As Sandy Olsson in Grease, Olivia Newton-John wrote an unforgettable blueprint for the good-girl-goes-bad transformation. Set after a summer in the late 50s, the classic American romcom saw a 28-year-old ON-J step out in vinyl-black disco pants and devil-red lipstick, launching a low effort but high impact Halloween costume for the ages opposite John Travolta. God bless. Though 1978’s Grease may have been her mainstream breakout moment, the British-Australian performer already had over a decade of screen credits behind her as well as a number of internationally successful albums, having formed her first girl group at the age of 14.
Olivia’s style always has a strong sense of playfulness, on stage or off it. It very much reflects the eclectic zeitgeist of the 70s, the decade in which her career went stratospheric: long, floating bell sleeves, bell bottoms, and popped collars. Her palette – of shimmering pinks, fresh blue and pillar box red – was bold and feminine; her makeup minimal, proto-clean girl. In honour of what would have been the star’s 74th birthday, we take a look back at some of her all-time iconic outfits from that era.
At the Savoy Hotel in London, circa 1970
Olivia’s career as a musician started with her winning a televised Australian talent contest called Sing, Sing, Sing. The prize was a trip to Great Britain, where she eventually travelled and recorded her first single in 1966 (called “Till You Say You’ll Be Mine”) with Decca Records. Here, outside London’s opulent Savoy Hotel, she really looks the part of a chic British aristocrat: wearing a luxurious fur hat and jacket over bright red flares and a matching vest. And those boots!
Competing in Eurovision, 1974
Though she came fourth in the contest itself (ABBA nabbed first, naturally), Olivia’s ruffle-tiered dress look was the clear winner overall. With dewy skin and long, effortless face-framing curtain bangs that even Matilda Djerf would be jealous of, she is the picture of prairie girl innocence. A timeless cottagecore fit.
At a concert, circa 1978
Onstage is, inevitably, where you’ll find some of Olivia’s hottest fits. This little concert number is no exception, pairing pearlescent pink leggings with a floaty beaded tunic: the shimmering details are most visible along the garment’s trim, belt, and modest V-neck, marking out swirling patterns across the sheer material.
In Grease, 1978
Of course, we obviously have to talk about Sandy’s generation-defining transformation in Grease. The gold hoops. The black off-shoulder top. The matching red nails, lipstick and jacket lining. The piles on piles of blonde curls. Defying her social status and clique to impress her greaser boyfriend, ON-J as Sandy was the personification of the femme fatale in glorious black spandex. And that, my friends, is film history.
At Studio 54, 1978
At the time of its release in 1978, Grease became the highest-grossing musical film ever. The film was met with great commercial and critical success, launching Olivia’s star to inconceivable heights. Here, she poses at the premiere party at Studio 54 following the film’s debut at Manhattan’s Ziegfeld Theatre. In what looks a touch like a super-powered disco version of Sandy’s greaser fit, she stuns in shiny purple disco pants and a red satin bomber, the long collar of her bright pink blouse popped and standing around her neck.
At a concert, circa 1980
Wearing a frilly white blouse, a pink head scarf and a pair of large, thin hoop earrings, Olivia tried out this fashion-forward seafaring look on stage. It was the same year she starred in the musical fantasy film Xanadu, so maybe it was part of the silly, goofy mood she was in. Nevertheless, the accessories are what really make this sexy pirate fit work: the ornamental silver belt buckles, multicoloured scarves, and metallic-trimmed boots. Thar she slays!
In the “Physical” music video, 1981
Physical wasn’t ON-J’s second studio record. It wasn’t even her fifth. The artist’s eleventh (yes) studio album was also her most explicitly sexual – the suggestive title track stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks, breaking chart records and marking the height of her solo career. In the camp, often-banned video for the song, athleisure has never looked better. Wearing an incredibly high cut white leotard, an aqua blue wrap top and deep pink lycra tights, Olivia plays a deranged aerobic instructor. Her hair is cropped, a white sweatband sitting underneath her bangs. It’s a look that lives on in the cultural reset the song caused: in Dua Lipa’s track of the same name, the exercise dress movement, the chaotic voice in your head that tells you to go on, do it, layer together some of your most disparate clothes. It might just end up looking iconic.
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