Charli XCX is my spirit animal. I discovered her last year after I decided that I had to hear more than "Boom Clap," and I fell in love. Charli's no-fucks-given attitude appealed to me. It shines through in her music and in her presence in general.
Charli's style is similar to her music. It's very girly, but also a bit grungy. Some of her lyrics are sweet and sensitive, but others are brutally honest. Musically, she's like a mix of pop and alternative. It's the type of music that makes you want to jump around your room and sing into your hairbrush, but in an angsty, big-girl way.
So, when I was feeling angsty today, I got some of Charli's songs stuck in my head. I figured that there was no better way to channel my angst than to steal Charli's look!
I started with this cute schoolgirl-y skirt that I bought a little while ago. I love it because it fits my body type perfectly, highlighting my waist, hips, and butt! Then, I added one of my favorite black crop tops with some cutouts on the sides. It's a little ~risque~, but not too revealing. I added some black heels to make the look equal parts girly and goth and a choker because this is Charli, after all. I threw my hair in a small pony on the top of my head and left the rest down. I've only seen Charli wear her hair like this once or twice; usually she just parts her hair to the side and keeps it a little messy, but I thought this hair just went with the rest of the look.
I originally had my varsity jacket picked out to go with this, but I actually liked it a lot better without it. If I were to wear this outfit out and I needed a jacket, I would definitely go with the varsity one, but I liked how you could see a bit more ~skin~ without it.
Doing the makeup for this was so much fun I started with minimal concealer and foundation since Charli's face is usually very light. I added a bit of copper eyeshadow that was a little lighter than what Charli usually wears. Then, I piled on the eyeliner, something I never do. I clumped it up on the outer corners of my eye, which is how Charli does it. I sprinkled a bit of eyeshadow under my eyes, then used a Q-tip to smear the heavy eyeliner downwards into the eyeshadow. Then, I went back over the liner, making it super dark. It blended with the smudges perfectly. I only added mascara to the tips of my eyelashes, but generously applied it to my bottom lashes. I ended up getting some mascara under my eyes, but it went withthe look perfectly. To top it off, I used Charli's signature lipstick. I picked red!
I really love this look for two reasons: I look cute and I feel confident. As soon as I put this on, I knew that it would be a new look that I would try to wear more often. These were two of my favorite pieces, but I never thought to put them together until now. Even though these shoes are uncomfortable, I could add black boots or sneakers. I also felt like I could totally take over the world, which Charli sings about in her music. For the first time in a while, I felt hot. I stared at myself in the mirror and sang along with the lyrics to "Sucker," really feeling the part. I just felt like a complete badass. I was sad taking this outfit off.
I'm so happy that this recreation actually worked out, especially after what happened when I tried to recreate Him. I got another really cool outfit out of it, and it gave me a much-needed confidence boost!