Boy George

"Due to a lack of funds we had to be very artful with our styling. The essential ingredients were clothes ‘liberated’ from Oxfam, and Dylon fabric and shoe dyes from Wollworths. When I couldn’t find the right shade of pink to dye my Jesus sandals, I used some of Dad’s emulsion. They looked perfect until I started walking. When outr experiments failed mwe’d go back to Oxfam for more pilfering. Even when bought, the shirts were only 10p and 20p. That was before Oxfam became an outpost of Habitat.

We’d pick the sequinned collars off twenties dresses and sew them onto a jacket, get Mum to taper baggy old trousers. She laughed. “These look like the trousers your father married me in.”

We’d buy old pairs of socks, cut holes int hem, and wear them over our own, creating a pink polka-dot effect. We ripped up shirts and trousers and safety pinned them back together, girls delieberately laddered their tights. The DIY punk look was simple to achieve, though we all longed to shop at Sex and Acme Attractions.' (p.78, Take it like a Man, Boy George w/ Spencer Bright)

When Boy George first shot to fame back in 1982, people didn’t quite know what to make of him. Was it a boy, or was it a girl? People were mystified, and this confusion led to a lot of column inches and outrage.

George’s early days had been influenced by Bowie, and then later punk, and then general gender confusion. When Culture Club first started getting recognition, george worked with Sue Clowes, who at the time was running a stall on Kensington Market. Together they created a wild mismatch of styles and symbols:

“ I wanted to create clothes that would give Culture club an identity, lik Bow Wow wow or the sex pistols. Sue created brilliant fabric designs based on cultural concepts and a one-nation ideal…Sue went to the library and looked up Culture Club in Hebrew script and made the first Culture Club tee shirt, a huge black star of David surrounded by roses and a golden aura with the words tarabat agadar, meaning movement of all cultures.” (p.192)

George’s idea was a good one, and, combined with Hasidic hats, beribboned hairdos and lashings of Max Factor, became a much-copied style over the next few years. As fame intensified, George’s outfits (particularly in videos) became more outlandish. Yet when it all came crashing down around him, George still managed to make being strung-out a high-street catalk experience. Skinny as a rail and paler than a glass of milk, George did the heroin chic thing years before the fashion set got their talons into it. Kate Moss has a lot to thank him for.

(image from www.richardyoungonline.com- visit there for more great pics.)

From the DIY exploits of safety-pinned denim hats to the pomp and majesty of a Philip Treacy titfer and even a stint portraying other style guru Leigh Bowery, George has alays managed to pull off an unusual look with grace and aplomb. He’s even adventured in the world of fashion design recently with his B-Rude collection, and even though it doesn’t seem to be going quite as swimmingly as it should (http://mitziclutterfromthegutter.blogspot.com/2008/05/comeback-trail.html), at least he’s out there giving it a go.

Dressed to kill and not giving a fuck – both admirable qualities.

Scarlett O’Hara

"There wasn’t a nice dress in Tara or a dress that hadn’t been turned twice and mended.

The moss green velvet curtsains felt prickly and soft beneath her cheek and she rubbed her face against them gratefully, like a cat. And then suddenly she looked at them.

“Scoot up to the attic and get my box of dress patterns, Mammy”, she cried, giving her a slight shove. “I’m going to have a new dress.”" (p.434, Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell)

Scarlett O’Hara knew the score. A lack of materials is never an excuse for a lack of sartorial style, so she did what any wartime woman would do and got cracking on the curtains (this sort of make-do and mend attitude would also be promoted in World War 2 – suggesting that both Margaret Mitchell and her heroine would be way ahead of their time in their thinking).

Dressed to the nines in her mother’s ‘po’teers’ and the rooster’s tail feather, Scarlett went off to flirt outrageouely with an imprisoned Rhett Butler to get the tax money for Tara. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do, right?

Scarlett was always aware of fashion and the effect it could have on folk. At the Twelve Oaks barbeque, Scarlett’s attire brought Mammy’s disapproval and the beaux flocking. Scarlett’s own disapproval would be registered, when, on her husband’s premature death, she would be forced to wear black for the rest of her days, despite being only 18. Yet temptation came in the form of Rhett Butler and his black market goodies – here was a man who knew the way to a woman’s heart was through her wardrobe, and who in turn liked his ladies to look good. But Scarlett always had her own eye on fashion, and lapped up every detail

Gone With The Wind’s conversion onto the big screen would have been nothing without the talents of Walter Plunkett, the man in charge of the movie’s costumes. His interpretations attire, particularly that of the women, was nothing short of spectacular, and the aftrementioned green curtain dress would become the stuff of legend.

One could say that both Margaret Mitchell and Walter Plunkett should be given all the praise, immortalising this fashionista in both page and print, but here at Freaky Styley we like to break with convention, and applaud Scarlett for being a ficiticious heroine with a daring dress sense AND the courage to wear it.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

“We were tripping on acid, wandering the streets. We passed an alleyway, and I stumbled on all these clothes that had been discarded by a bum. I immediately had an acidic moment of clarity and stripped naked and donned this oversized, strange, mismatched set of clothes. In a way, they were beautiful and regal; the pants even had some kind of silk iridescent pattern streaking down. Combined with the Spigot Blister haircut, I was quite a sight.” (p.88, Scar Tissue, Anthony Kiedis)

Once upon a time, four buddies from school got together and formed what would become a rock ‘n’ roll legend. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were formed from a curious mix of punk, funk, and above all, friendship. At the beginning, they had nothing, and any money they had was spent on fast living. What’s more, standing out in a town full of freaks (aka Hollywood) was a tricky business. Their lucky break came thanks to an impromptu costume idea from frontman Anthony Kiedis:

“I’d come up with the idea of using socks, because back when I was living with Donde Bastone, he had a pot customer who developed a serious crush on me. She was cute, but I kept resisting her advances, which included sending me gag greeting cards with foldout rulers to measure the size of your dick... One day she showed up to the house, and I decided to answer the door buck naked except for a sock wrapped round my dick and balls.

When we walked back onstage wearing only the socks, the crowd audibly gasped. We weren’t deterred for one moment by the collective state of shock that the audience was experiencing.” (p120, Scar Tissue)

The minimalist look proved to be a big success, and was trotted out as a treat at many a gig thereafter. But it wasn’t just about the socks – the Red Hot Chili Peppers have donned some interesting items in their time. Giant lightbulbs, flame-throwing hats, trousers fashioned from stuffed toys, dresses and suspenders right down to a simple pair of tighty whities. Nothing was too wild for these guys!

You’d think that sobriety and advancement in years would tame these fashion wildcats, but nooo, they’re still up for wearing the crazy (not to mention the tattoos and war wound which render these gents walking works of art).

Say it out loud: I'm Freaky Styley and I'm proud!