When Olivia Rodrigo crossed over from her Disney performing origins to a primary pop takeover together 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 robust 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 vogue.
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 costume — believed to be made round 1987, in response to Cosmopolitan.
Her desire for thrifting began as a youngster when she watched a documentary titled The True Price, which showcased the results that quick vogue has on the atmosphere. 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 favor has carried all the way down to Rodrigo’s followers, who additionally often thrift for their very own distinctive items — relatively than shopping for new objects from firms like Shein and Without end 21. Over the previous few years, resale platforms like Depop and Mercari have additionally changed eBay for youthful customers seeking to promote their previous garments and purchase items from others’ closets.
When chatting with a few of Rodrigo’s followers, her push for sustainability is one thing that they spotlight as why they respect her vogue method.
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 — certainly one of 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 all the time promote particularly quick in our retailer as properly!” Haley provides, mentioning the designer’s recurring affect on Rodrigo’s public appearances — between the pink beaded costume and matching choker for her first Grammy Awards or her plaid look on Saturday Night time Reside.
“I needed to do one thing enjoyable and younger, but additionally we’re on the Grammys, it’s glamorous,” she informed E! on the crimson carpet in 2022.
Very like Rodrigo’s famous love for The White Stripes, her penchant for choosing Westwood items speaks to the function 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 surprising items.
Rodrigo’s model additionally pulls inspiration from the “It Women” of a long time previous. At a Grammys after get together, she emulated Paris Hilton’s widespread twenty first birthday look — carrying a customized Blumarine costume alongside Hilton on the DJ sales space. She even lately raided actress Chloë Sevigny’s sale in New York Metropolis, revealing her “most prized possession” of proudly owning the actress’ plaid Versace costume, in a Vogue 73 Questions video to advertise the brand new album. “I’ve had this costume, the image of her carrying this costume, saved on my Pinterest for years, and I used to be really capable of get my palms on it,” she stated.
But, in comparison with the “It Women” of the early-aughts, Rodrigo has additionally served as a task mannequin in the case of illustration. She can be round an analogous age vary as those that love her. In July 2023, she grew to become the primary Filipino woman to be on the duvet of Vogue US, which is a part of the explanation why Jenn respects her.
“She’s a extremely useful supply of illustration for me, and I used to be so joyful, as a Southeast Asian woman myself,” she explains. “I all the time 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 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 shoppers) to convey a contemporary spin to the grunge and Y2K types. In response to an interview with i-D, they contacted the New York-based designer Sintra Martins to tug seems to be for Rodrigo’s Bitter tour.
“Aggressively female in that it was masquerading femininity,” Martins previously told the publication about her design method, as i-D utilized it to Rodrigo’s pink ball gown look as one instance. “I’m all the time asking how I match into this world, what I get to do, and quite a lot of that’s prescribed by gender. I really feel like I’m actually restricted by gender, in some methods.”
And Rodrigo, like every vogue icon, isn’t remaining static. It’s been a bit over a yr since Rodrigo wrapped her Bitter tour, and far has modified since then in the case of her model. With Rodrigo now being 20, followers like Jenn have seen that she is taking a “timeless and complicated” method. If the Bitter period was marked by colourful tees and pink costume 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 observe in Rodrigo’s footsteps. Across the time that we converse, 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 vogue 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.”
