Yaaass! RiRi came through drippin’ at Coachella last weekend, and that was just the pool party she threw for the launch of Fenty x Puma at a private estate in Indio, Calif. Her new collection—which is a mashup of easy, beachy clothes and streetwear inspired by motocross cool—painted the desert in neon hues of yellow, pink and blue.
Members of the guest list, including A$AP Rocky, French Montana and the Weeknd, were treated to cocktails under white tents and a mini racetrack with all-terrain vehicles. Drinking and driving? RiRi, you always have to do a little something bad, don’t you?
On the personal tip, RiRi—as usual—pushed the fashion envelope like no other, making us all want to reinvent both our closets and our makeup routines. It’s official: Baby-blue eye shadow is a ’70s thing that’s back, and black girls should be rocking it, RiRi style. Whether our bad girl made it look good under a Gucci ski mask or as part of her flow with a custom leather Chrome Hearts outfit, powder blue was this rock star’s tone of choice when it came to her festival look this year.
Buckles are a must on your denim this season—assuming that you won’t be doing custom pale-blue leather. RiRi naturally took it to the max, wearing a butter-soft powder blue leather, denim-style jacket knotted under the breastbone into a sweetheart neckline, matched with toreador-inspired leather jeans bedecked with rows of silver buckles down the side seams, from hip to toe.
To elevate your denim of the day, polish it off with matching nails and eye shadow in powder blue. And don’t forget to chop yourself a jet-black swingy bob with bangs to take the look to the next level.
Grunge met geek met modern mythic rock goddess when Rihanna donned the Gucci ski mask. It might have been a scary style moment if not for the fabulous eye makeup that made the whole thing look like a work of art. Think crystal-studded cat eyes and crystal chandelier earrings from old-school Hollywood jeweler Neil Lane Couture that dangled from the mask itself, and I can’t wait to try this look on my my next bad hair-skin-I hate-life-and-everyone-in-it day; it’s such a chic and eccentric way to tell the world, “Go fuck yourself, please.”
But with Rihanna, the clincher, as always, is the nails, which, in this case, were covered with a king’s ransom worth of Swarovski crystals. And just in case you want to update your pants game this summer—and be ready for fall—get a pair of python-print bootleg flares and pair them with matching low chunky heels for when you’re out and about but still flying above the radar.
The only look that didn’t do it for me? Rihanna’s thigh-high Uggs and matching wrapped bodysuit from YProject. Somehow, the wrapping and draping read like baggy elephant skin to my eye, instead of the barely there, sensual organic body wrap it was most likely intended to be. Those thigh-high Uggs with jeans? All day long in the winter and fall. The clay-colored bodysuit with the big bow at the waist? Umm ... not so much for stage, costume or street style. It’s not a runway-to-reality lewk I think any of us will be seeing anytime soon—unless you have some wild, wild thoughts about how you’re going to step into the weekend.