Gwen Stefani has been killing it for decades since making her industry debut with No Doubt.
She also knows how to stay relevant while being true to herself — something fans hear
in her music and see in her personal style.
After all these years, here's how her look has changed!
Gwen Stefani launched her career as the lead singer for No Doubt in 1987, when her brother
Eric asked her to be part of a band he was just starting to put together.
"We were playing a lot of shows in LA, for a long time and there was no industry interest
at all, and then finally they got a clue and they signed us."
No Doubt would go on to become one of the prominent ska bands in the '80s and '90s,
but initially, they had a hard time gaining traction due to the popularity of grunge at
the time.
Stefani pressed on, but she didn't want to look like the breakout female grunge singers
at the time, considering them to be too angry and hardcore for her.
Instead, she wanted her look to have a femine edge, taking inspiration from pop icon Blondie.
She told Rolling Stone,
"It wasn't until I felt comfortable wearing high heels, because when you're on heels…all
of a sudden you're [hot].
I never felt really strong growing up…until I discovered Blondie…She wasn't ashamed
to be rocking out, and to me, that's having it all."
"We're just trying to enjoy every second of it while it's here.
And, you know, we don't take one day for granted."
Any fan of Stefani or '90s fashion knows that she was the queen of crop tops, thin brows,
and red lipstick.
She wore that style in so many photos throughout her early days with No Doubt, that it quickly
became the signature Gwen Stefani look.
There's even been some speculation that her '90s style has influenced the Gen Z and TikTok
e-girls of today, according to Vogue Australia.
But Stefani has gone on record confirming that she only rocked crop tops at the beginning
of her career, telling the outlet,
"I pretty much only wore tank tops my whole life.
I don't know why, I thought they looked cool.
I had to be a little bit tomboy with, like, a little bit of glamour."
Stefani has clearly been true to herself and her sense of style since day one!
One of Stefani's most controversial fashion accessories by today's standards would definitely
be her incorporation of the Indian bindi into her red carpet and street style.
She told Vogue that her interest in Indian culture and fashion peaked at the time because
of her relationship with No Doubt bassist, Tony Kanal, whose family is Indian.
She said,
"I had never, growing up in Anaheim, spent any time with anyone from India."
Remembering how Tony's mom would dress to the nines for the Indian parties she attended,
Stefani claims she ate up these bejeweled, luxurious looks.
"I would just be like, 'Ughhhh!'
I had never seen anything like it."
It was actually Kanal's mother who gave Stefani some of the bindis she wore as fashion.
The bindi is a body adornment often worn by quote, "South Asian women for religious and
cultural practices," as noted by Vice.
Over the years, the conversation about cultural appropriation has gained widespread traction,
so, even though Stefani got away with wearing it back then, it's best that she left this
trend behind!
Nothing shocks an audience quite like a monochromatic look, especially if that color is a baby blue
like the one that Stefani rocked at the '98 VMAs.
Her bright blue hair matched her bikini top, and would any '90s outfit be complete without
a pair of platform flip flops to match?
Rolling Stone reported this look, most commonly referred to as her "Smurfette" or her "Judy
Jetson" moment, had critics shaming her but fans screaming for more.
Stefani elaborated on her inspiration behind the head-turning look, telling Entertainment
Weekly,
"I was laying in bed thinking I wanted to dye my hair blue, and I found that bikini
top in my drawer.
It turned into a space-agey, Judy Jetson thing."
"Just really kind of inspired by Judy Jetson from the Jetsons, sort of, in this moment."
She also told Vogue that she had just come home from her tour when she got ready for
this particular red carpet and that the hair dye, bikini top, and flip flops had all been
sent to her for free.
"You would wear it too if it was free and you got home off tour, so be quiet."
Sometimes big life transitions mean you need to change up your hair.
And that's exactly what inspired Stefani's 1999 VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards red carpet look.
Sporting bright pink hair and braces, Stefani didn't delve too much into why she completely
changed her appearance that year.
But in 2019, she finally revealed that a rough period in her life had inspired the new look.
She told Vogue,
"Sometimes you go ahead and change your hair to try to, like, I dunno, wash whatever those
feelings are out of your hair."
At the time, Stefani noted, there weren't a lot of options for dyeing your hair bright
colors, except for the old standby brand, Manic Panic.
She added,
"I wanted my hair like cotton candy, like, light pink.
And I ended up with fuschia pink hair for, like, a year."
The early 2000s was an interesting time for everyone, fashion-wise.
Von Dutch trucker hats were all the rage, every girl you knew owned at least one long
denim skirt, and Juicy Couture tracksuits were considered "in."
"I have an entire closet that's only Juicy Couture."
Stefani rocked a handful of these trends at the 2001 VMAs with a super patriotic look
on the red carpet.
She paired a red and white striped halter top with dark blue gaucho pants and high red
leather boots, and the singer was right on trend with this look.
Of course, in true Stefani style, she showed off her impressive abs with the halter top
and low-rise pants.
But it seems that the one 2000s trend that Stefani didn't get into was frosted lip gloss.
