This month, on what would have been his 70th birthday, John Lennon’s friends, family, and fans gathered to celebrate the life of one of the world’s most admired, adored, and controversial musicians. People placed flowers at the Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park. The city of Liverpool, his hometown, unveiled a statue of him. Ecosse Films released Nowhere Boy, a feature-length film about his teenage years. Google even paid him homage by incorporating a bespectacled, cartoon Lennon into its logo for the day.
Although he is primarily remembered for his singing, songwriting, and politics, Lennon had an influence on fashion and strong personal style that we often overlook. While Lennon pushed the envelope in the art and music world with songs like “Cold Turkey” and his nude “Bag One” honeymoon lithographs, he made another contribution in shaping what it meant to look and dress like a musician.
Lennon’s clothing was always another means of expression. He went through stages, alternatively fashioning himself a greaser and peacenik, and pioneered his trademark mop top hairstyle. In a brief stint at art school, Lennon dressed as a Teddy Boy, wearing frocks, drainpipe jeans, and pointed boots to complement his edgy and rebellious persona. Lennon embodied the clean-cut, boy band look when the Beatles wore matching suits, but he preferred the psychedelic getups they wore on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, as the clothes made no secret of Lennon’s proud experimentations with LSD at the time.
As the members of the Beatles grew apart, so did their personal styles. Lennon demonstrated his separation from his band through his clothes. Shifting from the era of identical pressed shirts and suits seen in Please Please Me, they became the motley group lined up on the crosswalk for Abbey Road, with Lennon leading the charge in a stark white suit.
When the Beatles broke up, Lennon turned to activism, staging bed-ins and inviting the public to see him in a more human light, while wearing pajamas (if anything). Lennon’s military surplus garb was yet another way he identified with the anti-Vietnam War counterculture of the era.
But Lennon’s most meaningful contribution to fashion was his glasses. Long before Harry Potter was known for circular, wire-rimmed glasses, they were trademark Lennon. Ring-collared New York City shirts (especially with their sleeves cut off) are a direct reference to Lennon’s Walls and Bridges photo shoot with the Manhattan skyline in the background. And French, Spring Court white high tops will always be touted as the shoe that Lennon wore at his wedding and on the cover of Abbey Road.
Only a few musicians give us iconic fashion items. In doing so, Lennon joined the same ranks as Elvis and his rhinestone jumpsuit, Hendrix and his bellbottoms and bandana, and Michael Jackson and his diamond glove.
Some performers merely intend their outfits to be shocking, like Lady Gaga and her meat dress, but Lennon let his clothes tell a story—that of his transformation from a resident of the town of Liverpool to a seasoned and proud New Yorker. It’s safe to say that even now, over 30 years after his death, Lennon’s memory still lives on through the clothes he wore. Will we be able to say that about Kermit-head dresses in 2040? Only time will tell.
Want to see Keenan dressed up as a “Teddy Boy?” Let him know at ktimko@georgetownvoice.com
