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How To Dress Like A Rock Star
By: MARY HUHN - NY Post
April 27th 2003 4:34am
Lots of rock stars have their own stylists, but Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O travels with her personal designer, Christian Joy.
The singer - as noted for her unconventional sense of style as for her talent - first met Joy when the designer was working at the Daryl K shop on Sixth Street.
"I used to go to her store and talk about boys and rock," O says.
O didn't even know her friend was making her own creations until Joy showed her a "pretty amazing" T-shirt covered with toy plastic soldiers.
"I was like 'Whoa!'" O recalls. "I had no idea that was the kind of stuff she was designing."
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs were an up-and-coming group, so O asked Joy to make her something for a show at the Cooler, a basement club in the Meatpacking District.
"It was a blue prom dress, painted all over and torn up with fake flowers all over it," O remembers. "It was outrageous. I was pretty much intimidated by wearing it. I was asking the rock gods to help me to pull it off."
But did she live up to it? "Hell, yeah, I did!" she says.
Ever since then, O has trusted Joy to make all her clothes, which give her a very recognizable look. O's style references a late '70s Debbie Harry, early '80s Madonna and a bit of Molly Ringwald's "Pretty in Pink"-era vintage.
"I'll wear anything she [Joy] makes, even if it's butt ugly," says O, who has been known to wear everything from black Lycra leggings (think the mid-'80s aerobics craze) to elegant rose-pattern strapless dresses. O's staples: short dark hair, siren-red lipstick and fishnets (preferably torn).
Recently, though, the singer has cleaned up her act a bit - her lipstick stays on her mouth; her hair is a bit sleeker, and she looks a bit less like a gutter punk and more like a sophisticated rock chick.
"We have similar visions," says the 28-year-old Joy. "We really want to push the limits on everything - her with her music and me with her clothes.
"She's really willing to wear [anything]," Joy continues. "I can go completely overboard and not be afraid she's not going to wear it or be freaked out by it."
Still, for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' current tour, Joy - whose stuff is sold at the downtown boutique Monk - had to make pieces that were a little more durable and practical.
"The strapless stuff could be a problem," O says. "Every now and then, a boob would pop out."
Other than that, O's only requirement is that the pieces reflect the glamour and debauchery of both punk rock and pop.
"I like rock stars that look like they come from another planet," says O, who cites David Bowie, Bjork, Madonna and Michael Jackson as influences.
For her part, Joy is pondering exactly what O's next look will be.
"I don't want her to suddenly be super-gorgeous and streamlined, and look like f--ing Jennifer Lopez or anyone like that," says Joy. "It's not the look we're going for."
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