Rock N' Roll Style Guide: Stone Temple Pilots

Images courtesy of belowempty.com's incredible STP picture archive.

Stone Temple Pilots, (Scott Weiland, Dean Deleo, Robert Deleo, and Eric Kretz) have evolved together musically and visually. I've been blasting my Twitter this month with the BIG news (at least for a hardcore fan like me) that Stone Temple Pilots are releasing their first single in 9 years on March 31st. You can stream the new single "Between The Lines" here. I'll have to listen to it about 100 times before I can form a solid opinion, but STP can really do no wrong by me.

The images above are from a spring concert during the The Shangri-la-dee-da tour in 2001, courtesy of belowempty.com.

At a concert, I find what the band is wearing to be as important as what they're playing. Concerts become memories, so it's great when musicians take pride in their appearance and mix it up for the audience. I find nothing more boring than seeing shots of a band from a four month tour with the same jeans and t-shirt ensemble repeated over and over. It's also refreshing to see a rock n' roll band age gracefully. The greasy long hair, heavy eye makeup, leather-busting-at-the-seams look doesn't work for anyone especially in your mid 40s.

Style breakdown: Elements from the best decades of rock, streamlined and aged to perfection.

The Essentials

• Subtle accessories: A little "heavy metal" as in delicate and eclectic chains, rings and earrings toughen up skinny pants, and floral tops. Accessories on the hand draw your eyes to the guitar work.
  

• Unexpected Prints: It's rare to see a man in a floral print unless it's an Hawaiian shirt paired with a beer belly. You have to have a little swagger to make it work. Floral works great on men as an accent element as long as the print is simple and the colors are muted. Dean's is dusty blue with a simple stencil flower print.
  

• Skin: It's all about keeping things in proportion. I was never a fan of the baggy shorts/shirtless look a la Chris Cornell circa 1992. Scott Weiland is the king of shirtless-ness. He pairs high-waisted tuxedo pants with a bare chest, but his lean frame and tattoos keep him from looking like a Chippendale dancer. Dean Deleo and Eric Kretz have mastered the buttoned down-button down. Tank tops are cool on younger rockers, but button-downs look sophisticated on STP. Notice it's not a standard dress shirt. Theirs are of the thinner, sheer variety which let's your skin breath as you play. Striking colors work well on stage. You'll never see STP in "corporate blue".
  

• Sweat: When you're rocking out, sweat is inevitable, but there is an art to making it look good. Notice, no stringy wet hair or pit stained tees.

When it Rains

Collage inspired by Garbage's "I'm Only Happy When it Rains", Directed by Samuel Bayer

Lately I'm on a Garbage kick..well, a 90's kick in general. It's possible that my nostalgia is due to the fact that we've hit the 20 year mark. The music of the 90's never went stale for me, but the aesthetic sure did. I never imagined turquoise eyeshadow was acceptable on the street, until yesterday. My crushed velvet orange purse is finally getting some use. The 90's aesthetic was all about complimentary colors, contrasting patterns/textures, fish eye, and blur effects. Stay tuned for my take on the 90's look, next post...