Lorde's Grammys makeup was done by New Zealander Amber Dreadon of M.A.C. She wears one of her favourite lip colours M.A.C Heroine. Photo / Jason LaVeris courtesy of Getty Images and M.A.C
Some people seem born with innate style, others spend their lives looking for it. Having your own look - and carrying it off with confident appropriateness - is central to the definition of being truly stylish as distinct from being merely well dressed, wackily individual or a fashion tragic.
But
having your own look is also asking for trouble, or at the very least critique. Celebrities, of course, court this. It helps keep the camera on them, but many convincingly carry off little more than looking obviously "styled".
That's why Lorde is an interesting case in point. All that internet chatter about her cascade of hair, her "goth" lips, and now her black tips. Even at Viva we offered pre-Grammy suggestions on what Lorde might wear and detailed her makeup "look".
Pity poor Ella Yelich-O'Connor getting all that attention at her age. Not for the music - Lorde has earned those accolades - but for how she scrubs up in her performance persona. Pretty well, I'd say, but commenting beyond that in anything other than general terms seems both fatuous and churlish. So we won't.
Teenagers should be free to experiment with fashion and beauty before they come under serious scrutiny. Most either dress like sheep or to reconcile image with intent, the latter being a life-long journey.
