The Stunning Style Transformation Of Charli XCX

Whether you've been a Charli XCX fan since her MySpace days or you've just discovered her thanks to "Brat," it's hard to resist the allure of the millennial musician's beats. The hitmaker built her career by bringing synth sounds to the forefront of the 2010s music scene with songs like "Nuclear Seasons" and "I Love It," a distinctive theme that's still heard today in hit tracks like "Apple." But though you might know the punchy chorus of "Boom Clap" like the back of your hand, you may not be quite as familiar with Charli's full catalog of looks beyond "brat green." Charli's artistic genius isn't limited to the hit tracks that she creates, as the influential Leo was one of the first stars to usher in the Y2K fashion revival long before the quirky style was deemed cool again.

Never one to shy away from experimentation, the iconic singer's shown us everything from clowncore-inspired attire on the stage to haute couture gowns at the Met Gala. Hailing from Essex, England, the British beauty also honors her roots by frequently rocking fashions from across the pond, including designs by the late Vivienne Westwood. "I always love wearing Vivienne Westwood. Her dresses just seem to fit me perfectly, and she makes dresses for girls with curves — I love that," Charli told Elle in 2016. With that, it's time to take a "Speed Drive" down memory lane, so grab your mood board, and let's look to Charli XCX for some inspo.

Early on in her career, Charli XCX wasn't afraid of playing with color and texture in her wardrobe. At the age of 14, the young songwriter had just released her aptly titled debut album "14" in 2007. Following its release, she joined Canadian musician Peaches on a 2009 tour stop at the Royal Festival Hall in London, England, where Charli donned a quirky, clownish get-up featuring layers of tulle and tights. "At the moment there's so much stuff going on underground," Charli told Dazed in 2009. "Everyone's throwing secret raves; everyone's getting up there and jumping around dressed up in bubbles and tinsel, and I think that's wicked — there's always something different going on."

Three years later, Charli debuted two new mixtapes: "Heartbreaks and Earthquakes" in June and "Super Ultra" in November 2012. The musician's sound was evolving, and so was her sense of style. Around this time, the popular indie-sleaze fashions of the 2010s turned decidedly grunge, and graphic leggings were becoming all the rage. Shortly after the release of "Super Ultra," Charli herself wore a pair of the popular athleisure pants with a moody purple jacket as she posed for photographers at designer Donna Karan's Million Hearts for Haiti event in London. Her 2012 appearance at the DKNY Store in London was also a rare occasion in which she sported the middle part instead of her signature sideswept look.

In 2012, Charli XCX's career took off with the success of "I Love It" — the explosive pop single heard 'round the world. Charli wrote and performed on the track alongside Swedish act Icona Pop after deciding not to release the earworm on her own. Somewhat eerily, she even predicted the song's success before it landed at number one on the U.K. Singles Chart. "I knew it might go to number one, and I didn't want to know. So I went to the cinema with my mum to see 'World War Z,'" Charli told the BBC in 2013. In terms of her fashion choices, the first half of the 2010s saw Charli try more feminine fare as her songs climbed the charts, wearing flirty, '90s-inspired minidresses almost straight out of the colorful 1999 film "Jawbreaker."

Aside from the figure-hugging outfits she was often seen wearing on the red carpet, Charli took another page from the style bible of '90s-era Rose McGowan at this time: a tastefully tousled side part. The combination of Charli's chocolate-colored curls against her pastel frocks was a match made in heaven, enhanced by playful personal touches like string chokers and black nail polish. To top things off, Charli made Old Hollywood sunglasses a part of her everyday look, even going so far as to keep her Audrey Hepburn-esque shades on for red-carpet appearances.

With her music career on the rise by the mid-2010s, Charli XCX responded accordingly with her red-carpet serves. In 2014, the stunning singer added two more top hits to her discography: "Fancy" with Iggy Azalea and her ever-popular solo venture, "Boom Clap." Charli also appeared at several awards shows during 2014, where she showed off some of her boldest looks to date. The following year, at the 2015 MTV European Music Awards in Milan, Italy, Charli wore a shimmering chartreuse wrap dress. And while it might seem like a one-off outfit foreshadowing the popularity of "brat green" years later, Charli regularly incorporated the neon hue into her wardrobe around this period.

