Remember the all blue fur piece? How about the candy-pink mink with matching pastel tresses? Maybe the lilac embroidered one-sleeve jumpsuit and matching sea-shell breast embellishment from the VMAs?
In her heyday, Lil’ Kim stood out. Not just because of her lyrical gusto, but so too for her fierce fashion-forwardness. Whilst her current transformation presents a very different and less than impressive version of her Bella Mafia persona, there’s little doubt that Lil’ Kim pushed the boundaries for style in the world of entertainment from the late nineties onwards.
Nicki Minaj’s legion of Barbies may suggest that a new Queen Bee is on the throne, but she’s proved no idea’s original as she repeats the looks that Kim made famous. While new characters have emerged, Kim’s stylistic accents have remained. Reinterpretations and straight mimics demonstrate the staying power of Lil’ Kim’s style iconicity. Some comparative glances at the style choices of recent female rappers against the illustrious backdrop of Lil’ Kim’s wardrobe reveals just how influential her choice of outfits and hairdos were.
From her in-your-face boldness to her love of luxurious labels, Lil Kim owned the nineties with her unforgettable style. Her outfits inspired a sense of empowerment and strength for women in a culture that was significantly dominated by men and masculine silhouettes. Celebrated female rappers before Lil’ Kim, though admirable in their lyrical prowess, hesitated to revel in their femininity in quite the same way that Kim was able to express her flair and brazenness. While Salt N Pepa and Yo-Yo had been crushed on, Lil’ Kim became the rap pin-up that fueled fantasies.
With her love of fur and leather, Lil’ Kim never was one to shy away from showing a little skin, or a lot of it for that matter. Whether you take her leopard print two-piece for the album cover, displaying a sleeker, risqué Kim or throwback flicks of her all black compositions where she exuded badass, biker chic; Lil Kim’s outfit selections spoke volumes of her versatility and creativity. That originality extended to her hair choices too, dalliances with dark browns and metallic purple, plus varying shades and lengths of blonde. Able to rock both classic black tresses and intrepid blue, her experimental playfulness was apparent in every inch of her style and extended to the streets of most major cities in the US and beyond.
In addition to her playful hairstyles, we can’t overlook her personalized accessories, from gold chains to huge earrings plus her love for stunners, bright pink, iridescent motifs, flamboyant bodies, shimmery two-piece bikinis and embellished corsets. Lil Kim had it all.
Whilst the Queen Bee may have toned down her clothing lately, she was known to embrace the outrageous, the sensational, the sultry, the sexy and the self-assured. Her style has demonstrably lived on.
Words by Laura Arowolo
