BANANARAMA-O-RAMA

I've been thinking a lot lately about what inspires me, clothing-wise, and other-wise. When I think of fashion I love, the list is long. But lately, I keep coming back to Bananarama.

YEAH, I know.

I did not LOVE Bananarama in my teen years. I liked them just fine. But I loved their look. They had a somewhat popular 80s androgyny thing goin' on, with baggy overalls, big shirts, floppy hair. I mean, what's not to like? They looked like they spent all day painting in the art studio. Or, in this case, working on cars:

This was not a look I carried with me into adulthood. I only recently have begun to rethink my early Bananarama inspiration, as I trace my fashion roots. Last night I watched a BBC-produced documentary about the band, and it turns out they were actually totally kick-ass feminists and continually gave producers like Malcolm McLaren the brush off when he tried to control their look or sound. "We didn't want to be anyone else's product. We were doing what we wanted to do. We didn't need other people's ideas."

Personally, I'd be nowhere without other people's ideas. Thanks for the inspiration, Keren, Sara, and Siobhan. Jacquie, I barely knew you...