With sources of inspiration that run the gamut from Greta Garbo, to Valley of the Dolls s Patty Duke, and Boy George, it only makes sense that Beth Ditto is a skilled beauty chameleon. Since she first became Gossip s frontwoman at the tender age of 18, the iconic singer hasn t stopped reinventing herself with bold hair colors, bangs, and makeup. There is, however, one constant: her ever-evolving, high-impact gaze. After all, as Ditto once told Vogue, her obsession with a felt-tip eyeliner began as far back as the fourth grade.
In recent years, Ditto s aesthetic has harkened back to the rollicking days of rockabilly. In the saloon-themed video for her new single "Fire," she paired her satin Elvis-inspired fashion look with lavish sweeps of indigo pigment on the lids. Just last week, at Gucci s Resort 2018 show, she dialed up her lilac suit with a matching cut-crease eye executed with Priscilla-Presley-levels of drama and precision. Though as Ditto s career-long proclivity for Bettie Page micro-bangs and cartoonish eye etchings indicate, the 50s and 60s have always been anchoring decades.
But whether the retro renegade is on the red carpet—she once out-Cleopatra d the Egyptian queen with extreme slashes of jet-black liner in Cannes —or walking the runway with invisible arches for the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs, Ditto proves that there s only one real prerequisite for pulling off a directional eye: Sheer, unwavering confidence.
Beth Ditto Does Brighton Beach