Messy "Indie Sleaze" Waves Are Making a Comeback

Channel your inner Olsen

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BYRDIE: Picture this: You’re me, circa 2010—fresh out of college, working a retail job and going out dancing at dive bars and rock clubs on the regular. Your fashion icons are Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and you find beauty inspiration via the It Girls of the moment, like Kesha and her wild waves and glittery makeup and Gossip Girl star Taylor Momsen and her layers of dark eyeliner and smoky shadow. (MAC Pro Longwear Fluidline in Blacktrack, $19 was the absolute go-to.) You shimmy into skintight American Apparel bodycon dresses and ripped tights with boots. It’s a great time to be in your early twenties. Did I think the “indie sleaze” era, as it’s now being called, would make a comeback quite so soon? No, but that doesn’t mean I don’t look back at the era with extreme fondness. I’m not the only one, either, because it’s back in our wardrobes, our makeup routines and now, our hairstyles. Turn up the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and ditch your Dyson Airwrap in favor of a more freewheeling, party girl look, because indie sleaze waves are making a comeback.