InStyle (October 2001)

Gwen Stefani

"I want to look like a cartoon character--very animated," says Stefani. "That's what I do with my clothes."

JUST A GIRL 

No Doubt's lead singer, Gwen Stefani, could be the poster girl for do-it-yourself chic. When the band was just getting started in the mid-nineties, Stefani, a student living at home, scoured thrift stores for baggy trousers with suspenders and later for overalls (which often topped French leotards). By the time No Doubt's 1995 album, Tragic Kingdom, broke, Stefani was sporting forties-style Hollywood glamour-puss outfits and working with designer Deborah Viereck, who made punk-style pants with lots of zippers and embellished bras (to show off that taut tummy) for her.

HAPPY NOW

"Gwen loves the costume part of her job," says stylist Jessica Paster, who co-created the sailor costume Stefani wore to the 2000 My VH1 Music Awards. "She dresses with such playfulness." About to launch No Doubt's fifth album, Rock Steady, Stefani's changing it up again. Her hair has been every color from blue to fuchsia, but she says, "right now I'm into my platinum hair extensions." That, no doubt, will soon change.