Before Madonna and Cyndi Lauper, there was Viv Albertine
Viv, T-shirt from shop, Sex, photograph: Ray Stevenson
Viv, age 16, courtesy of the author
Viv Albertine is not a household name, but Madonna, Kurt Cobain, and Carrie Brownstein have all been inspired by her. In her memoir “Clothes, Clothes, Clothes, Music, Music, Music, Boys, Boys,
Boys” (St. Martin’s Press), out today, she chronicles her role in the birth of punk in London as the guitarist in the allgirl band The Slits. Yahoo Style spoke with Albertine, 59, about her legendary “Pippi Longstocking meets Barbarella meets juvenile delinquent” look, Vivienne Westwood, and a generation she influenced.
YS: I am obsessed with the title of your book.
VA: Some people said to me you shouldn’t use that title, it’s not feminist, but it’s kind of an ironic title. It’s what my mother used to chant to me, “Clothes, clothes, clothes, music, music, music, boys, boys, boys, that’s all you’re interested in.” And I made a career out of it! I think the book is a feminist story, a woman through the decades struggling not to conform and create and hang onto her identity.
YS: What were you like growing up?
VA: The ‘70s were like the ‘50s, so closed down for girls and women, especially poor people. I didn’t have any role models, didn’t know any female lawyers or anyone doing anything interesting. So I would follow in the footsteps of boys, trying to emulate pop stars.
Viv with Sid Vicious, 1977, courtesy of the author
YS: How did punk change you?
VA: I didn’t discover punk, I was in it before it even formed—it didn’t even exist as punk until 18 months after and by then it was dead almost! I was in art school and a friend did work at Vivienne Westwood’s shop Sex. They put things I was thinking about onto clothes and she turned the t-shirts she made inside out and would hack it off at the bottom. Her way of doing things seeped into me. I copied her a lot. She was an extraordinary woman. I never met a confident working class woman in my life until Vivienne.
YS: What was the reaction like to the way you dressed?
VA: We got spat at, attacked, chased, verbally abused every single day. We looked like aliens. We’d mix hardcore fetish wear, a school skirt, and men’s working boots. It was a political statement for us. But I was so exhausted after about 6 or 7 years of the abuse that I started dressing in shapeless brown clothes for a few years. I couldn’t take being looked at anymore.
Viv, Keith Levene, and Mick Jones walking down Davis Rd. 1975, courtesy of the author
YS: The styles of Madonna and Cyndi Lauper were said to be influenced by you in particular.
VA: I’m pretty sure Madonna came to our shows. I’ve got great respect for Madonna. If she was at all influenced by me, then great. I’ve been influenced by her enough times.
YS: What makes you feel optimistic now?
VA: People always ask me, “What’s the punk of today?” It’s not in that arena of pop culture. I’m much more interested in activists or woman who run companies now. Music might console me with a broken heart and might make me want to dance, but it’s not going to incite a revolution.
YS: Okay, then what is punk’s legacy?
VA: What affected me was doing something I wasn’t trained to do. I hadn’t seen any girls playing guitars or drums. Punk gave them a chance. You didn’t have to be a virtuoso, you didn’t even need to be able to sing. You just had to have passion and courage and something to say.
