You can't go wrong with a vintage rock tee as part of your summer uniform, especially if you style it properly in terms of what else you wear it with or how you customize it. Lady Gaga has been wearing vintage rock t-shirts over the past several days, sharing images of her glamsual take on an edgy basic on Instagram.
Yes, Mother Monster is so rocking this trend in the absolute right way. Of course I am partial to this look and her take on it, since I do the same thing with rock tees. It's refreshing to see her put aside her outrageous ensembles in favor of something more real world, yet still insanely unique.
Personally, as a music publicist and writer, I get tons of free rock tees from bands, many of them either too big or not feminine in fit.
So I grab my trusty fabric scissors and hack men's t-shirts up, customizing them without so much as a sewing machine, cutting off the collars or sleeve hems or slicing right down the middle to create instant cleavage-baring breathing room.
It's easy to make transform shapeless blob tees into something really girly. Whether it's brand new or a vintage score from thrift or resale shop, chopping the shirt up does the trick.
Lady Gaga has seriously nailed it with her recent choices. Remember when she wore white tees with rolled up sleeves in the Jo Calderone alter ego phase?
She's going so beyond that, by picking artists she digs and making the styling modern and rocka rolla!
Here's how to do the Gaga x rock tee lock without too much thought, effort, or cash.
1. Proper Paring
Gaga wore a slightly oversized, rumpled Elvis Presley tee with ripped, faded jeans. It's a "rolled outta bed" pairing without being boring, normcore, or hipster. It lets The King be the focus of the outfit. I am also loving her blonde version of Joan Jett's banged shag. Pair a tee with jeans, leggings, a long skirt, a denim mini—whatever works with how you feel that day! Don't overthink it, though.
2. Chop Chop
Gaga has expressed her love for metal icons Iron Maiden in the past, hanging out with the British band. Here, she expresses that same love via fashion. The sides of the shirt have been cut open, showing some sideboob, but it's almost like a bib. You can make similar cuts carefully, by folding or slicing down. You can even hold the sides together with safety pins and if you make a mistake, it actually looks even cooler. It's not supposed to be perfect!
I honestly recommend buying a few cheap shirts to practice making cuts on, to find which style works and is easiest for you to do.
3. Retro Fit
The best thing about rock or graphic tees is that they can be baggy or loose, like this version, and you can sexify them by making them sleeveless and frayed. You don't have to worry about the fit, since you can alter or amend it with safety pins and scissors. Perfect is not the goal here!
That's the general playbook for rockin' rock tees. New is fine. Vintage is fine. Rumbled and imperfect is even better. Cutting them up without too much forethought is fine. And easy.
For some more inspo, Pete Wentz's lady love, model Meagan Camper, also does her thing with rock tees. Follow her on IG for style ideas.
Simply rolling sleeves on a rumpled tee is cool.
Sliced sleeves here!
Now that's what I call a collection. You can see she slices the sleeves off straight down. That's so easy. You just have to play around. And yes, she is a girl after my own heart.
Images: Lady Gaga/Instagram (4); Meagan Camper/Instagram (3)
