella silver swimsuit/ And when she needs to shelter from reality she takes a dip in my daydreams”. Just the image you get from those lines is so visual, and then it’s so much fun to try to imbue that energy into your everyday clothing inspiration. I have pieces in my closet that I treasure, and each one is sort of stitched to a memory that I love reliving when I put it on.
One of my favorites is a vintage, emerald green coat with faux fur adorning the collar and cuffs. It’s kind of like if Penny Lane visited the Emerald City. I bought it for a road trip I went on to San Francisco last October. It makes me think of Robert Plant sweetly singing ‘Going to California’. “Someone told me there’s a girl out there/ with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair”. It’s just a whole thing that floods my brain with feelings and memories from my trip there. The same goes for this pale blue mini I got when I was 18. Complete with a Peter Pan collar and thick white cuffs. I bought it for my first trip to New York to wear to a show in the basement of Webster Hall.
It fit the vibe of the band I was going to go see, and my look for the night I had crafted weeks in advance.
A blizzard ended up ripping through the city and the temperature was one I had never experienced having only left Texas a handful of times, but I wasn’t about to wear something else. I dawned my mini, pale pink tights, and shiny patent Mary Jane’s. Halfway through the show I legitimately thought my feet might have to be amputated from frostbite, but I didn’t really care because the night was pure magic. That dress will forever be my Blue Collar Jane mini. Jack White’s ‘Lord Send Me An Angel’ creates such a vibe you just want to exude 24/7 “Well she’s a long tall mama/ A mile and a half from the ground/ She’s a tailor-man mama/ And she ain’t no hand me down”. These lines just inspire me to kind of strive to create a living embodiment of these songs, and maybe inspire future songs to inspire future inspirations, and the loop goes on eternally.
Follow Sloane and her amazing style on Instagram (click HERE) and check out her website HERE for her style tips & tricks!