Glad Rags: Greta Isaac

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 Welsh pop-singer Greta Isaac.

How important is clothing to you for a stage presence? 

For me, my styling is a crucial part of how much energy I can give to a performance. Shows feel like a chance to get properly close and personal with my audience, and it remains to be the most instantly electrifying and rewarding part of the music industry. Getting to connect with an audience is amazing. I love to feel like I'm fully immersed in a show, and that my songs are stories to be told in a carefully constructed way, so getting to wear pieces and present myself in an interesting way helps me tell that story more accurately. 

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Do you have a different style on stage compared to off stage?

I think I’m much braver now in my day to day style and I will always try and source pieces sustainably wherever possible. I give so much credit to my stylist and creative director Suzie Walsh for being my educator in fashion and sourcing, and for being there by my side as I grow more confident in my ability to choose a way of styling that feels authentic and practical to me, but still pushing the boundaries of who I think I am or how I should present myself. 

Do you think image is important for musicians wanting to be successful?

I think it's important for some people and it isn’t for others, and I don’t think either is right or wrong. For me, it's been a huge part in helping me better my storytelling, and I’m inspired by all different kinds of art forms, so it felt natural for me to make the image of the project equally as conceptual and engaging as the songs themselves. 

Who are some of your style inspirations as an artist? 

In terms of other artists, I’m always drawn to artists who maintain distance from their day to day selves. It allows me to admire the detail and care gone into their creativity, and also I think it makes me fill the dark matter of who I think they are or what they’re like with my ideal versions. I’ve always loved the styling of Caroline Polachek, FKA Twigs, Ashnikko, Twst, Grimes. They’re all women who seem to be crucially inspired by innovative, editorial fashion with cross references into fantasy and surrealism. In a bid to be more sustainable with my fashion decisions, I’ve worked with a lot with independent designers who create pieces using recycled materials, who use innovative methods and processes and are making some crazy fresh and beautiful work and are always making moves towards sustainable ways of consuming fashion. There can also be a lot of beauty and character in ordinary things, like parts of nature or household items. I try and use my eye to see potential in the mundane wherever I can. 

What is your favourite piece of clothing to wear on stage and why? 

My favourite thing I’ve ever worn is a custom corset by Suzie, using an old boned corset that she cut to my size and covered with safety pins and nuts and bolts. We styled it with Therapy Berlin recycled and repurposed jeans. Because I’d been dancing around so much on stage, strands of my skirt had fallen on the stage. When I came out to say hi to everyone, a few people at the front had taken the strands and attached them to their own jeans, created bracelets and hung one from their earrings. I got a real insight into the kind of community we were building, where we were encouraged to forage for things we can reuse and reclaim as our own addition to our style. It felt so poetic to me. 

What is your favourite piece of clothing to wear offstage and why?

My favourite piece I’ve ever bought is by Alice over at sssilk666. Among a few other beautiful sustainable pieces, she also makes these beautifully constructed handmade breastplates using deadstock materials and safety pins. To wear it feels both really flattering and like armour, which is really important for me in feeling confident and secure in what I’m wearing. 

Do you think people look down on musicians who like fashion too and if so, why?

If artists and musicians feel looked down on in terms of their interest in fashion, I think it's largely to do with the “purity” of making music being tarnished and that it should always be solely about how “good” the artist, the song or the message is. We of course know that “good” is subjective and so a visual aid to music can often broaden your listeners and create a more diverse audience. I think the most memorable musicians and artists of pop culture are those that have taken direct influence from art and fashion. I think the way Bowie, Prince, Lady Gaga, Madonna, The Beatles, Queen, Bjork have all succeeded in creating a legacy for themselves is the combination of storytelling through music AND the way they express themselves creatively and visually. 

How has your style evolved alongside your journey as an artist? 

I’d say since working Suzie Walsh, my style has gradually become more ambitious and brave. I often refer to making music and myself in those situations as “my project”. I think it's always been subconsciously how I see myself making music - there needs to be some detachment from my “artist” self and my day to day self. It really helps me create distance from taking things too personally, doing what’s expected of me, how I think I should act or dress or what I should say based on my own personal biases. I’m very trusting of Suzie to style me and have found it increasingly easy to try absolutely anything, no matter how bizarre or far from myself I think it is. Once I step into an outfit, I take on a character, I move around in it and imagine how this person who’d wear this mad thing would move and act. It’s helped me tons to be more confident in front of a camera and on stage. 

What advice would you give someone struggling to find their image as an artist? 

Be brave, try a bunch of stuff out, create a world you believe in and feels close and real to you so that you can keep building and building.