Someone like Phoebe Bridgers has always understood the power of a uniform. The singer’s style exists in the muddled middle ground between romanticism and a kind of morbid humour, where motifs like skeletons and fabrics like silk, masculine tailoring and diaphanous gowns all find a way to coexist in a kind of studied gothic nonchalance.
The skeleton, of course, is Bridgers’ most enduring sartorial signature. What began with an inexpensive Halloween costume around the release of Punisher became something of a fashion calling card for Bridgers over the years – both on stage and off – and eventually was interpreted by some of the world’s most celebrated designers as part of her canon. At the 2021 Grammys, she wore Thom Browne’s intricately beaded skeleton gown, transforming her deliberately kitsch stage uniform into couture-level craftsmanship. Meanwhile, Gucci followed with a custom pearl-and-crystal skeletal look, created after the House approached Bridgers to design something for her.
In our humble opinion, the motif reached its most elegant iteration at the 2023 Met Gala, where Tory Burch created for Bridgers a custom black gown in lingerie mesh and duchesse satin, tracing the suggestion of a skeleton in ivory pearl embroidery. The bones were still there (pun very much intended), but in a newly subtle way.
Beyond skeletons though, Bridgers gravitates towards a palette of blacks and dove greys, sharp tailoring and clothes that play with traditional ideas of femininity and masculinity. With boygenius (RIP) bandmates Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, she adopted Thom Browne’s abbreviated grey suiting as an on-stage uniform – pleated skirts, ties, button-down shirts and sharply proportioned jackets giving the trio the appearance of a particularly subversive private-school clique. But elsewhere, she has donned Rodarte’s gothic romance, Gucci’s eccentric glamour, CHANEL and Jonathan Simkhai.
Her accessories are quieter, but certainly not overlooked. Bridgers’ long-standing affection for Brooklyn jewellery label Catbird developed into an official collaboration, an especially natural partnership given she had been buying the brand’s delicate jewellery since her earliest tours. Tiny studs, charms and barely-there chains offer a counterpoint to the theatricality of her clothing.
Most recently, Bridgers’ arrival at the 2026 Venice Film Festival red carpet suggested another evolution. For the Primetime photocall, she chose a precise black Gucci skirt suit before pivoting that evening to a spectral, sheer, floral-lace Alexander McQueen gown with an elongated train.
For all the best Phoebe Bridgers style moments, read on…
