In the tradition of just about every other major label musician with access to social media, last month Dua Lipa wiped her entire Instagram feed. It meant that (1) there was no longer documentation of her near-perpetual vacation in and around the Greek islands, and (2) a new era of music and fashion was en route. “Miss me?” she captioned her (sort of) first Instagram post, which I imagine was something she also said to her nearest and dearest once she finally ran out of Euros in Sifnos.
The image offered a first look at Dua’s updated aesthetic: hair dyed a Cheryl Cole red and her torso wrapped in a Union Jack–printed Helmut Lang vest from 1994. Having read the runes on that one photo, the official prediction is this: “Houdini” (sartorially speaking) will be Dua’s take on Brit Pop, funneled through a Ginger Spice lens. Further evidence emerged yesterday afternoon when she headed to BBC headquarters to let a single fan listen to the upcoming single.
BBC staffers stood on step ladders and waved flags as Dua Lipa played the song on her iPhone, dressed in a vintage football polo and a leather trench, accessorized with a Birkin and knee-high Versace boots. The look sat well within what TikTok trend forecasters are calling “blokette” (a name given to the kind of people who wear laddish things, like football jerseys, with femme accents, like ribbons and heels). That might also explain the long-line football manager puffer jacket she wore in Paris just two weeks ago.
This article first appeared on British Vogue.
