[From A Cup of Starshine Wordpress Blog by Helen in Edinburgh. Click for photos]
http://cupofstarshine.wordpress.com/.../stevie-nicks/
Fleetwood Mac. Everyone has at least one song by this band that resonates with them in some way or another (and if they don’t, they should). I wasn’t around to witness them in their hey day, but still experience a huge sense of nostalgia every time the perfect harmonies of Buckingham, Nicks and McVie penetrate my surroundings. To me, every song is flawless, and my favourite track changes more often than the band’s infamously interchanging line up (though my favourite album will always be Tusk).
Each member of Fleetwood Mac, past and present, intrigues me somewhat. However, when I look at images of the band, or watch videos of them performing live (I’ve not been lucky enough to see them in the flesh), I constantly find my eyes being drawn to the unforgettable and captivating Stevie Nicks.
One of the first female rock stars; Nicks’ timeless music is warm, stirring, melodic and often heartbreaking. I will never tire of the magical way her voice weaves through the airwaves, hauntingly unraveling stories. From ‘Rhiannon’ and ‘Dreams’ right through to ‘Gypsy’ and ‘Edge of Seventeen’, her music has helped generations of people to try and grasp the complexities of life…and love.
Something almost as hypnotizing as Nicks’ music is her eclectic style. Waves of chiffon, sharp silhouettes, layers of lace and Gothic tones seduce anyone who looks upon her, and she’s still making it work today. To me, Stevie is a real style icon – not because of the clothes she wears, but for the way in which she wears them. She encapsulates confidence, and pure sex appeal.
Standing at a petite five foot one, Nicks used draping shawls and fabrics to enhance her onstage presence. Unique accessories such as the now iconic top hat and velvet platform boots added a few inches whilst simultaneously twirling her towards style icon status. Nicks describes one of the first outfits she drew up on paper as “a handkerchief dress with a jacket, long, droopy chiffon sleeves, and velvet platform boots”, stating she “didn’t want to wear high heels.”
Of course, behind every celebrity style queen is a great stylist. Margi Kent is partially responsible for Nicks’ signature look. “I didn’t want to look like anyone else—like Janis Joplin or Grace Slick. That’s why I never went to any of the big designers. I drew a stick figure of what I dreamed up and gave it to my costume designer, Margi Kent, who I still work with.” Always imaginative, unique and completely alluring, this style was all achieved with the help of Kent, who turned Nicks’ dream outfits into a reality.
Inevitably, the way Nicks accidentally created and endorsed trend upon trend has been inspiring designers for over forty years. Floor sweeping skirts, fringed bohemian waistcoats and layers of intertwining pendants have graced the catwalks of many a famous designer (Anna Sui dedicated a whole collection to her) and adorned the bodies of many admiring celebs (hello, Sienna Miller). Nicks was the first to covet this style. She presented it to the masses, quite spectacularly.
Hand in hand with a general admiration for Miss Nicks and her style has come some negativity – in the form of some rather medieval accusations. Yes, it has been suggested that she is a witch. She explained “I spent thousands of dollars on beautiful black clothes and had to stop wearing them for a long time because a lot of people scared me. And that’s really unfair to me, I think, for people – other people – to conjure up their ideas of what I am or what I believe in.”
Witch or not, it can’t be ignored that there is something more than spellbinding about Nicks…