Anybody who’s been remotely interested in Lana Del Rey since she broke out on the music scene in 2012, with her dark Americana nostalgia vibe and downtempo beats, can attest to the fact that she created an entire new aesthetic modelled on 50s and 60s beauty queens laced with glamour melancholy and tragic romanticism. The seduction was instant. And a many of us fell hard.
It’s now been well over a decade, and Lana’s mystique continues to magnetize her audience. But is it a ‘core’? You know, one of those multi-hyphenated micro-trends that bubble up on social and has us stanning for clothes, makeup palettes, and accessories?
“I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks that she created a movement; a universe that really speaks to us, says radio and podcast host and producer Simon Barbz. The sad Hollywood core where she talks about stuff we all go through, and that’s what makes her relatable.”
Pinterest saw a 300 percent increase in searches for “Lana Del Rey core” in April 2024, and at this year’s Coachella attendees could even achieve the look with a bow-stacking station and pearl-embellishment service at its experiential pop-up. On a side note, if you hadn’t already noticed, pearls are a big fashion story right now. For everyone. Including sports celebrities and pets. While the infatuation for bows continues (maybe stronger than ever), as we get closer to summer.
According to Montreal model Camila, a big fan of Lana since the very beginning, “I feel like it’s more of a resurgence of the Tumblr days that we had during our high school years. We’re now romanticizing those moments. They’re just coming back from another angle, another eye of a generation.”
So, let’s not get too caught up into the whole ‘core’ thing. But there is definitely a Lana Del Rey revival for spring and summer 2024 fashion and beauty. According to Edited, a retail analysis firm, the Lana Del Rey trend will continue to boost coquettish dressing through the summer months, even well after Coachella’s gates will have closed down.
Is She the Queen of Coquette?
Lana’s personal style often falls under the ‘coquette’ label with its mix of sweet, feminine, and playful elements. It’s normal. Every ‘core’ needs a queen.
The coquette look is characterized by an ultra-feminine aesthetic that incorporates full-blown romantic dresses with flower prints and ruffled skirts replete with ribbons, corsets inspired by Victorian silhouettes and rococo palettes; you know, the pretty kind with powdery pinks and dusty blues. Coquettes swoon for anything remotely vintage, fabrics and embellishments plucked from other eras like delicate prints, sheer fabrics and classical elements.
The look is always slightly playful. But coquettes are not that innocent when they slip into these outfits. They’re going for subdued eroticism under the guise of proper, good-mannered, girl. Tongue-in-cheek politeness but smouldering underneath.
Yes, the wardrobe Lana Del Rey has chosen to dress up her persona certainly includes all these types of references. But she also perfectly incarnates the old money style. “I feel that we hadn’t seen that in a while and it had to come back, says Camila. That’s why it’s mesmerizing right now. But those looks are also from the times when rock & roll started. It’s very interesting how all this overlaps.”
What we also find interesting is the fact that Lana Del Rey has remained true to herself, in an era where everyone — it seems — falls for the lure of what’s trending on social. Like Camila says, “I don’t know if she’s the queen of coquettes, but there are definitely some elements that she’s endorsed, like the lace gowns.”
According to Simon, “Lana’s style is truly authentic. She’s always going against the current of what’s trending, and that’s her strength. She’s a fashion icon and a fashion setter. Her interpretation of 60s fashion and beauty is truly something. It’s beautiful and wonderful to play up the style of Elvis and Priscilla and making it your own.”
The songstress is known for her love of vintage clothing: A-line dresses, corset tops and midi skirts. Committed to the feminine aesthetic, she gave it a gothic twist at the 2024 Grammys in a black dress, matching black hair bow, and a girly manicure. Her Old Hollywood style extends beyond fashion to beauty, with a distinctive signature look that includes winged eyeliner, dramatic lashes, and a bouffant hairstyle.
Lana’s Style Analyzed
Lana Del Rey has always played on American archetypes and iconography in clothes, lyrics and music videos. It goes back to the idea of a romanticized, idealized version of America, like a 60s movie or magazine hygienically stripped of polarizing social pressures, racism, and rampant sexism.
Americana? It’s a loosely defined aesthetic which consists of music, artifacts, scenery, folklore, and culture which are seen as distinctly “American.” These include white dresses, and, of course, soft, feminine florals. Lana Del Rey is the queen of wedding dresses, as she’s donned the aesthetic for her “Ultraviolence” music video, as well as many concert appearances.
But if there is one thing that’s enduring about Lana’s style, it’s her makeup and hairstyle, which have pretty much stayed the course since the beginning. In Lana’s world, we see puffed-up hair or big, soft waves, occasionally setting for wet looks or braids. Without forgetting those iconic flower crowns that fuelled the first wave of Coachella hairstyles.
Her makeup is the definition of retro beauty, characterized by winged eyeliner and a nude, glossy lip, drawing inspiration from the likes of Priscilla Presley and Nancy Sinatra, fashion icons in their own right in yesteryears. She often goes for a sultry look with contoured cheeks and a neutral colour palette on her eyes — but also sometimes California 60s blue eyeshadow — paired with very well-defined, plumped up lips.
“You have to be really strong to stay the course, and the fact that we’re seeing a Lana revival for Spring-Summer 2024 is a testament to how much her influence is important,” emphasizes Simon.
Dark Melancholia
What is it about Lana’s music and style that makes leaning into sadness a type of aesthetic, something in which we seem to take perverse pleasure?
Symbolist art, at the end of 19th century in France and Belgium, was overflowing with themes of love, fear, anguish, death, sexual awakening, and unrequited desire. Definitely in the palate of Lana’s lyrics. But somehow, listening to her dark songs that have become anthems for a generation feels like swimming in a pool of melancholic reflections, probably somewhere in L.A. — most likely at the Château Marmont — while sipping Black Cristal. In other words, the sun may be beating down but the water feels like death enveloping Ophelia when you slip into the turquoise liquid as you’re wearing a 1950s retro swimsuit. But you’re ultraglam.
