One Direction: the mere name sends girls into a series of high-pitched squeals and jumping up and down. I know I used to when I was a teenager. When the world found out One Direction would be breaking up and taking an indefinite hiatus, millions of fans were sent into a spiraling depression that included crying, rewatching old clips of the band and supporting each other over Twitter. Now that I am an adult and beyond my fangirl days, I rarely talk about One Direction or the boys. But I’ll let you in on a little secret: I still check in on Harry, Liam, Niall and Louis from time to time. Particularly Harry, because I’ve always had a soft spot for him. And while Harry Styles is well known for his music and rockstar-persona, I think we need to address a more pressing issue: his status as a fashion icon. Some people may snort and laugh at this idea, but it’s true. Watching the evolution in his look is fascinating from the beginning of his career up until today.
It started during his One Direction days, with the squeaky-clean popstar looks dictated by the label:
Blazers, khaki pants, polo shirts, all essential parts to the traditional boyband look. But then as time went on and One Direction got bigger, the boys were allowed to explore their own style, including Styles himself. We delve into head scarves, button ups, plaid, and of course much longer hair.
But I think the moment we really saw Harry experimenting with his look was the 2015 gold boots incident:
Oh, those boots. They were debuted during a 2015 concert in Sydney, Australia, and became an overnight sensation. They were all anyone in the fandom talked about for weeks because they were so spectacular and quirky. No one could deny that they fit right in with Harry’s personality and spirit. As the boys went their separate ways, we saw Harry suddenly debuting more bright and fun clothing with his concert tour from 2017-2018.
Clearly more than just his fans find Harry to be a fashionista, because Gucci announced he would be their new face this year. His photoshoot, seen below, was received with great enthusiasm.
As someone who has been a fan of Harry Styles for many years now, I have to say I love his look. Not only does his outfits catch the eye and stick out, but they are flattering and well put together. He has earned himself the title ‘rockstar’, and I adore him for not only his music but his unusual and fun choice in wardrobe. Fingers crossed his next album comes out quickly, because I can’t wait to see what he does next.