When Olivia Rodrigo crossed over from her Disney performing origins to a first-rate pop takeover along with her debut album Bitter in 2021, she got here ready-made with an enviable closet. The hit music video for “Good 4 U” discovered her channeling Jennifer’s Physique with cheer outfits and lengthy black opera gloves, setting the tone for the youthful vitality that impressed her work. (It additionally grew to become a powerful contender for Halloween costumes that yr.)
Within the two years since Sour, Rodrigo is gearing up for the discharge of her second album, Guts, out tomorrow. And in doing so, she has additionally continued to cement herself as an inspirational determine for Gen Z style.
Whether or not it’s for a high-profile look or an informal day-to-day look, Rodrigo opts for classic archival items. On the MTV Film and TV Awards final yr, she rocked a halter John Paul Gaultier black gown — believed to be made round 1987, in response to Cosmopolitan.
Her choice for thrifting began as a young person when she watched a documentary titled The True Value, which showcased the consequences that quick style has on the setting. Rodrigo beforehand shared in an Instagram interview with Sophia Li, “That was simply one thing that I had by no means actually realized up till that time.”
The recycling of fashion has carried right down to Rodrigo’s followers, who additionally steadily thrift for their very own distinctive items — reasonably than shopping for new objects from corporations like Shein and Perpetually 21. Over the previous few years, resale platforms like Depop and Mercari have additionally changed eBay for youthful customers seeking to promote their outdated garments and purchase items from others’ closets.
When talking to a few of Rodrigo’s followers, her push for sustainability is one thing that they spotlight as why they respect her style strategy.
As one fan named Jenn factors out, the pop star briefly “had a stint as a Depop vendor herself.” The account, dubbed “SOURShop,” discovered Rodrigo promoting objects from her music movies and closet with all proceeds going to charity. These included the feather boa from “Deja Vu,” her white Nike Air Max’s from “Good 4 U,” and a ringer band tee of The White Stripes — one in all her private musical influences.
Others, like a Boston-based fan named Haley, work in thrift shops and have expertise seeing firsthand what the youthful prospects are buying: “Plaid skirts, platform boots, [and] lace tops.”
“Vivienne Westwood jewellery and items at all times promote particularly quick in our retailer as nicely!” Haley provides, stating the designer’s recurring affect on Rodrigo’s public appearances — between the pink beaded gown and matching choker for her first Grammy Awards or her plaid look on Saturday Night time Stay.
“I needed to do one thing enjoyable and younger, but in addition we’re on the Grammys, it’s glamorous,” she advised E! on the pink carpet in 2022.
Very like Rodrigo’s famous love for The White Stripes, her penchant for selecting Westwood items speaks to the position that rock performs in her wardrobe. The late designer first rose to fame as bands just like the Intercourse Pistols and different punk performers relied on her store for distinctive and stunning items.
Rodrigo’s fashion additionally pulls inspiration from the “It Women” of a long time previous. At a Grammys after get together, she emulated Paris Hilton’s common twenty first birthday look — carrying a customized Blumarine gown alongside Hilton on the DJ sales space. She even just lately raided actress Chloë Sevigny’s sale in New York Metropolis, revealing her “most prized possession” of proudly owning the actress’ plaid Versace gown, in a Vogue 73 Questions video to advertise the brand new album. “I’ve had this gown, the image of her carrying this gown, saved on my Pinterest for years, and I used to be truly in a position to get my fingers on it,” she mentioned.
But, in comparison with the “It Women” of the early-aughts, Rodrigo has additionally served as a job mannequin in the case of illustration. She can also be round an identical age vary as those that love her. In July 2023, she grew to become the primary Filipino lady to be on the quilt of Vogue US, which is a part of the explanation why Jenn respects her.
“She’s a extremely helpful supply of illustration for me, and I used to be so completely satisfied, as a Southeast Asian lady myself,” she explains. “I at all times really feel like I can belief her affect due to how her character seeps into her output as an individual with a platform.”
That illustration can also be felt by followers like Paris, who respect the truth that Rodrigo takes plus sizes into consideration when placing out her personal merchandise.
The stylist duo, Chloe and Chenelle, have labored with Rodrigo (and different celeb purchasers) to deliver a contemporary spin to the grunge and Y2K types. In line with an interview with i-D, they contacted the New York-based designer Sintra Martins to tug appears to be like for Rodrigo’s Bitter tour.
“Aggressively female in that it was masquerading femininity,” Martins previously told the publication about her design strategy, as i-D utilized it to Rodrigo’s pink ball gown look as one instance. “I’m at all times asking how I match into this world, what I get to do, and a variety of that’s prescribed by gender. I really feel like I’m actually restricted by gender, in some methods.”
And Rodrigo, like all style icon, isn’t remaining static. It’s been slightly over a yr since Rodrigo wrapped her Bitter tour, and far has modified since then in the case of her fashion. With Rodrigo now being 20, followers like Jenn have observed that she is taking a “timeless and complex” strategy. If the Bitter period was marked by colourful tees and pink gown that play with the previously-mentioned “aggressive female” idea, Rodrigo’s Guts period finds her in additional monochromatic outfits.
Nonetheless, different Livvies are persevering with to comply with in Rodrigo’s footsteps. Across the time that we communicate, Bridget is in NYC and planning on heading to a Guts promotional occasion in one other recreated street-style look of the pop star’s previous.
She sums up the mindset of those that flip to Rodrigo for style inspiration finest: “[Olivia] could make something look good, and he or she encourages me to have enjoyable discovering new types and to mess around with what I put on.”