Interestingly, Charli donned another iconic monochromatic look at the 2016 MTV EMAs that would hint at her future successes: Barbie pink. Wearing a baby-pink fur around her arms, the singer-songwriter arrived in a '60s-inspired set dripping in oversized sequins. Furthermore, Charli's makeup changed dramatically alongside her dress — perhaps influenced by her 2016 collaboration with cosmetic brand Make Up For Ever, which led to a colorful line of eye pencils. "The thing that affects my makeup choices is just how I feel when I wake up. That really decides if I'm going to have a full face or nothing at all, black or color," she told PopSugar that year. From bold red lips to perfectly blended blush, Charli began to wear the classic, full-face glam looks that were popular at the time.

She may be inextricably linked to lime green these days due to "Brat," but Charli XCX had fans seeing red in 2017 and beyond. Shortly after the debut of her 2016 EP "Vroom Vroom," Charli leaned into the color crimson. Her gravitation toward warmer hues also carried something of an edge to it. For example, in April 2017, Charli was photographed before her performance at the Jazz Cafe in London, England, wearing a bright red sweater with a striking shark motif. To accentuate the cheeky grin of the shark on her jumper, the star wore ripped skinny jeans and a black leather handbag. "I was born in the '90s and that's the perfect decade for me — half bubblegum pop, and half depressing grunge. That's me. Like perfectly described," Charli told Self-Titled of her style.

Charli continued to refine her aesthetic in 2019 with the release of her self-titled album "Charli," featuring the likes of fellow musicians Troye Sivan and Lizzo. That year, she was seen attending the Summer Party held at The Serpentine Gallery in London. There, the star displayed her affinity for red accents once more with a floor-length gown decked out in red, white, and blue blooms. Echoing the slinky silhouette of her dress, Charli wore her hair in a sleek bob with cherry-red dip-dyed tips.

By 2020, Charli XCX had demonstrated her chameleon-like ability to pull off a wide range of looks, from casual, laid-back concert attire to ultra-glam party 'fits. However, fans couldn't help but notice a shift toward even more elegant, thoughtfully curated ensembles at the start of the new decade. In February 2020, Charli attended the Warner Music & CIROC BRIT Awards house party wearing a gorgeous black minidress, coupled with smoldering smokey eyes and her new bob hairstyle. Just a few months later, she released her lockdown-inspired album "How I'm Feeling Now" in 2020. "The whole essence of [the mid-aughts] era has really affected who I am: the way MySpace was so DIY in its nature and the way you could reach out to strangers and build little communities," she told Vulture.

Pictured in Soho, New York, Charli fully embodied the art of dopamine dressing by early 2022. The star wore a pink and purple popcorn-textured set, complemented by a hot-pink handbag and lime-green knee-high boots. With her bob fully grown out, Charli began wearing her hair down in a loose, silky blowout parted to the side. Her technicolor shift marked the start of a new musical chapter, with her fifth album "Crash" arriving in March 2022.

Career-wise, 2023 was yet another fine year for Charli XCX, with her single "Speed Drive" making a splash on the "Barbie" movie soundtrack. And before butter yellow nails could become a trend, Charli XCX modeled the eye-catching color in sunny Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture at The Fashion Awards in late 2023. In an avant-garde twist, she added bands of bright yellow tape along the sides of her ultra-straight brows. Though she wore her distinctive dark waves down, her hair was now styled in a sophisticated middle part. Just one month prior to her walk down the red carpet, the pop star announced her engagement to The 1975 drummer George Daniel in a now-unavailable Instagram post. "It's funny, I have never sort of been in a relationship with someone that I've worked with, so it's like a whole new dynamic. But it's cool," she told Spout Podcast of her beau in December 2023.

But little did we know that 2024 would be Charli's year. On June 7, Charli released "Brat," her sixth studio album, to tremendous praise. "With 'Brat,' it was really interesting to just do things for the fan base and make that feel exclusive — but then once you're in the club, it's actually very inclusive," Charli told Billboard. While she's worn her share of "Brat"-coded attire to promote the album — from Arial font tees to the distinctive bright "brat green" — Charli XCX has come full-circle with her personal style, wearing simple, Y2K-inspired 'fits and flowing, natural hair.