Girls Just Want to Have Fun (With Fashion)

Time after time you turn to your favorite fashion bloggers for style inspiration. With each post we strive to show our true colors–sometimes wild, sometimes subdued, but almost always because we just want to have fun. Is it obvious yet that I’ve been inspired this week by Cyndi Lauper style?

My Big Thanks to Jennie of A Pocketful of Polkadots. She’s part of a group of stylish fashion bloggers called the Fab 40s. Once a month, they come together with a theme to show how different style trends can be individually interpreted. Each month they invite a guest blogger to join them. A couple of years ago, I joined them for grunge style and, recently, Jennie invited me to join again for the May theme, Style Icons. She knows I can’t pass up an opportunity to try on the style of a favorite icon.

Cyndi Lauper: Musician, Activist, and Style Icon

If my life was a musical, Cyndi Lauper’s music would be a part of the soundtrack. Even today, listening to the playlist of her hits on Spotify immediately takes me back to the early days of MTV and the video for Girls Just Want to Have Fun.

Not only has Cyndi Lauper inspired me with her music over the years, she inspires me by the way she lives her life–with compassion and sincerity. She is an activist for the rights of women and LGBTQ teens. In fact, she doesn’t just say she wants change, she works hard for it. In 2008, she started True Colors United. This foundation exists to find solutions for the vast number of teens who are LGBTQ and homeless.

Cyndi Lauper’s music career didn’t stop after the 80s and 90s. She continues to inspire with her music. She and her creative partners premiered the musical, Kinky Boots in 2012. Her music and lyrics earned the musical several Tony awards.

Most recently, she was awarded her Doctorate of Letters by Northern Vermont University. I follow her on Instagram and she was as excited as anyone might be who had earned this level of educational honor. That kind of excitement just makes her more human, which makes me love her even more.

Add to all her accomplishments a fun-loving sense of style, and all I want is to be just like her.

Cyndi Lauper Style, Seattle Designed

I am not talented enough to recreate a Cyndi Lauper hairstyle, but thanks to the talents of Seattle’s own Shari Noble of Maison La Macón, I can come pretty darn close to the spirit of Cyndi’s fashion.

Shari designed and created almost everything in my Cyndi Lauper-inspired outfit. The dress, the coat, and the beret all come out of her design studio here in my neighborhood of Belltown. In fact, if you know me, you know I love Sassafras and that’s where I met Shari. Her design studio is located in the hallowed halls of Sassafras. A lot of her work is available for sale in-store or through their online shop.

Shari is best-known for her leather work. Since 2000, she’s been creating classic silhouettes out of both leather and vintage fabric. She says her work is “retro with a dash of rocker style sprinkled in.”

The Cat Coat Shari designed is a good example of this infusion of style. She used deadstock vintage faux fur and repurposed black leather panels for this Jackie-O-meets-Debbie-Harry Cat Coat.

The one-of-a-kind print on my dress inspired Shari to create an infusion as well. The fabric was hand printed by Seattle jewelry designer, Jeni Falldine. It has a black and white film reel design. Some of the images are hand-painted with color. When Shari got her hands on this fabric, she was reminded of Belltown’s history as a hub for silent movies in the early 20th Century. To best show off the design, she chose the classic cut and clean lines of her Melody dress. The half-peplum adds her unique style with asymmetric flair. She also created the leather and fabric belt with a vintage celluloid green buckle.

And what about that funky collar, you ask?

I made it using sewing scraps after being inspired by a similar collar made for Mel of Bag and a Beret by the students of Vancouver Community College’s (VCC) Fashion Design & Production Diploma program. The vintage brooch I used to keep the collar in place belonged to my late paternal grandmother.

My Own Kinky Boots

These vintage Bakers boots were featured last year around this time when I wrote about a different Seattle designer. They might just be the most rockstar thing I have in my wardrobe. I bought them on eBay. Definitely worthy of a style icon who wrote a musical with “boots” in the title.

How fun it has been to create a look inspired by Cyndi Lauper’s style. Thanks again to Jennie for giving me the opportunity and the inspiration. Keep reading to see how the regular members of the Fab 40s interpreted their Style Icons! They take the theme to new heights. And to discover more about who inspired their looks, simply click on their photos below!

Fab 40s Style Icons

Jennie from Pocketful of Polkadots

Jennie really captured Audrey Hepburn’s glam style in her outfit. That delightful pink bubble not only matches her hair color, but it is the epitome of Audrey’s ability to be both glamorous and playful at the exact same time. Scroll on down to the caption for details about her outfit and click here to read more about her entire look.

Daenel from Living Outside the Stacks

Daenel chose Nicole Richie as her style icon because she loves her bohemian style. Daenel said she finds Nicole’s style to be elegant, fearless, and exotic, and from where I sit, that’s how I see Daenel! Check out her outfit below and then click over to her website to read more about it.

Sheela from Sheela Writes

If you read Sheela’s blog, you can see the influence of style icons like David Bowie and Prince–and she loves both for everything they bring to her unique style. But her first style icon was and always will be Lisa Bonet, a woman who was also influenced by the styles of David Bowie and Prince while creating her very own look. Scroll down to see her outfit and then click over to her blog to read more.

Shelbee from Shelbee on the Edge

Shelbee rocks her inspired Gwen Stefani look. I just can’t get over how well she captured the essence of her icon through polka dots, a body con dress, and a fantastic ponytail. Keep scrolling to see the inspiration behind her outfit, then click here to read more about the story behind her rocker look!

Suzy Turner

Great minds think alike, which is why both Suzy and Jennie chose the chic and classic Audrey Hepburn as their style icons this month. While Jennie went for the more glam version of Audrey, Suzy went for the casual, playful side. I’d say they both captured Audrey’s spirit. More details about Suzy’s outfit are in the caption below, but don’t forget to click over to her blog for more about this look.

Thanks for Reading!

As always, thank you for hanging out with me on my blog. I love to hear from you in the comments below or on Instagram or Facebook.

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Linking to lovely Patti’s Visible Monday linkup at Not Dead Yet Style.

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Affiliate link disclaimer: Please note, although I paid for the outfit and accessories seen in this post, some of the items linked above may be affiliated with companies I am associated with. By purchasing from these stores, I receive a small commission and you support the work I do here. Thank you for your support!