Gwen Stefani once rocked casual SoCal-girl style when she was the
lead-singer of No Doubt. Her evolving style always
erred on the side of "Because why not?" But as with all fashion risk-takers,
some of her choices didn't go over well. Here are some of Gwen's most controversial outfits.
Gwen Stefani has been consistently criticized for cultural appropriation in her clothing.
She first came under fire for the ever-present bindi she wore throughout the 1990s, including
to the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. A Hindu religious symbol worn by South Asian women,
the bindi has been a common fashion accessory on the foreheads of many other non-Hindu Hollywood
A-listers including Natalie Portman and Selena Gomez. But Stefani wore it everywhere,
sporting the colored dot at red carpet events and in No Doubt's music videos like
1995's "Don't Speak" and "Just a Girl." Stefani told Vogue that No Doubt bassist
and then-boyfriend Tony Kanal was the reason for her fashion choice. She said:
"I was just so unbelievably fascinated by Indian culture
in particular because Tony Kanal is Indian."
She stated that Kanal's mother gifted her the first bindis she wore. Stefani told Vogue:
" And his mom would come down the stairs ready to go to these
Indian parties all dolled up with the bindi."
Vice commented in 2018 that Stefani "commercialized the sacred decoration"
in the '90s. But by No Doubt's video for "Ex-Girlfriend" from their 2000 album
Return of Saturn, Stefani had ditched the bindi completely.
While promoting 2004's solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby it was apparent Gwen Stefani
was in love with Tokyo's fashionable Harajuku District. Appearing everywhere for performances
alongside Stefani was an entourage of female Japanese backup dancers who coordinated their
eclectic outfits with Stefani's. Explaining her fascination to WWD, Stefani claimed the Harajuku
District's edgy street fashion reminded her of her thrift-shopping adolescent self. Stefani said:
"Having that connection as a little girl and my personal obsession with fashion,
I got [to the Harajuku District] and I was like, 'What was happening? I should be Japanese?'"
But the Harajuku Girls were the focus of the controversy. In 2005,
Salon pointed out the problems with the singer's use of her dancers, asserting :
"[Stefani] barfed up another image of submissive, giggling Asian women."
Comedian Margaret Cho responded in a 2005 blog post, writing that
while the Harajuku Girls were at least "a measure of visibility" for Asian women,
their Japanese schoolgirl look was, quote, "like blackface."
Stefani never apologized for including the dancers in her shows. Stefani told Time in 2014:
"There's always going to be two sides to everything. For me,
everything that I did with the Harajuku Girls was just a pure compliment."
Gwen Stefani's 2004 Love. Angel. Music. Baby album was the cultural appropriation gift
that kept on giving. For the album's hit single "Luxurious," Stefani used Southern California's
chola look in a music video centered around the Mexican-American community.
FemeStella observed in 2019:
"Choosing to appropriate the Mexican-American aesthetic, Stefani adopts […] thinly drawn on
eyebrows, thickly-lined lips [...] and Old English-style nameplate necklaces."
FemeStella also criticized Stefani for dressing up to seemingly look like famous
Mexican painter Freida Kahlo. Stefani told MTV News that her character in the video
was modeled after a Latina classmate in her Anaheim high school. Stefani said:
"She's this total like chola girl, white face, and she used to sit in
class and put on tons of makeup. And I used to just watch her, mesmerized."
The comments on the YouTube version of the music video vary wildly in
regards to whether she appropriated chola culture, but one user said:
"She celebrates other cultures without losing herself.
Appreciate, don't assimilate; that's Gwen."
"I guess, um, being a individual, you know? I think that's kinda what fashion's all about."
Gwen Stefani and the other members of No Doubt reunited in 2012 to
release the album Push and Shove. The album's first single, "Settle Down,"
reached the no. 34 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. But their second single,
"Looking Hot," wasn't so lucky, with its music video being almost immediately taken down from
YouTube due to a serious backlash. In the video, Stefani and bassist Tony Kanal portrayed Native
people escaping from cowboy characters portrayed by drummer Adrian Young and guitarist Tom Dumont.
The band apologized, according to Rolling Stone, with the official apology reading:
"As a multi-racial band our foundation is built upon both diversity and consideration
for other cultures. Our intention with our new video was never to offend,
hurt or trivialize Native American people."
The group added that they had consulted with "Native American friends" and "Native American
studies experts at the University of California" before shooting the video. Stefani once again was
accused of appropriating Native culture four years later in 2016, when she donned tribal braids,
to perform her single, "Misery," on The Voice. One Instagram user commented on the post:
"You're like the og culture vulture."
The No Doubt frontwoman defended the cultural influence in her fashion choices,
telling FemeStella that:
"You take pride in your culture and have traditions,
and then you share them for new things to be created."
Over the years, several of Gwen Stefani's outfits have been deemed
"too risqué" for her age by some. In 2019, she wore a long-sleeved, candy-colored bodysuit
complete with fishnet stockings and knee-high boots on the semi-finals of The Voice. Stefani was
met with harsh Twitter backlash after she tweeted a picture of the outfit. One fan commented:
"Not appropriate for semi finals! Let's dress like a 50 year old woman!"
Another stated gently:
"Gwen can look good in almost anything but this
garish outfit is something [JoJo Siwa] would wear."
But the veteran singer's youthful dress code and her apparent inability to age
also yielded compliments from fans. For her NBC New Year's Eve 2020 performance,
Stefani paired shorts with a sparkly sweater, and many Twitter users noticed her seemingly
ageless glow and flawless skin. In a 2014 Glamour interview, Stefani stated that:
"Fashion is not really about age as much as it is reflecting your personality."
It's clear Gwen loves to take risks with her fashion,
but some are clearly better advised than others.
"I think that my style is always gonna evolve, and style definitely reflects,
you know, you're personality, your mood and where you're at in your life."
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