Willful carelessness and the spirit of rebellion: What is Kurt Cobain’s style and why is it relevant again?

He painted his eyes black, wore dresses, and followed the “the worse the better” rule. This, of course, is about Kurt Cobain, the true legend of the grunge era. The famous phrase of the leader of the Nirvana group, always sticking to everything, “Let them hate me for what I am, rather than love for what I am not”. From unruly music to deliberately sloppy style that eventually became uniform for an entire generation. Ripped jeans, plaid shirts and stretchy sweaters form the basis of her wardrobe. Kurt Cobain was a big fan of vintage stores and bought most of his clothes there.

He never aspires to the title of style icon and has tried to reject everything connected with it. Here is one of many proofs. In 1992, designer Marc Jacobs created a collection for American fashion house Perry Ellis, inspired by the grunge subculture. The designer decided to give Kurt and Courtney Love a few things. However, the fabrics were of such high quality, and things were sewn so accurately that they only remotely resembled what the representatives of the grunge era so passionately loved. Therefore, the main rebel couple found nothing better than to burn the donated items. And Courtney showed up in pajamas at the wedding with Kurt.

While Cobain never wanted to be a role model, he certainly was (and still is). Cobain was in many ways ahead of the curve for her time, and in the early ’90s she promoted gender neutrality through images, resorted to layering (a fashionista’s favorite technique in recent years) and experimented with hair color.

For 27 years of his life, he gave the world not only musical masterpieces, but also cult performances that are still cited today. For example, last year Kid Cudi appeared on Saturday Night Live with a Cobain-inspired look at the 1993 MTV Unplugged concert. Remember the sensational issue of Harry Styles in the dress on the cover of Vogue? So Cobain was ahead of everyone here. In 1993, she posed for The Face magazine in a blue dress.

Kurt lived a short but very colorful life. He may have been 55 years old now, but fate decreed otherwise. The leader of Nirvana died on April 5, 1994. 28 years have passed since that moment, but his image forever remained in the hearts of millions of his fans. And to prove it, we cite five key elements of Cobain’s wardrobe that are still relevant today.

white glasses

In July 1993, perhaps the most famous (and, as it turned out, the last) photo session of the leader of the Nirvana group took place. Through the lens of photographer Jesse Froman, Kurt Cobain appeared in a leopard jacket, a hat with earplugs, and a white T-shirt, complete with Christian Roth glasses in a large white frame. They say that the musician loved them very much and never took them off during the shoot. After the release of a series of photos, many began to associate such a frame with Cobain. By the way, in 2017 the brand even released a reprint of this model.

Waistcoat

Most recently, we told you the history of this iconic item and showed you who wore it in different years. There’s Coco Chanel and Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe and of course Kurt Cobain (who was the vest’s unofficial ambassador in the ’90s). One of the most iconic images the world saw at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1993. Cobain appeared on the red carpet (every fashionista’s dream last year) in patchwork jeans, classic sneakers, and a Breton blue-and-white stripe.

frayed jeans

Another thing on which Kurt Cobain’s style is based is jeans. True, there is a small adjustment here – they must be torn, frayed or frayed. In a word, vintage is the head of everything.

knit cardigan

Green cardigan, identical ripped jeans, shirt and white t-shirt. In this image, Kurt Cobain appeared at the 1993 MTV Unplugged concert. Stylist and costume designer Nancy Steiner helped put it together. He often worked with the group and occasionally brought a whole bunch of things to choose from. Once he had in his hand the same green cardigan, which is now directly associated with the Wolf. Meanwhile, it sold for $334,000 at auction in 2019. The cigarette holes add value and of course the fact that it has never been washed since that concert.

Shirts

It’s hard to imagine anyone who loves plaid shirts as much as Cobain. She even came to her own wedding in pajamas with a similar print. The musician casually combined the shirts with almost everything in the closet.