Melancholia, romance, glamour. To many indie-pop lovers around the globe, these terms find a body in Lana Del Rey’s lyrics and a soul in her music. On the occasion of the singer-songwriter’s 39th birthday, let’s do a deep dive into the ‘dark feminine’ aesthetic that she’s renowned as the embodiment of.
The dark feminine aesthetic refers to women getting in touch with their socially repressed sides; The sides to them that are as fierce as they are intuitive, and as wild as they are unapologetic. This aspect to women finds its origin in the systemised suppression that they’ve faced and in complete contrast to the ‘feminine’ qualities that have been imposed on them.
Lana Del Rey’s dark feminine aesthetic is just the crowning glory to her brooding music. Here are five of her iconic looks that have prompted this acclaim from us:
Subtle, sexy
Her eye make-up, heavy on eyeliner-mascara as well as her bold, red lip look has nailed down the sombre and sultry. Her form fitting satin dress speaks to volumes of feminine complexities and the glossy waves of hair give her the fulfilling image that her look needs.
Say yes to edge
Rey’s dark eyeshadow paired with a classic cat-eye only shows how the edgy outside matches the inside. The blush and red lipstick goes to embrace conventional femininity, yet allowing interplay with experimental and masculine fashion. The most important part of the look is the confidence you have in knowing you can pull it all off.
Ravishing in red
Red, perhaps one of the most feminine colours, alludes to passion, anger, sexuality and fearlessness- all flawlessly emulated by a single red dress Lana Del Rey wore. A figure-hugging red dress hand in hand with diamonds, a girl’s best friend, is the perfect picture of the dark feminine aesthetic, along with crimson lipstick to match.
Nail the look
We’ve established the importance that shades of red hold in embodying this aesthetic, and this look uses red for more than just lipstick. We see Rey using the Red Nail Theory, where painting your nails red often makes you appear more confident and alluring. Especially when paired with dark, cool-toned makeup and black clothing, the aura of mystery and magnetism is further intensified.
Bows are the new beauties
This look by Lana Del Rey is a softer approach to the dark feminine aesthetic. The make-up style is more delicate and avoids strong colours. It doesn’t, however, lack sharpness on any front, owing to the cat-eye flaunted in union with muted eye-shadow tones. The fringe gives the face a gentler. The black bow, matching with the black floral patterned dress adorns the singer with a sense of fashionable consistency as well as mystifying qualities.