She might have been on top of the latest looks, but she knew what her tried-and-true tricks
were, too.
Stefani told Vogue that in the '90s she didn't have the budget or access to stylists that
other artists had to create performance outfits and red carpet looks, so she had to dress
herself.
But once Y2K hit, she finally had the budget to start working with the pros to help curate
her brand.
In 2002, she connected with stylist Andrea Lieberman for a music video shoot.
Stefani said that combining her own ideas with Lieberman's skills and connections made
for a perfect pairing right off the bat.
The singer recalled that while she was on set for the "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" video shoot,
Lieberman brought a truck full of clothes for every possible concept Stefani had, and
Stefani was blown away.
In 2004, Stefani stepped away from No Doubt with the release of her solo album Love.
Angel.
Music.
Baby., for which the acronym is "L.A.M.B."
The album signified her desire to move away from the ska punk music that launched No Doubt
into fame, and instead opted to bring in other artists like Dr. Dre and André 3000 to collaborate.
The album also signaled a change in her red carpet and street style, and she often opted
for sleeker and chic-er looks.
"Sometimes that's how you get some magical stuff."
Surprisingly, Stefani told Vogue that fashion magazine-inspired looks were something she
was always against as a kid, even calling her younger self quote "anti fashion magazine."
As a kid, she said she felt "alienated" by those aspirational looks, but now, with a
couple of magazine covers under her belt, she sees the artistry behind the photoshoots.
Stefani launched her fashion line L.A.M.B. in the mid-2000s and initially felt some blowback
because of how many celebrities were also creating their own fashion lines at the time.
Still, Stefani knew that her design chops would eventually prove she was there to stay.
She told Billboard in 2005,
"I don't expect to fit in right away but I do sense that the fashion world is rooting
for me, too.
I'm not being treated like a celebrity wannabe fashion designer.
But even if I was, it doesn't really matter because I'm doing this for me."
"I feel like my life is, I'm in this new kind of chapter and everything's so exciting and
colorful."
Stefani told the outlet that, for her, both writing music and designing clothes come from
the same place of creativity.
She added,
"I don't see why any musician who has style or pays attention to style couldn't [design
fashion].
It's an extension of my personality.
I can't explain why I like it, it's just always been that way for me."
Stefani's hit single "Hollaback Girl" was one of the most popular songs off her debut
solo album.
The track is an alleged response to Courtney Love's statement reportedly calling Stefani
a cheerleader in Seventeen magazine, per The Cut, so what better way to fight back?
For Stefani, that meant completely embracing the cheerleader aesthetic, from her music
video, to her 2005 performance at the Teen Choice Awards.
Stefani made the cheerleader nickname her own!
Her Teen Choice performance even started outside the theater, with Stefani in a marching band
uniform.
The singer also stuck with her red lip and arched brows as well as her signature-set
bleach blonde hair for the performance.
"It's pretty, like, incredible how music heals and how music is love and love is just bringing
us all together."
After she went solo, Stefani often appeared wearing looks inspired by a Japanese style
from the Harajuku district of Tokyo.
She also borrowed the often-colorful and theatrical look for her own fashion line.
But even though Stefani's Harajuku-inspired style was considered hip and new back then,
today many critics point out that it's actually another case of cultural appropriation.
"I mean, Gwen does have some of the most interesting style in the span of her career."
Even in 2005, Salon magazine called out Stefani's use of the style, as well as her dancers',
writing,
"She's taken Tokyo hipsters, sucked them dry of all their street cred, and turned them
into China dolls.
Stefani has taken the idea of Japanese street fashion and turned these women into modern-day
geisha."
Since the mid-2000s, Stefani has adopted a sleeker, more streamlined look.
As a recurring coach on The Voice, Stefani traded her crop tops and crazy hairstyles
for more pulled-back and put-together looks.
However, just because she changed her fashion doesn't mean she gave up her old ways!
She frequently outshined her fellow coaches in seasons past by donning multi-patterned,
jeweled, and sequined looks that always left fans wanting more.
"Fashion Icon has arrived."
It seems that she also stays on top of today's trends while staying true to her stylish self.
She's so into her style that she even won the Fashion Icon Award at the 2019 People's
Choice Awards, proving she's still one of the best-dressed celebs ever.
Power couple Blake Shelton and Stefani have both served as coaches on The Voice, but it
looks like their relationship goes beyond their shared love of singing and mentoring.
Or does it?
The hit show hilariously revealed on its YouTube channel in December 2019 that the country
singer has actually been the one behind all of Stefani's looks on Season 17.
"Did somebody say fashion?"
As every fan instantly knew, the set up was clearly a joke.
"That's it.
Perfect."
"A mullet Blake, really?"
"I know, you're gonna bring it back, I'm so jealous."
While Shelton gladly plays the part of his lady's uptight and "genius" stylist, Stefani
is obviously the woman in charge of her look.
And after all these decades of making bold choices in front of the media, she's certainly
earned her rightful place as a pop fashion icon.
"Blake, what do you think?"
"It looks just like my drawing!"
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