How to Dress Like Addison Rae
and a few ideas on how to act like her too
Last weekend my friend picked me up from work and we drove to Port Credit to go to Raw Aura, an organic, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free restaurant 100m from the marina. The husband and wife who run Raw Aura were taken aback that we had driven all the way from downtown to eat their new-age food. How to explain to them that the closest Toronto has to a berserk organic vegan restaurant is the just-okay Fresh?
I think Addison Rae would really like Raw Aura. They both have this happy, dippy, nostalgic disposition that makes them hard to hate. My friend whom I was with thinks Addison is inauthentic, but he is more than five years younger than I and maybe fails to see that across space and time, authenticity in pop music is a bit of a non-sequitur. Ditto on coolness, which has nothing to do with making pop music. Just look at Rihanna and Madonna. Rihanna is so cool, she stopped making music. Madonna so uncool (different from good) that she will likely still be making music into her 70s and 80s. And here is Addison Rae, a supremely talented princess who has fallen into the good graces of gay male creative directors and thank god they are all fans of Madonna's “Ray of Light” era…Again, coolness is nowhere to be found. Her TikTok past is just in the rearview mirror and our memory of it appears larger than it should. Destination: bubbly girl-world.
Metallics as neutral, animal print as neutral, it’s all been done before…well, except hot pink. Her sunglasses in the middle are from the brand Jacques Marie Mage, which is a brand my ex-boyfriend and I were obsessed with when we were together. He had two pairs and bought me a wayfarer style in “aubergine,” which I will cherish forever! I really think they are the best sunglasses in the world. The acetate feels as substantial as a Tiffany toggle bracelet. Addison’s are the “Jennie” in “fluorescent” (what other colour of fluorescent could there be?). Now sold out sadly, but there are other pinks on resale.
Hot pink is important to the Addison look because I harbour this secret belief that it repels men. Too noisy for them. Addison has a music producer boyfriend, but I love how images of them never circulate. She’s frequently photographed with dancer and best friend Lexee Smith. Men are simply not part of her worldview.
It’s like she lives inside a Bettina Rheims photoshoot where all the women are impish angels. Rheims, a French photographer known for her ditzy-glam celebrity images, is quintessential 00s. However, there is surprisingly little written about her work that I can find online. Her husband, the writer Serge Bramley, once remarked, “Bettina never steals, never takes anything by force or surprise.” The implication being that she seduces. Hilariously, she photographed the official portrait of Jacques Chirac when he was the French president. (Imagine if, say, David LaChapelle took the official portrait of Obama.) And Roberta Smith wrote in a review of hers that: “her subjects seem to say, 'My body may be an object, but it's my object and I'll do as I please.’” Obviously, everyone has forgotten about the clothes.
Studying Rheims is the secret key to Addison. Be alert to fabrics that are sheer, lacy, glittery, sparkly. Bow and feather decorations are a must. Pretend to be Brittany Murphy in Uptown Girls.
Just for fun, I made this Venn diagram of clothing brands that share similar DNA.
Fool-Proof Intersect Buys
This double-layer tank from All-in.
A Rabanne chain-mail bag. I used to have a mini-skirt with these same discs, and it would burn my thighs in the summer! Beware!
Vintage Chloe midnight-blue lace mini-skirt on eBay.
Vivienne Westwood dresses, almost any will do, just not black. Addison hardly wears black.
A gorgeous sheer sequin halter dress from Bell the Label. Reminds me of Prada FW 2011.
As for lingerie, I suggest matching Agent Provocateur bra and panty (strictly for taking photos because they’re scratchy), a Fifi Chachnil playsuit as outerwear, more Hanky Panky, and the silks from Araks.
Of course, we’ll always have Miu Miu SS10….!
Shoes
Shoes seem like an afterthought, as if they’re just tossed on at random from a house party pile. They’re kooky and the most demonstrably “vintage” looking ingredient; the heels are oversized, very “mommy’s closet”!
Wonky Accessories
Cyan fishnets, an expensive douchey hat, literal bunny ears. In 6 months time, the item should give you the same uneasy sensation as wanting to double text that guy from the bar. After all, we are living in Addison’s world.
—Arden xo