In a recent interview with Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli for the New York Times podcast Popcast, Olivia Rodrigo declared that she’s not a “fashion girl” when asked why she didn’t attend this year’s Bezo-funded Met Gala. “Gosh, how do I choose my words wisely? This is my third album. I don’t feel like I need to do things that don’t bring me joy, inspire me, fuel me, feel aligned with my values. It’s not as fun or exciting anymore.” While we stand with Rodrigo for her moral clarity, we disagree with her claim that she is “not really a fashion girl”. From her kinderwhore inspired baby-doll dresses, Avril Lavigne-inspired skater girl aesthetic to Marie Antoinette – Rodrigo is more clued up on fashion than she gives herself credit for. 

Below, we explore four cult figures (and one film) that have inspired her aesthetic over the last few years. 

COURTNEY LOVE 

While performing in Barcelona, Rodrigo wore a Génération78 baby-doll dress, and the rest was history. Almost immediately, the dress was folded into a wider moral panic: was a silhouette once associated with feminine rebellion now somehow synonymous with submitting to patriarchy? The answer, surely, is no. The baby-doll dress is not inherently childlike; rather, it sits at the uneasy intersection of innocence, femininity and anger, a tension feminists have long used to subvert patriarchal expectations. The dress came into its own in the 90s, when Courtney Love famously wore it with fishnet tights and combat boots. The ‘kinderwhore’ aesthetic that followed engaged with childhood in an obviously satirical way: a parody of the infantilisation of women, not an endorsement of it. Sounds a lot like Rodrigo’s visual identity, no? Instead of criticising Rodrigo for wearing a baby-doll dress, why not criticise the systems that sexualise them? (RD)      

MARIE ANTOINETTE 

In her music video for “drop dead”, Rodrigo pranced around the Louvre in a frilly pink-and-blue baby-doll top from Chemena Kamali’s Chloé pre-fall collection, vintage silk bloomer shorts and knee-high white socks. The inspiration was clear: Sofia Coppola’s decadent, soft-pink classic Marie Antoinette (2006). As WWD noted in an article about the film, its costumes, designed by Italian costumier Milena Canonero, aimed not only to recreate the exuberance of the French aristocracy, but to tell a story about girlhood. As Rodrigo sings about “feminine intuition” and stalking boys in bed, she too is telling a story about girlhood – her girlhood, specifically. Her current aesthetic makes clear just how much she revels in it. (HJ)

GWEN STEFANI (NO DOUBT ERA)

After her GUTS tour, Rodrigo proved herself fluent in Y2k references. She consistently referenced Gwen Stefani’s No Doubt era, where she mixed skate culture with tomboy glamour and ska-punk. The full-circle moment happened when Rodrigo joined No Doubt on the 2024 Coachella stage and performed “bathwater”. She channelled Stefani, putting her hair in space buns and sporting an I <3 ND shirt on stage, with a red bra strap on display. (RD)

AVRIL LAVIGNE 

Speaking of guest performances, Olivia performed “Complicated” with Avril Lavigne in 2022 during her SOUR tour in Toronto. The pop-punk princess of the early 2000s, Avril Lavigne, is an inspiration to us all: an effortlessly cool skater-tomboy in low-rise jeans, a white tank top, and a tie. You can see Lavigne’s influence on Rodrigo’s more girly style, through her knee-high Doc Martens, Converse and tartan skirts. (RD)

JANE BIRKIN 

Before rocking out in the Louvre in her baby-doll dress, Rodrigo started the “drop dead” music video in Jane Birkin’s vintage mini dress from her infamous 1975 film, Catherine et Cie. Rodrigo is known for being inspired by the French actress and style icon. She was recently spotted out in Repetto ballet flats, a brand much beloved by Birkin. (HJ)