Culture
13 May 03

Maria Tecce

"The clothes of the 1940s and ’50s really flattered a woman’s shape... everything had great lines and looked so very sensual and voluptuous"

How would you describe your style? I have a very classic style, kind of retro, film noir – very Audrey Hepburn-y. As a woman I love clean lines and I think the clothes of the 1940s and ’50s really flattered a woman’s shape. I love those great pointy bras – everything had great lines and looked so very sensual and voluptuous. Like today I’m wearing a 1940s sleeveless camel polka dot top with matching brown neck scarf, a black pencil skirt, and black fishnet stockings. I always dress for comfort, but it’s comfortable-chic.

As a musician, do you feel it’s important to project a certain image? I don’t really bother with that – I wear what I want. If I’m on stage, though, I want to suit the atmosphere – which is a pretty cool classy jazzy thing at the moment – so that’s where my style influence is coming from. I wouldn’t be a Britney Spears kind of girl – all this pink and blue I’m seeing in the shops is beginning to drive me up the wall.

What influences your style? Absolutely everything. Even unconsciously, everything gets in there and that makes us who we are. Our ‘style’ is a huge, massive, wonderful plethora – a composite of everything we’ve ever seen, heard, people we’ve met, and fashions we see. We find things that really jive with us, and the other things, we let them go.

Where do you shop? I’m a bargain hound and I love second hand shops. Dublin’s got pretty good ones but Boston, where I’m from, has incredible ones. I come back with suitcases full of all kinds of wonderful retro 1930s and ’40s tops and skirts. I also love Kookai, Pia Bang and John Rocha. And my dream is to buy a beautiful black Armani suit.

Your most cherished piece of clothing or accessory? Oh I don’t know! Um… something that I wear a lot are these four inch black kind of like Mary Jane, beautiful Spanish heels. They look absolutely amazing – I can only wear them for two hours at a time.

Who is the most stylish musician in the world, living or dead? Oh! That’s a tough one. I love Eartha Kitt. There’s something incredibly sensual about her but also very mysterious. She never gives much away and I think that’s an incredibly sexy quality in a woman.

Ollie out of Turn, Nina Hynes, Bjorn out of La Rocca, Jerry Fish and Gabriela out of Rodrigo y Gabriela interviewed on style here