Billie Eilish Has Always Had a Singular Fashion Sense
Back in 2017, a plucky young singer named Billie Eilish burst onto the scene, equipped with haunting vocals, sharp lyrics, and a totally incongruous personal style. Eilish’s streetwear-influenced fashion sense is marked by her love of neon hues, oversized silhouettes, monograms, and graffiti—a far cry from her heart-wrenching ballads and soft singing voice.
But it’s that dissonance that makes Billie Eilish, well, Billie Eilish. Over the last several years, as she’s grown from sweet teen to self-assured adult, the singer has undergone quite a style evolution. While she infused her look with a youthful energy—repping cartoon characters including Jessica Rabbit, the Powerpuff Girls, and Sailor Moon—she also shows off her more grown-up side, albeit, on her terms. See the Commes Des Garçons tee she wore with an extra long blue necktie, or the one she paired with a black tee and basketball shorts.
Eilish has been candid about her relationship with her body, and how that’s informed her clothing choices. “I only started wearing baggy clothes because of my body,” she told Vanity Fair in 2021. While she still tends to stick to her de rigueur look, she does occasionally lean into the feminine, whether that means wearing a frilly Simone Rocha dress to host SNL, channeling her inner Marilyn at the Met Gala, or wearing a ladylike tweed skirt to the Oscars.
Still, Eilish has faced criticism for experimenting with her femininity through fashion. “I spent the first 5 years of my career getting absolutely OBLITERATED by you fools for being boy ish and dressing how i did & constantly being told I’d be hotter if I acted like a woman,” she wrote in a 2023 Instagram story. “And now when I feel comfortable enough to wear anything remotely feminine or fitting, i CHANGED and am a sellout.”
Despite the trolls, Eilish is more herself than ever. She’s done promotion for her latest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, in long, baggy shorts and wire-rimmed glasses, and has hit the stage in sports jerseys and knee-pads. She looks just as at home in streetwear from Left Hand LA and ERL as she does in a Gucci monogrammed suit or a Willy Chavarria skirt. No matter what she’s wearing, we can always count on her to do it her way.
In honor of Billie Eilish’s November 2024 cover of Vogue, take a look back at the singer’s style evolution, from 2017 til now.
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Rob Kim/Getty Images1/31New York, 2017
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Joe Scarnici/Getty Images2/31Spotify Presents: The Billie Eilish Experience, 2019
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Ari Perilstein/Getty Images3/31ASCAP Pop Music Awards, 2019
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Kevin Mazur/Getty Images4/312019 iHeartRadio Music Festival
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Michael Kovac/Getty Images5/312019 LACMA Art + Film Gala
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Kevin Mazur/Getty Images6/312019 American Music Awards
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Kevin Mazur/AMA2019/Getty Images7/312019 American Music Awards
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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images8/31Spotify Hosts “Best New Artist” Party, 2020
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Amy Sussman/Getty Images9/31The Oscars, 2020
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Joe Maher/Getty Images10/31The BRIT Awards 2020
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Kevin Mazur/Getty Images11/31“Where Do We Go?” World Tour, 2020
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Michael Kovac/Getty Images12/31Los Angeles, 2021
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Dave Benett/Getty Images13/31World Premiere of “No Time To Die,” 2021
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Randy Holmes/Getty Images14/31Jimmy Kimmel Live! 2021
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WWD/Getty Images15/31Gucci Love Parade, 2021
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NBC/Getty Images16/31Hosting SNL, 2021
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ABC/Getty Images17/31The Oscars, 2022
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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images18/31The Grammys, 2022
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ANGELA WEISS/Getty Images19/312022 Met Gala
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MICHAEL TRAN/Getty Images20/31LACMA Art+Film Gala, 2022
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Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images21/312023 Met Gala
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MICHAEL TRAN/Getty Images22/31Variety Hitmakers Brunch, 2023
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NBC/Getty Images23/31The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 2023
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MICHAEL TRAN/Getty Images24/312024 Golden Globe Awards
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Photo: Getty Images25/312024 Critics Choice Awards
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Robert Gauthier/Getty Images26/312024 Grammys
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Michael Buckner/Getty Images27/31Oscars Nominee Luncheon, 2024
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Photo: Getty Images28/312024 SAG Awards
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Photo: Getty Images29/312024 Oscars
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Emma McIntyre/Getty Images30/31LA28 Olympic Games Handover Celebration, 2024
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Kevin Mazur/Getty Images31/31Kicking off tour in Quebec, 2024
This article was originally published on Vogue.com.
Hannah Jackson
Hannah Jackson is a fashion writer at Vogue. Prior to working full-time with the publication, she previously did freelance writing and was a social media manager at TheLi.st. Her work has been published in ELLE, Architectural Digest, The Cut/New York Magazine, Rolling Stone, W Magazine, Cosmopolitan, NYLON, InStyle, Bustle, and more. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from UC Santa Barbara where she studied political science. She also has a Master of Science degree from Northwestern University where she studied journalism along with a specialization in magazines.
- Topics:
- Billie Eilish
- Celebrity Style