Miss J*Davey has dabbled with a bunch of wild and wonderful looks over the course of her career, collecting a healthy stash of marvelous keepsakes along that way. With her new line Ladytripper, she boils down the building blocks of her wardrobe, putting free love tie-dye shirts alongside airtight lace dresses, and finishing off her collection with a colorful sprinkling of those signature feathered earrings. We caught up with her on a rooftop in Brooklyn last week, where she was busy shooting her debut lookbook. See images, behind-the-scenes footage and full Q&A with Miss Davey after the jump.
Tell us why you decided to start a clothing line.
I mean I always just had a strong sense of what I want to wear on the stage, so I just had this vision of lace pants. That's pretty much where it started, and with the feather pieces—something a little hippie but still punk, because I think those styles are almost the same. That came to mind first, and then we brought in the earrings and the T-shirt, and a lot of tie-dye. It will keep evolving, but this is just a good start I think.
Obviously living in LA influences your style.
Yeah I mean it's a beach town, so everyone's pretty much laid back about flip flops and hippie frocks. I wanted to make something that you could just throw on and wear every day. It's sexy but it's also a little androgynous. So yeah, it's California, the laid-back style, the anything-goes style.
You've had a ton of great looks in your career. What are some of the things you always come back to?
Well music is really sexual, so I always try to stay sexy but androgynous. I'm not afraid to go sheer—especially on stage, it just has to be comfortable because I'm thrashing all over the place. I'm not really like the dress/leotard type of person. I like to inject a little bit of testosterone in there.
The earrings have been one of your signature pieces for a while. When you set out making your jewelry what did you have in mind and what did you want to do with it?
Well, the feathers really turned me on because it's like a rustic kind of DIY project with chains, which mixes the punk element with the hippie element. It can double as a hairpiece or an earpiece, or you can stick it on your shirt. And the earrings come in different varieties. There's this great place in Silver Lake called Mother Plucker and you go there and it's just like a million kinds of feathers of all shapes and sizes. Usually when I'm on stage, the three piercings in my ear will have different feathers.
Are there any items you're looking forward to working on?
Yeah, speaking of lace, since I like the sheer mysterious aspect of the lace, I have a design that's like a big maxi lace dress. I have a short dress with bell bottom sleeves, some T-shirts, maybe denim eventually. But I'm really liking the flared pant now. I think we've done the skinny jean enough, ya know?
Is there anyone in music whose style has inspired you?
As I said my style is very anything goes and it's very understated, so I think less is usually more. I like Debbie Harry—she would just throw on a T-shirt and go onstage and rock. Grace, of course, she was always willing to take it to the next level. But also I'm inspired by a lot of men— David Bowie, Jim Morrison—because they have that androgynous power onstage. They also rocked the Victorian lace, and the ruffles which I would also like to get into.