Not Just an Orange County Girl

Gwen Stefani is probably one of the first celebrities who really captured, and held, my interest in my adolescence, all the way through my college years, and even now, as a grown woman in my late twenties. I'll never forget the very first article I read about her in my Seventeen Magazine. I would race home after school, eager to open up the new, fresh pages of the magazine and unveil all the newest trends and clothing collections the pages would reveal to me. I remember seeing a young, fresh faced girl with crazy blue hair spiked and twisted every which way, and henna makeup on her arms and hands, topped off with a bindi, which I had never seen anybody from Orange County, California wear before (unless they were actually Indian.)

Her style evolved as the years dragged on. I went from Seventeen to InStyle and she would constantly grace the pages of the magazine with her fashion hits, and sometimes misses. I went to her concerts, felt bad for her when she broke up with Tony, and cheered when she was dating Gavin (what a dish, that Gavin is!) I ooohed and ahhhed at her wedding photos as though I was looking at an old friend's bridal album, and marveled at her unique John Galliano masterpiece, a bold confection that was almost fucschia, fading into a crisp, clean white at the top of her dress, completed, of course, with her signature red lipstick. I celebrated the birth of her precious Kingston, applauded her for having Zuma Nesta afterwards (Kingston couldn't be the only offspring of Gwen & Gavin, they're much too good looking to only invest genes in one child.) I bought LAMB perfume the day it hit stores, and to this day, lure men like bees to honey every time I dab it on my wrists, neck, and decolletage. I've had the great fortune and privilege of going to concerts with Priscilla and sharing those important moments with her, and in a sense, with Gwen. I've been able to heal a broken heart with songs like "Don't Speak," and I still look forward to the day when I can listen to songs like "Running" and "The Real Thing" and feel like they were written about my relationship.

So anytime I see a photo in a magazine, with a caption that reads "Best Dressed," and Gwen is smiling right above it, in a killer outfit, of course, it always makes me smile a little bit longer. I feel like she's grown up with me, in a sense. I feel like she's witnessed my own fashion hits and misses, and like she is the big sister who I've always been happy for, time after time.

I think as her career progresses, and as my life progresses, and my closet expands, she'll still remain one of my style icons.

No doubt.