Talk of Amy Winehouse has once again taken over London, following the premiere of the Sam Taylor-Johnson biopic Back to Black – a glossy flick that sees actress Marisa Abela slip into singer Fred Perry’s polos and ballet pumps.
Winehouse’s shoe choice is a TikTok magnet and a runway trend today – but don’t miss the Tears Dry On Their Own singer who was as original in her music as she was anti-fashion in her looks. After-party Brits preferred Reeboks, skinny jeans and pea coats to stilettos, and any “style evolution” mostly graduated from knee-length, body-hugging midi dresses to pouf-skirt minis and leather belts. great slapping was her stage signature. That, and the beehive, which she first created with hairdresser Tracey Cahoon in 2000.
As a fashion stylist, Winehouse began working with her friend Naomi Parry after the 2006 release of the album Back to Black. According to Parry, Amy “always had a clear idea of what she wanted to look like. She said, “We found a style that she was very comfortable with, and it became synonymous with her. It was like her armor – she put that on and became Amy Winehouse.”
Her most iconic outfits ranged from black Karen Millen, rose-print corset midi dresses and tropical cotton minis for performances at Koko in Camden and the Hammersmith Apollo in the mid-nineties, to the strapless navy floral appliqué Luella mini (complete with cocktail umbrellas) at Glastonbury in 2008. Preen’s ‘power’ yellow dress – black, lacy bra on display – at the 2007 Brits, the black cotton Dolce & Gabbana mini she wore to win five Grammys in 2008, and her Vivienne Westwood’s ‘Anglomania’ skirt for a trip to Westminster Magistrates’ Court in the summer of 2009.
Although she has dabbled in designer brands – and they have, most notably Karl Lagerfeld who honored her for the Chanel Pre-Fall 2008 collection – her own uniform of vest tops, micro-skirts, leather jackets and denim has remained on point. the greatest of Winehouse. A pair of Miss Sixty jeans, on display at the Design Museum’s 2021/2022 exhibition Amy: Beyond the Stage, perhaps best represents her style: worn out, and tailored with red embroidery to read ‘Amy’ on the leg, and across. the back pocket: ‘God is Sinatra’.
Amy Winehouse’s 42 most memorable outfits:
At the Brit Awards, 2004
At The Prince’s Trust Urban Music Festival, 2004
At the MAC party, 2004
At an event celebrating the life and music of Billie Holiday, 2004
At the Ivor Novello Awards, 2004
At the Blackberry party, 2004
At the Cannizaro Park Festival in Wimbledon, 2004
At the Mercury Music Awards, 2004
At the Q Awards, 2004
At the Brit Awards, 2005
Performance at Koko in Camden Town, 2006
At the Q Awards, 2006
At the South Bank Awards Show, 2007
At the Elle Magazine Style Awards, 2007
At the Brit Awards, 2007
Performance at the Brit Awards, 2007
At the Universal / Island Records Brits after party, 2007
At the Coachella Music Festival with Kelly Osbourne, 2007
Produced by Shepherd’s Bush Empire, 2007
At the MTV Movie Awards in California, 2007
Performance at the MTV Movie Awards in California, 2007
Performed at the Isle of Wight Festival, 2007
At the MOJO Honors List awards with Blake Fielder-Civil, 2007
Performing on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, 2007
Performance at Lollapalooza in Chicago, 2007
At The Row launch dinner with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, 2007
Performance at the Mercury Music Awards, 2007
Performance at the Music of Black Origin Awards (MOBOs), 2007
At the MTV Europe Music Awards in Munich, 2007
At the Grammy Awards ceremony in London, 2008
Performance at the Brit Awards, 2008
At Concert 46664 to Commemorate the Life of Nelson Mandela, 2008
Performing on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury, 2008
Performance at the Rock in Rio festival in Spain, 2008
Playing at a club night in Camden, 2008
Performance at T In The Park Festival, 2008
At Sadie Frost’s closing party for her show ‘Touched for the very time’, 2009
At Westminster Magistrates’ Court with her father Mitch Winehouse, 2009
At Westminster Magistrates’ Court, 2009
At Universal Music’s Lucian Grainge VIP Party, 2010
At the Reebok and VICEstyle.com launch party, 2010
At an after-show party for a Tony Bennett concert at the Royal Albert Hall, 2010