Elle Girl (March 2002)

She’s a rebel

No one tells Gwen Stefani what to do – thank God! We get to the roots of her rock’n'roll style.

Gwen Stefani doesn’t like to be made over and why should she? “I always do my own makeup and hair,” she declares. “Every time I’ve experimented, it’s been a disaster.” Once you get past the obvious – that her powerful vocals have been a trademark of No Doubt for 15 years and that she writes most of the music herself – the coolest thing about Gwen is that totally original look. And at 32, she says she’s having more fun with her look – and her life – than ever. No Doubt’s latest album, Rock Steady, is an irresistible dance party in disc form, and Gwen’s relationship with fiancé Gavin Rossdale of Bush seems pretty rock steady too. Great! Because what we really wanted to grill Gwen about was her personal style, and, lucky for us, she was willing to play along…

Were you a nonconformist in high school?

Well, I think that for young kids, it’s all about being like everyone else. So I had to have my sports shirt, and there was the zip-up sweatshirt that I wore every day. But when I hit puberty and found music, all of a sudden I wanted to be unique. In high school I did a lot of sewing and thrift-store shopping. My mum sews a lot of clothes for me when I was growing up, so I spent loads of time at the fabric store. Every dance that came up, we would buy fabric and make my dress. For prom, I made Grace Kelly’s dress from the movie Rear Window.

Wow, really?

My mum made me that dress! [Laughs] It was black velvet with a white chiffon skirt. We also made the dress from The Sound Of Music that Julie Andrews wears when she sings I Have Confidence. It was tweed with a drop waist, and I wore it the first time I was ever on stage at the school talent show.

Do you still have that tweed dress?

I have all the dresses we made.

What happened to the 40s dress you wore in the Don’t Speak video? 

I got that at a thrift store, like five years before we shot the video. It smelled so bad that I never wore it. It’s beautiful fabric, that really old rayon that just hangs beautifully. But it’s a real mess!

Did your mom sew pretty much all of your dresses or did you also?

My Mom – but I made a lot of my own stuff, too. I could never do zippers very well. When we were on tour right after the first record came out, I made three or four dresses, which were all from the same pattern that I’d created myself. It was kind of a corset-style drop waist with a cheerleader skirt, and it looked like there was a white blouse underneath. I always made them in cartoon-y bright colours like bright reds, blues and yellows. Underneath I wore my boxer shorts and fishnets and Doc Martens. I had my little vibe going on.

Have you ever thought about starting your own clothing line?

Yeah! I want to. I talk about it all the time, especially now that I’m inspired again. But it’s hard to do a lot of things at once well. That’s why I haven’t had a kid yet. I want to do that well, and I want to be a good wife, but I’m so busy and I have so much passion for what I’m doing… I’m having a great time! [Laughs] So I think that if I do a clothing line, it has to be like everything else I do – it has to be homegrown, it has to be real. I wouldn’t just do it to make money, because I could do that easily. All I would have to do is the say the words – “Here’s my accessory line” and it would be nuts. I love that our fans get inspired and show up to our gigs in home-made gear. That is the coolest thing – I’ll never get sick of that. They inspire me.

Who else inspires you? Let’s play a word-association game with the names of some stylish ladies.

I don’t know everybody, but okay.

Grace Kelly?

Gorgeous.

Stevie Nicks?

I love her. Cool as hell. I relate to her a lot. And there are lots of similarities in the stories of our bands. [Laughs]

True enough. Veronica Lake?

The “Hey Baby” video, because I tried to copy her hair! [Laughs]

Debbie Harry? 

Me on the last record. I really tried to rip her off hard on that one.

Jean Harlow?

She was dope-ass, she had those skinny eyebrows and attitude. She was way ahead of her time.

Madonna?

I can’t give you one word. I have to give you a long winded explanation of my relationship with her. [Laughs]

Yes, please.

When I was in high school, I was really into ska music. And I was 15 or 16, so there were lots of rules. If something was really popular, you’re like “I’m not into that.” Madonna was huge, but I was really into ska. I was like Madonna? Whatever.

But I think that, secretly, I was interested. I went to her concert in ‘87 at Anaheim Stadium, because I was in love with Tony [Kanal, No Doubt’s bass player] and his mum worked for the council and got free tickets. So we went and we kissed in the parking lot and saw the show. It was amazing. But I was never really a huge fan of hers until recently. I just look at her body of work now, and I have a whole lot of respect for her. I know what it’s like to be a girl in a man’s world. I’ve met her a few times. She is such a cool girl. The thing is that I relate more to someone like Deborah Harry, because she was in a band. It’s like two different worlds. But as far as paving a little space for some girls could come after her [Expels breath] – Madonna did that.

