Style Icon of the Week : Debbie Harry

Who?: Rock icon, style innovator, and all round legend; Debbie Harry changed the way that the world thought about fashion as a means of self expression. Perhaps best known under her indie rock incarnation as 'Blondie', Debbie Harry rocked up the 70's and early 80's underground scene as lead singer of hotter than hot band, Blondie. Despite fronting two other bands, launching her own, highly successful solo singing career, and appearing in over 30 films and musicals, Debbie will always be best known for her big hits with Blondie, their hit single 'Heart in a Glass' appearing on the Gucci fragrance adverts, and being re-released as a club remix.



Why?: Imitated by many, including Madonna, Courtney Love and Sophie Dahl, Debbie's fearless, eccentric and experimental street style combined sexy, glamorous and rebellious in a way that hadn't been done before. Closely associated with Andy Warhol and his New York cool set, Debby was at the forefront of fashion innovation and cutting edge of style. Known for her iconic brightly coloured and bold print dresses, skin tight jeans, chunky jewellery and unexpected outfit combinations, Debbie's style is almost as famous as her music. Expressing herself not just through her clothes, but through her trademark backcombed two-tone blond hair and wildly coquettish make up, Debbie treated her clothes as a theatrical costume, a means of self expression to tell the world what she was about before she even opened her mouth; that's my kind of fashion thinking.


What can we learn from her style?: At the start of a new year, maybe it's time to look to Debbie for inspiration, and see if we can change the way that we think about fashion in 2009. Debbie admits that she is 'not a high maintenance person', and described the process of picking out clothes as , 'pulling things out of the wardrobe ... and it just went from there'. Never polished but always perfect, Debbie shows us that sometimes the best outfits are the ones that you don't think about too much, so forget matching your shoes to your shirt and your bag to your bra; be bold, be brave, be yourself.