In 2008, Gomez dyed the streaks red before letting them fade to bleach blonde. And from that point onward, her style begins to soften. Gomez immortalized this transitional phase of her style evolution with the release of her Kmart clothing line Dream Out Loud—a mash-up of rock-inspired details like unfinished hems and studded belts and boho chic elements like wooden charm necklaces and floral print skirts. “I love scarves, and long necklaces and cute bangles,” Gomez told WWD. “It’s constantly changing, which is cool. It will change with me.”
At the end of 2010—a fateful year for Gomez—she announced her decision to stop wearing her purity ring and start dating pop star Justin Bieber: the person she’d spend the next eight years falling in and out of love with.
Steve Granitz
In 2011, Gomez released her final album with the Scene and ditched her beanies, circle scarves, and Converse for good. She would dabble in lo-fi indie fashion again in 2017 during her “Fetish” and “Bad Liar” era—the creative byproduct of Gomez’s budding friendship with photographer Petra Collins. But meeting longtime stylist Kate Young in 2014 helped Gomez define the mature, glamorous look she’s known for today.
The legacy: Scene and hipster fashion eventually trickled down and become so ubiquitous that it was deemed irretrievably uncool. And some of it, rightfully so. But less than a decade later, indie sleaze is back thanks to the resurgence of pop punk with Gen Z eboys and egirls.
Brands like Kenzo, Gucci, Miu Miu, and Saint Laurent are sending moto jackets, ballet flats, and other indie sleaze staples down the runway. Flip phones, film cameras, and wired earbuds are decidedly in. And tellingly, another recession is on the horizon. As author Rose Dommu recently theorized on the pop culture podcast “Like A Virgin,” the rise of indie sleaze was (and clearly, still is) inextricably tied to the looming threat of economic downturn.
In these trying times, I’m holding out hope that Selena’s forthcoming third solo album is a rock record. One can dream out loud, I suppose!