What do you think of Britney Spears and her image these days?

There’s room for everybody, and there’s always room for pure entertainment. But I’m surprised at how fast she’s moved on. I think when you’re in a band, the cool thing is that you have time to grow. Like I only just started wearing heels and getting more comfortable with my sexual side. Before, my whole vibe was based upon the idea that I wanted to be a guy – but I wanted to wear a lot of make-up. Being a girl in a band means that I want to do my hair and wear cute clothes, but when I get on stage, I want to rock out. But lately I feel that if I show a sexier side – and if you put on high heels, then you automatically do – it’s okay. I’ve earned my way.

It’s like a rite of passage?

Exactly. I feel that some of the younger artists should just hold on to their youth a little longer – it’s like, dude, you have so much ahead of you! But I can’t say anything, I could never imagine myself having commercial success at that age. I would go crazy.

If you hadn’t got into music, would you be a stylist or a make-up artist or something like that?

I was a make-up artist. I worked at a department store at Anaheim Plaza, which was a pretty low-grade mall with dollar stores. Different types of she-males would come in wanting to get their makeup done. [Laughs] It was such a rewarding job to help people feel better about themselves by putting on a little of this and a little of that. But if I hadn’t gotten into music I don’t think I’d still be working at the mall, I would have completed college. I can’t imagine going back now. I learned all the important things I needed because I didn’t want to feel like a stupid person – but as far as art classes go, I’d love to go back.

Your style is so immaculate, so put together. Do you ever just kick back in a sweatshirt and no make-up?

[In wonder] Immaculate! Oh, dude, yeah! Of course I do. On tour, for the most part, I have two outfits that I wear every night on stage. I just rotate the colours. During the day I wear my workout clothes. Publicity time is really fun because it’s all about the clothes, and lately I’m really into it again. I feel all energized. I went to the fabric store to make a skirt for my sister’s wedding and I freaked out! I was like, Oh my God, I haven’t been here in so long! I bought fabric and had loads of pants made up.

What do you think about the way Joan Rivers and everybody else – including this magazine – critique celebrity fashion?

I get totally seduced by it all. I love to open People to see what everyone’s wearing. But it’s different when it’s me. What’s that one I always get in? “When bad clothes happen to good people.” [Laughs] I kind of consider that a compliment. The clothes they consider bad I usually like!

Does Gavin have a favourite outfit?

He has really good taste. He’s influenced me a lot, to grow up a bit with the way I dress. He’s really anti bright colours – everything I am! He doesn’t have a favorite outfit. But I definitely try to impress him. He influences me when I’m shopping. I think, Will he like this?

Do you go for more conservative things now?

Maybe I just don’t go for the really bright colours as much. [Laughs] I have to grow up. I can’t just stay the same forever.

How have you evolved as a songwriter?

With the last album, Return Of Saturn, I decided I just wanted to get really good at writing. I started keeping a journal, and I’d never done that. I got the lyrics and poems of Joni Mitchell, which are just genius – the most beautiful way of putting thoughts down. She really inspired me. And then Gavin told me about Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and I was so inspired by that – and by her journals. But with Rock Steady we wanted it to be a little more free. I tried to make my writing more conversational. I didn’t get into my whole “being inspired” thing – I would be inspired by a day. even a moment. And I didn’t labor over it – I tried to write stuff in an afternoon and then go and record it.

You’ve collaborated with so many great people - Eve and Moby, and now Prince and Sly and Robbie on Rock Steady. Who else would you like to work with?

The Thompson Twins. I would love to make a rap song with those guys. Or have them remix one of our tracks.

You grew up in the ’80s but don’t seem embarrassed by ’80s fashion. Do you really like it?

I love the idea of something that’s really bad becoming really good again. The ’80s were an awesome time for music. And plus it was the backdrop of my life, so of course I love it and embrace it!

Did you have fun on TRL in December?

Yeah. We’ve been on so many times, but we were so excited and nervous. I didn’t think I could get that nervous again! We kind of came off as nerds, but oh well.

Do you consider yourself kind of dorky?

[Pauses and giggles] I’m pretty cool now. I always get really freaked out when I start thinking about how people see me. It’s a weird lifestyle. We have this web fan forum, and you can read everything the fans have to say. There’s a lot of negative stuff, and I don’t know if I’m going to read it anymore. No Doubt’s never done anything that anyone’s told us to do. Like I don’t wear anything that anyone tells me to wear. The whole idea of No Doubt is freedom – creating something on your own. To try to get better and grow. It frustrates me when people get that wrong and think that they own you. The idea of fans is amazing, because they give you your life, but the idea of anyone, a fan or not, trying to tell you what music you should do? I don’t do it for anyone except myself in the first place. It’s an art.