Celebrity style guide #4: Chappell Roan

If you haven’t heard the name Chappell Roan yet, the next time you scroll on TikTok I’m sure you will. She is the newest queer icon to bless the current LGBT-bolstered pop music scene and her looks are absolutely HOT TO GO! From the ever-changing themes she prescribes to her shows to her signature long, voluminous red wig there is lots to marvel at in Chappell Roan’s sparkling onstage and off-stage wardrobes. Currently supporting Olivia Rodrigo on her GUTS US tour, the singer is a more camp and more exaggerated version of the pop princess fashion out there at the minute but is equally as glitzy, glamorous, and stylish.

Drag costume

The pop star was born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz but gave herself the stage name Chappell Roan as a drag-queen-like persona early on in her career. This inspiration from the drag-queen scene is integral to Chappell Roan’s on-stage presence. She discussed in a recent interview with NME how early in her career, she “was the thrift store pop girl – it was so drag; I learned how to embellish my own costumes.” This quirky, DIY-glam wardrobe is exactly what makes Chappell Roan’s whole persona so charming and mesmerising. It often feels almost as if it were just a little girl dancing in her bedroom in clothes she found in her grandma’s wardrobe (in the most slay way).

Bodysuits

In contrast to the grandma-chic look that she often dons, Chappell Roan appears equally as comfortable in a more conventional pop princess body suit and tights. The bodysuits she wears are almost exclusively brightly coloured and have a level of sparkle that would be most at home at an Eras tour concert. They often have low plunging necklines or even a sweetheart neckline that perfectly encapsulates the fusion of risqué and girl-next-door that she loves to play with.

Her iconic red hair

Arguably, the first thing that you notice about Chappell Roan is her hair. Even among all the myriad of things that make her such a style icon – the mirror ball-level sparkle of her outfits, the drag-level make-up she often dons, and the go-go boots – her beautiful flying red hair is what really catches your eye. She almost exclusively wears it in its seemingly natural curl and when she doesn’t, she wears a dramatic, even deeper red wig. This wig made an appearance in her recent NPR tiny desk concert in which she said: ‘This wig, though it looks like it’s all my hair, it is a wig!” showing that even when her hair is not in its natural state, she doesn’t stray very far at all from her iconic red glow.

Cowboy core

On occasion, Chappell appears ready for a rodeo, a rodeo at The Pink Pony Club that is. She wears the brightly coloured, bedazzled cowboy boots that we, as fans of pop, have come to know and love of our stars and wears a full matching outfit. If the boots are sparkling pink, her tights will be pink, her bodysuit will be sparkling pink (maybe even some glittery hearts), and she will certainly tip her bright pink cowboy hat at you. It is an aesthetic that never gets old and perfectly matches the fun, upbeat pop that takes up most of her discography.

Chappell has quite the eclectic style guide. At one show, she could be wearing a floor-length gown that looks like something a Victorian woman would wear to a Taylor Swift concert, at other shows she wears a latex bodysuit, and at other times she is ready to perform drag at the drop of a hat. The way that she plays with so many different types of femininity with her use of wardrobe is what really makes Chappell Roan stand out from the crowd and asserts her as a queer icon. She clearly portrays the message that people can wear whatever they want and do not have to stay in any one lane. Her liberated style is a perfect accompaniment to her liberating music.