Girl Crush: Gwen Stefani

One of the first CDs I ever remember buying was No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom.  I remember being mesmerized by the unique style of Gwen Stefani before I even had a sense of style.  Almost instantly, I was crushing on Gwen.

Since Tragic Kingdom, my girl crush on Gwen has only grown.  She’s rocked steady alongside No Doubt since 1986, despite her relationship with band mate Tony Kanal ending, proving that you can remain friends with your exes.  No Doubt continued to pump out hits, until they hit a rough patch with their fourth album, Return of Saturn.  Between this and recording Rock Steady, Gwen appeared on tracks for Moby and Eve – the beginning of her career separate from No Doubt.

With the help of band mate and former flame, Gwen decided to release a solo, dance record.  The result was bananas (b-a-n-a-n-a-s) – Love. Angel. Music. Baby. was a hit, selling over 300,000 copies in it’s first week out.  With the launch of her music career, came the arrival of Gwen’s Harajuku Girls.  While their inability to talk in public is a little odd, these ladies are very talented dancers.

Gwen has won awards for both her work with No Doubt, and her solo career.  She’s won three Grammys; two with No Doubt for Underneath it All and Hey Baby; one for her first collaboration with Eve – Let Me Blow Ya Mind. She’s also won numerous MTV Video Music Awards and Teen Choice Awards – proving this women has talent.

And not just with music.

Drawing from her unique style as inspiration, Gwen has produced two clothing lines.  The first, L.A.M.B., is a high fashion line that can be seen on the runways during New York fashion week.  Her lower-end line, Harajuku Lovers, is  more casual, and often features cartoon pictures of Gwen and her Harajuku girls. I love them both almost as much as the woman herself. Hell, if I can’t actually be Gwen Stefani, at least I can dress like her.