Prince: The Rules Of The Man With No Rules

No necessity to say what happened: you don’t need to be Prince Rogers Nelson’s biggest fan to be aware that we all lost a legend. On Thursday all the newsfeeds exploded with condolences, shock and grief. So we think there’s enough of it: instead of drowning in tears let’s show respect and gratitude to this iconic singer, who changed not only the world of music, but also the world of fashion.

These days some “almost famous” bend over backwards to differ and make a statement; sometimes it really seems like originality is artificially exaggerated. However, back in the 70’s what Prince did what a game-changer. He craved for more and didn’t consider simple elegance, his over-the-top looks blurred the boundaries between masculine and feminine long before Alessandro Michele, his sexuality was too far from what was considered to be man-appropriate.

He once said, defining his own style, “I wear what I want because I don’t really like clothes”. However, we are not blind: we see his costumes and we see the way they make him feel; a hundred to one the singer was a bit cunning to deny passion for fashion. He, though, made up for it being truthful to the maximum with the rest: he really wore what he wanted. No pre-defined rules, no limits, no following others’ expectations. No genre, no gender, no race.

Nevertheless, we analyzed his photographs taken in different ages, places and circumstances, and we can say that the man with no rules still had preferences. Further on you can find some of the things that defined his incredible uniqueness that few attempt to follow.

Eyeliner
Prince fought traditional masculinity in too many ways; one of the main ones was constantly having his eyes well-defined in Egyptian style with the black liner.

Heels
Despite the style so close to feminine, Prince always denied the rumors about his homosexuality. He once said to Rolling Stone: “People say I wear heels because I’m short. I wear heels because women like ‘em”.

Suits
Of all the daring colors and most often their wildest combinations, materials such as lace, silk and brocade, with swirls, with glitter, with sequins, suits were the basis of his style. If you think a suit is something black or dark blue worn with a white shirt, prepare to be surprised.

Nudity
The flamboyant singer did not care in doing what he wanted, and apparently he wanted to show the world his body: a great number of his looks are much revealing.

Purple
Just some of his costumes are more than enough to show how much he liked color. The variety of the palette he used is simply shocking; still, just one color is widely recognized as his signature. Take a look at how well Prince handled purple.

Frills
One of the pillars of the icon’s androgyne style is a ruffled shirt. Being so 18^th century, it surprisingly doesn’t look outdated on him, rather helps define his own very special sexuality and sensuality.

Lace
Another element borrowed from traditional femininity, this material allows for being simultaneously romantic and revealing. That is exactly what Prince was, so no wonder he picked it so often.