It’s finally happened. We’ve been blessed with a fourth Adele album and damn it’s good. 30, as we told you in our review, is “unpredictable, experimental and kind of sexy“. A divorce album, sure, but also a beautiful depiction of a newfound freedom and all that comes with it. Part of that package, it transpires, is a stunning new wardrobe featuring custom Schiaparelli and lots of Louis Vuitton. And indeed, over the past 13 years, we’ve watched Adele’s style evolution go from Myspace chic to 1950s glamour and on to the tracksuit-loving, Marine Serre-stanning dress-up queen she is today.
To celebrate today’s release of the aforementioned album, we’re revisiting seven of Adele’s most iconic fashion moments.
After the Sex And The City movie’s London premiere, 2008
What could be more 2008 than this? Having just watched Carrie get jilted and Charlotte’s water break in the middle of the street, Adele rocked up to the afterparty looking very London. Pairing a houndstooth trench coat with opaque tights and a quilted Chanel bag, the whole ensemble slants 60s with the rising star’s kohl-rimmed eyes, long lashes and hooped earrings — the latter fast becoming a staple. She had just released her debut album, 19, and the whole country had “Chasing Pavements” living rent free in our heads.
Performing at the Brit Awards, 2016
Eight years, two albums (21 and 25) and endless awards later, here we find Adele back in her London hometown for the 2016 Brit Awards. There to induce tears with her emotional performance of “When We Were Young” and receive no less than four statuettes, Adele dazzled crowds in a midi-length Valentino sparkler. Depicting a sky full of stars surrounding the Empire State Building, the dress was a far cry from her usually understated black wardrobe.
Officiating a wedding, 2018
What should you wear when officiating a friend’s marriage? It’s a question Adele probably didn’t Google when her talkshow host bestie Alan Carr asked her to do just that, deciding right away that she’d go full on papal regalia. Not only did she embrace the role with serious style, she also insisted on paying for the entire event and hosting it in her Los Angeles garden. But who was on music duties? Adele soundtracked the happy couple’s first dance, followed by a raucous DJ set by, um, Gok Wan.
The gun fingers meme, 2020
You might not think it to watch her glammed-up performances, but Adele loves a tracksuit. Just last year, she stepped out of a cab in a black Nike two-piece and trainers, with her hood up and Moncler puffer jacket on. Shot from above, she was papped during a particularly intense phone conversation. “I was fucking livid when I got off that plane, fucking hell!” she told The Face. “I wasn’t actually shouting at someone, I was telling the story of something that had happened to my best friend Laura.” And that, kids, is what memes are made of.
Twinning with Beyoncé, 2020
When Queen Bey and her dancers wore Marine Serre bodysuits in her 2020 short film Black Is King, suddenly everybody wanted a piece of the young London designer and her crescent moon aesthetic. The ultimate Beyoncé stan (how many of you shared your 2017 Album Of The Year Grammy with her?), Adele adopted the look herself, sharing a photo of her posing with the video in question in tribute to Bey. “Thank you Queen for always making us all feel so loved through your art,” she captioned it. Same to you, Adele.
At a basketball game in LA, 2021
Those that follow Adele’s dating life will know that this was not her first courtside appearance. Now happily in a relationship with big deal sports agent Rich Paul, she’s turned up to a number basketball games with all eyes on her. When the Warriors played the Lakers at STAPLES Center last month, she wore a full brown leather look with a monogrammed Louis Vuitton coat thrown over her shoulders. A whole different mood than her football fit. Go sports!
One Night Only with Adele, 2021
Wow, well Adele’s One Night Only performance and b2b Oprah interview was pretty special, right? Not just the hybrid TV show itself, but the fashion that was served within it. Dressed in a custom black Schiaparelli gown with a shimmering bustier, Adele wore gold Saturn pendant earrings — a nod to her embrace of her Saturn return. She took over LA’s Griffith Observatory to perform a greatest hits selection, including some songs from 30, to a crowd of Leonardo DiCaprio, Lizzo, Drake and other familiar faces. Our invite must’ve got lost in the post.
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