Before fashion bloggers and influencers bombarded our Instagram feed, we had posters of girl bands from the music scene stuck on our room walls as our style icons. They not only gave us fantastic tunes, but helped us embrace girl power and gave us a lesson or two in fashion. These women were once our biggest sources of fashion inspiration, inspiring us to flaunt our midriffs and fall in love with leopard print.
Spice Girls
Dripping with 90s nostalgia, this iconic British girl group, consisting of Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell and Victoria Beckham, won people’s hearts not just because of their music, but also with their unwavering girl power mantra and sense of expression through fashion. Their style was an extension of their individual styles, but due to their nicknames, it gradually changed into near-caricatures of themselves. A young girl could easily pick a new look in the flick of a ponytail, taking inspiration from VB’s swirling minidress and snaking heels, Mel C’s co-ords to Mel B’s cone hairdo and buffalo platforms, courtesy of Bunton and Halliwell.
Destiny’s Child
This girl group perfectly encapsulated the style of the Y2K era. Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams always brought major style to every performance. With colourful bustier tops, handkerchief skirt, trippy prints, bejewelled low rise jeans, chain belts and pointy heels, they looked coordinated without exactly matching.
The Pussycat Dolls
Made up of Nicole Scherzinger, Melody Thornton, Kimberly Wyatt, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta and Carmit Bachar, the Pussycat Dolls came up with Mean Girls-esque kilted skirts and boho waistcoats. With brightly coloured, asymmetric hairdo with low-rise, boot cut jeans, pumps and a studded basque, this diverse girl group set trends for young teens to follow in the early 2000s. Beauty wise, thin eyebrows and kohl eyes marked their signature style.
Viva
Long before fashion bloggers and influencers came into the scene, young Indian girls took style inspo from the Indian version of Spice Girls, Viva. A group of five musicians, including Seema Ramchandani, Pratichee Mohapatra, Neha Bhasin, Mahua Kamat and Anushka Manchanda, heralded the arrival of new-age women, who dressed however they chose, spoke their thoughts, openly questioned society, and inspired an entire new generation of girls. Fans, particularly young females, not only listened to their music, but also imitated their early 2000s fashion statements.
Fifth Harmony
Often shortened to 5H, this American girl group based in Miami, comprised X-factor contestants — Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui and Camila Cabello (until her departure from the group in December 2016). Breaking free from the standard uniform style, these girls embraced their individuality in terms of their sartorial choices. They typically chose a similar colour scheme or cut for their dresses with always enough variation in the tiny details for their distinct flair. From cutesy Topshop separates to hitting more fashion high notes, the quartet served lewks and made it Worth It.