Grace Jones onstage at the MTV Europe Music Awards, held at the Echo Arena on November 6, 2008 in Liverpool, England.
By John Charles Reedburg
She was far from eye candy but definitely Hott! in her day.
”Models are there to look like mannequins, not like real people. Art and illusion are supposed to be fantasy. – Grace Jones
Jamaican-born GRACE JONES was once a successful fashion model – she even landed a Vogue cover – but she never took modeling too seriously. She stopped getting jobs after she shaved her eyebrows and shaved her head…and really began to make her mark on fashion. With her height, striking features, and outrageous stage costumes and demeanor, Jones was the physical representation of the ’80s power diva.
CAREER PROPS.
Grace Jones had a string of successful disco albums in the late ’70s, which helped her to become one of the most popular fixtures on the New York club scene (she was Andy Warhol’s muse). In the early ’80s, she and her then-boyfriend Jean-Paul Goude transformed her look, adopting the shoulder-padded, flat-topped androgyny that landed her roles in Conan the Destroyer and A View to Kill.
CAREER FLOPS.
Between 1989’s Bulletproof Heart and 2008’s Hurricane, Jones went nearly twenty years without releasing an album. Her record company, Island, was bought out by Universal, which favored repackaging her greatest hits over releasing new material. Jones made up for the lack of exposure by punching up the crazy.
LEGACY.
The popularity of Jones’ daring, gender-bending look was a sign of the times. At the height of Jones’ popularity in the early ’80s, women were joining the workforce in record numbers. Many of them sported heavily tailored, mannish suits with shoulder pads and wide pant legs – androgynous looks that might not have infiltrated popular culture, had it not been for Jones.
Forget Tyra: Grace Jones is still the fiercest lady on the red carpet.
Jones’ look is about drama. If you choose to dress like old school Grace Jones, wear a severely tailored suit with dramatic hair and eye makeup. These days Jones tends to avoid the suits, choosing instead to appear masked, caped, or inappropriately hatted. Basically: dress like a glitter-loving superhero.
Anyhow, for all of you true Grace Jones fans. Check out the throwback music video below.
PULL UP TO MY BUMPER
