10 Times Courtney Love Was A Fashion Icon

By Anne-Marie Jones & Robecca Leyden.

In honour of Courtney Love’s 60th birthday (9th July) we present some of our fave outfits and lewwwwks. The out-spoken musician, actress and fashion icon has always been a trend setter, and has a perfect balance of grunge and glam. Whether you hate her or love her, you cannot deny the cultural impact of Miss Love.

What are the basic pieces you need to re-create Courtney’s style?

berry/dark lipstick, slightly and carefully smudged
slips/lingerie as outerwear, especially lacy and silky or velvet, go bra less for extra Courtney-points
babydoll dresses, collars are optional
ripped stockings
vintage gowns
Mary-Jane shoes
plenty of confidence, sass, honesty and zero-fucks-given for anyone elses judgement

1 – 1995 Oscars After-Party, in a vintage thrift-store gown

Courtney Love and British ‘It-Girl’ Amanda de Cadenet, at the 1995 Oscars after-party. After no designers wanted to lent Courtney a gown to wear to the event, she found this vintage gown in a thrift-store for $40 USD, and the rest is fashion history!

2 – Frances Farmers Dress at her wedding

When Courtney Love married Kurt Cobain in Hawaii, she chose to wear a vintage dress belonging to Frances Farmer, a favorite dress she had worn many times before.

She was also a few months pregnant with her daughter, Frances Bean Cobain at the time of the wedding.

3 – 90’s chic velvet dress

This fitted, crushed velvet gown from 1997 is on the glam side but with Courtney’s unique quirk to it too.

4 – 1997 Oscars

Dressed by Versace, this stunning gown was a simple, elegant choice for the 1997 Oscar ceremony, matched with makeup by Kevyn Aucoin and Manolo Blahnik ash coloured pumps. This was the pinnacle of Courtney’s Hollywood makeover as she was nominated for The People Vs Larry Flynt.

5 – Courtney and her daughter, Frances Bean, in 2012

Pictured together at a red carpet event in 2012, this is such a stunning dress! The designer isn’t clear but very likely to be Versace.

6 – That babydoll dress.

Famous for her ‘babydoll’ dresses, this is arguably one of the most iconic of them.

When the ‘riot grrl’ music scene started to take off, some female musicians were mixing innocence with a raw sexuality, and while many of Courtney’s contemporaries were dressing in a similar style, Courtney was the one to really set the trend. These dresses were often paired with tiaras, Docs, laddered tights and smeared makeup. Thus, the kinder-whore aesthetic was created.

7 – Golden Globes 2000

You’re sure to recognise this dress by John Galliano for Dior, worn by Courtney Love at the 2000 Golden Globes! This was reportedly Love’s favorite dress she has worn.

8 – Leopard print coat and a little black dress

This look definitely ticks a lot of the boxes of a typical Courtney Love outfit!

9. Saint Laurent Campaign 2013

This was SUCH an iconic campaign, with other rock icons such as Kim Gordon, Marilyn Manson (I know, ew – but this was pre-public outing as a sexual predator) and Ariel Pink. Hedi Slimane was the creative director for Yves Saint Laurent. Love’s inclusion in the campaign seemed inevitable, as critics across the board recognized her as the main inspiration for Slimane’s grunge-themed fall 2013 collection, which inspired her to tweet after the show, “having gasms at the idea of rich ladies buying what we used to wear, finally someone got the actually look exact, no beanies.” (She later clarified on Facebook: “No offense to [Marc Jacobs] but he never got [grunge] right. This is what it really was. Hedi knows his shit. He got it accurate and MJ and Anna [Sui] did not.”) Marc Jacobs famously sent both Courtney and Kurt his entire grunge collection when it debuted in 1992.

10. Butterfly Fairy Wings.