“I’m not a woman/I’m not a man – I’m something you will never understand” – Prince
In the light of his passing, it’s hard not to think about Prince’s iconic style, and how it affected the world. Prince had an astounding ability to make women weak in the knees, even while dressed in a sequinned catsuit and four-inch heels. He embodied the transformative potential of fashion. The artist born Prince Rogers Nelson became known as much for his fabulous, gender-bending, seductive fashion as for his boundary-pushing music.
Whether Prince wore a low-cut blouse shirts, lace or crazy patterns, his outfits were unmistakeable. He was one of those rare people who could mix and match all colours, patterns and styles and actually get away with it.
In honour of the songwriter, singer, producer and fashion icon, we’ve put together a few pictures of his greatest looks throughout his four-decade long career.
Game of Thrones? Naaah think again!
Prince walked in, in all white, matching separates, a chunky gold neckpiece and of course a gold and silver cane. He literally would have fit in with the people of Dorne (Game of Thrones). He wore this outfit to the launch of VH1 in 1994.
Shut it Kanye – Prince wore it better
I might be being rude, but when Kanye wore those ridiculous shutter glasses during his performance at the VMA’s, I couldn’t help but remember how Prince wore glasses made out of real gold. He slayed in a graphic black turtle neck and yellow pants. Now that’s making a statement!
The Prince of crop tops
Wembly Arena, 1986. By the time he released Parade, Prince was on to crop tops and bare midriffs, a look he could pull off better than any drunk girl at Coachella.
High-waisted hero
And you thought you wore high-waisted pants better? Prince wore this outfit at Radio City Music Hall in 1993. It shows off his love for both, stripes and high waisted pants. And, of course that glorious silk deep V-neck shirt.
Ruffles and Curls
Prince performed in 1984, in his signature look from the Purple Rain era. Only he could pull off a Shakespeare ruffled shirt and pair it with a purple studded rock n roll jacket. Don’t miss the eye liner and Jheri curls.
His songs made us think and inspired us to live bigger (and dress that way, too). Most importantly, they made us feel understood. Part of that universal appeal is that there wasn’t just one version of Prince. The guy was a chameleon. You can’t say “I love Prince” without asking yourself which one first. Every era of his style brought something different to music. But no matter what the details encompassed, they came together with confidence. There is no confidence like Prince confidence, amirite?
I have to say, I’m so lucky that I got to see him perform at Madison Square Garden in New York. I still remember every detail of his performance, especially when he sang Purple Rain. Do you have a favourite Prince song or outfit? Leave us a comment below if you do. For more style inspirations and updates on what we do, follow us @BandraRoad on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.