5 iconic clips of Sonic Youth: leggings, grunge and MTV
Olesya Iva
Yesterday we told about Kim Gordon's "Girl in a Band" memoirs and the fate of key Sonic Youth participants. Today we have chosen five iconic clips of the group, which prove that Kim is not only a brilliant musician, but also an icon of style, and Sonic Youth video is an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Moreover, these clips can be watched as documentaries about the 60s-70s and 90s and explore trends, characters and phenomena of the time.
"Kool Thing"
The song "Kool Thing" is one of the main hits of Sonic Youth, Kim's close friend Tamra Davis made the video for her. About their friendship, as well as the party, which included, for example, Sofia Coppola, there is an excellent book "Baby Generation". Kim and Tamra stylized the clip on their own: a video shot in 1990 was dedicated to hip-hop, and inspired by the radicalism of the 60s. In particular, the activities of the radical left Party of Black Panthers and the fate of the terrorist, Patricia Hearst. In honor of Hurst, Gordon wanted to act in a beret, but changed her mind. Interestingly, the clip has a lot of silver and sparkles, although, judging from Kim's memoirs, she did not like glam rock.
Several images of Gordon from this video are truly iconic. Among them: leather bustier paired with leopard microsports and Casio watches; a set of shorts and a shirt made of metallized fabric - we want to sew the same one; The shortened striped overalls with a throat and retroochki oval. You can’t forget the 70's fur vest in combination with silver shorts, wild tights and white boots like go-go dancers.
Musicians of the group appear in free shirts in the style of the 70s and fur vests, then in adidas olympic shirts and round-rimmed glasses. There is also a pop-culture homage of the 60s - leggings with a print in the shape of Marilyn Monroe, as with a painting by Andy Warhol, as well as striped grunge tights paired with rough shoes. Since the song is devoted primarily to hip-hop culture, the corresponding prikidy in the video also come across. So, sweatpants, a blank T-shirt, a leather jacket and a baseball cap on rapper Chuck D make us enthusiastic - they are so simple and cool they look together.
"Сinderella's Big Score"
A sporty top with zippers, earrings and a silver bomber jacket is Kim Gordon’s signature look. An important detail is the gold pendant on the neck. This whole image once again reminds that, being a rock heroine, Kim loved hip-hop, and at the same time proves that inflated pilot jackets are ideal for girls. You can also find out from the clip that American schoolchildren of the 90s dressed in almost the same way as in the 70s: jeans, white T-shirts and sneakers. Twenty years later flannel plaid shirts were added to them, and the shorts became as short as possible (they were worn over transparent black tights). The clip includes short fragments of the Sonic Youth concert, shots of strikes and arrests, in which you can see the once classical, and today, the stereotypical image of an American policeman, in aviators and with a mustache.
"Sugar Kane"
Sonic Youth clips can be watched as a documentary about the 90s with their grunge and creative get-together, which included young directors, musicians, actresses, stylists and fashion designers. So, the video "Sugar Kane" tells about the 1992 1992 Marc Jacobs historic grunge show. Recall that grunge as a trend in fashion was identified precisely after this collection. In the early 90s, Jacobs styled flannel shirts, stretched sweaters, noisy dresses, layering and Dr. boots. Martens, inspired by the outfits of rock musicians from Seattle.
On the eve of that same show, Sonic Youth called Jacobs, with whom they were not yet personally acquainted, and suggested the idea of a video. The scenario was as follows: the group plays in the designer’s showroom, where the collection’s pre-presentation is held. The fact that the collection turned out to be grunge and came under a rock clip was pure coincidence. The video directed by "Sugar Kane" was made by Briton Nick Egan, a close friend of Malcolm McLaren from the Sex Pistols, and as we know, Malcolm also had a strong influence on fashion. Egan was important for the show to be covered by a naked girl - Chloe Sevigny was chosen for her role, trimmed as a boy. As a result, "Sugar Kane" was the first work of Chloe on the camera, except for her in the clip you can also see the young Mark Jacobs in a plaid shirt. Daisy von Furth, a New York stylist who collaborated with Sassy Magazine, was involved in styling the video. A year later, Kim and von Furth launched a line of women's streetwear X-Girl.
"Dirty Boots"
"Dirty Boots" also shot Tamra Davis. This video is about love, youth and the concert of Sonic Youth, and the grunge of the 90s is again presented in all its glory. The girls wear squares, leather jackets, plaid skirts and T-shirts with the Nirvana logo, the guys are all dressed in plaid flannel shirts. Kim Gordon in this clip shows how to wear narrow striped pants (with a monochrome top of a gentle color), as well as his signature hairstyle - part of the hair is tucked away in a high tail. Do not be lazy, consider the hairstyles of the heroines - you will find a lot of ideas from quads to braids and swirling bangs in the fashion of the 50s.
"Bull in the Heather"
The latest collaboration of Sonic Youth and Tamra Davis. In "Bull in the Heather," Kathleen Hanna, a feminist and lead singer of the bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, starred. Curiously, the last 2013 documentary by Tamra Davis is dedicated to Hannah and the riot grrrl movement.
Initially, they planned to hire a dancer for the video, but the idea failed, and Kathleen Hanna took the place of the dancers, who had categorically refused to play for MTV before the video. In "Bull in the Heather", she jumps around Gordon and kisses her. At Kathleen Infantile outfit of the 90s: dirty hair, collected in tattered tails, funny T-shirt, Converse sneakers and polka-dot panties, worn over the tights. She later will replace this image with a pink corset and bouffant in the spirit of the 80s.
Gordon in the clip demonstrates the canonical things from his own line of X-Girl: a sporty two-color top with a long sleeve and a short skirt of bright pink color. This combination proves that it is better to wear vinyl miniskirts with something simple. In a similar outfit in 1994, one could see Chloe Sevigny and Sofia Coppola, who were loyal fans of X-Girl. The second image of Kim Gordon is Courtney Love's homage: this is a baby doll dress and mule with a fluff (Marilyn Monroe also wore such dresses). If you carefully watch the clip, you can learn how to make a punk hairstyle "hedgehog".