Remember when Kurt Cobain wore a dainty floral frock?

 

Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain 

Kurt Cobain spurned toxic masculinity in a dainty floral frock

CNN: Long before Harry Styles caused a stir by wearing a Gucci dress on the cover of Vogue in 2022, another music and style icon pushed back against binary fashion norms.

In 1993, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain graced the cover of The Face magazine wearing a blue floral dress. With smudged black eyeliner and straggly blond hair covering one eye, Cobain stared casually at the reader alongside the headline, “Nirvana: In the court of king Kurt.”

The image blended traditionally masculine and feminine elements: Cobain’s beard and chipped red nail polish, his cigarette and dainty rings. Pairing the term “king” with this androgynous image encapsulated the rebellious energy of grunge, a raw and discordant take on rock ’n’ roll propelled to commercial success by releases like Nirvana’s 1991 album “Nevermind.”

Reimagining rock music masculinity

When the members of Nirvana wore makeup, dresses, skirts or tiaras, they resisted a culture and musical scene that enforced a strict vision of masculinity. One instance was when Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl posed for Mademoiselle Magazine in 1993, wearing bright sweaters and scarves wrapped like skirts. Cobain told the LA Times that year.

“Wearing a dress shows I can be as feminine as I want. I’m a heterosexual…big deal. But if I was a homosexual, it wouldn’t matter either,” 

He was the latest in a line of rock ‘n’ roll icons who created space for others to experiment and express themselves more freely. Think of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury’s iconic getup — mini skirt, heels, wig and mustache — in the music video “I Want to Break Free.” David Bowie also famously blended gendered fashion elements with his flamboyant makeup and androgynous style