Glad Rags: Eva Lazarus on Bold Style and Bjork
Get your glad rags on gang! Glad Rags is a column where we chat to some of our favourite musician's about their best garms. This week we’re joined by multi genre singer songwriter Eva Lazarus!
How important is clothing to you for a stage presence?
It never used to be, i never gave it much thought at the start but the second I started playing with more bold looks for festivals, I realised how much really feeling the outfit adds to how I perform. If I feel like the outfit goes crazy you’re definitely going to get the best of me.
Do you have a different style on stage compared to off stage?
Yes! I am way more casual off stage. Less PVC and faux fur, more denim and T-shirts. I like being comfortable: jumpsuits, leisurewear, dungarees, practical things with pockets. I still choose colour and things that make me feel good but it’s dialled way down from how I am on stage.
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Do you think image is important for musicians wanting to be successful?
I used to think it wasn’t important at all, that good music is always what speaks to me but the more I looked at it the more I saw how fashion connects to a musician's audience. As a fan when an artist looks good I find it engaging, exciting even, it’s part of the art. The big earners like Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Cardi B and someone as abstract as Bjork consistently show up and have something exciting or weird about their aesthetic. I love what Bjork did in collaboration with ‘Hungry’ that was special! I don’t think the look is the reason they’re successful but I think it’s part of it. When I haven’t heard of an artist or a band and they walk on stage looking good I am always interested to know more. Good clothes don’t make the music sound good though, so there’s that.
Who are some of your style inspirations as an artist?
Missy Elliot
Erykah Badu
Rihanna
Baddie Winkle
Iris Apfel
I love Drag, I love Mugler, I love Schiaparelli, Moschino, Versace, Independent fashion brands like L.O.M or Nixi Killix, Maximalist dressing baddies and fashion houses.
What is your favourite piece of clothing to wear on stage and why?
It always changes because different items make me feel different ways but right now it’s festival season and I’m living in giant fluffy hats and headdresses! I have a few different ones but I’m constantly thinking about what hat I want next from ‘Hat n Spicy’ - their hats make me feel like I’m full of lightning. Power dressing at its finest.
What is your favourite piece of clothing to wear offstage and why?
Kimono! Swan around the house in it like a dressing gown but cuter. Plus it’s such an easy comfortable piece to throw over jeans and a plain tshirt and it adds this floaty prettiness to my fit without feeling like I’m doing too much while I go do some food shopping.
How has your style evolved alongside your journey as an artist?
I make bolder style choices than I did at the start and for the most part I feel like I really know how to put an outfit together now. The result is me wearing lots of colour and print, mixing textures and accessories in a way that I am genuinely enjoying rather than wondering if something will work. Oh and heels! I wear those unapologetically now, I spent a long time worrying I’d make the men around me look and feel small if I was in heels. It only took a few comments in my teens from guys to make me feel like my height was emasculating and therefore not feminine. Yuck. Anyone who thinks tall girls shouldn’t wear heels can fight with the wall, I’m too busy being tall & gorgeous to engage in that kind of negativity.
What advice would you give someone struggling to find their image as an artist?
Just start trying things, try stuff on in the shop changing room and take pictures, you don’t even have to buy them, just see how certain items make you feel.
I make mood boards and save looks that I love online. Work out who your style icons are and figure out what from their wardrobes you’d feel good in. It doesn’t have to be expensive, crazy off the runway shit. It could be a small thing like paying more attention to layering or what colours work together & adding statement accessories to the things you already own.
Do you think there is too much emphasis placed on artists’ personal style in the age of social media?
Yes and no.
Yes, when you really clock how hard people watch artists and trends on social media it’s a lot. Access to everyone and the ability to put their image under a microscope is pretty crazy.
However people who are in the public eye have always been celebrated/scrutinised/studied for their style. Being looked over in an intense way via social media is just the newest way to engage, before it was blogs, papers and magazines, I don’t think it’s about the age we’re in. People have always liked to place emphasis on their faves style, Nefertitis eyeliner, Marilyn’s figure hugging dresses, Beyoncé’s Lemonade Braids. I don’t know if it’s too much, I just know we connect with it differently now because of the tech available to us.
Photography: Loredana Hrinciuc
