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She's dominated the stages at some of the biggest UK festivals, won two MOBO Awards and appeared in the show I Am...ELLA EYRE with 4Music and River Island - basically, she's accomplished a lot in 23 years, but sitting in her dressing room in a studio in Camden, she tells me 'if I could have no makeup on and have my hair up in a bun and walk around in my onesie all day I would.' Basically, a girl after our own hearts.
Despite her love of a onesie, today Ella is dressed in an '80s-inspired retro, patent leather skirt and an oversized t-shirt emblazoned with a picture of singer Aaliyah, who was one of her favourite singers when growing up. 'I loved Aaliyah – her music and music videos, but particularly her style. It was very cool, very laid-back and very sporty. It was tomboy-ish, but in a feminine way, and I'd say that’s what my style is like too.' She was also inspired by the likes of 'Janet Jackson, Basement Jaxx and Lauren Hill'. I'm told that '[Hill's] first album is the one album that everyone should listen to. Every person should be given it for Christmas and told to educate themselves.'
'My personal style is very eclectic, laid-back, has elements of retro, and is perhaps confused at times. Only because one minute, I'm sporty and the next minute I'm being all girly. I love being girly and having big red carpet moments in heels, but I still like to wear trainers with girly outfits, too.' While heels on the red carpet are fine, on-stage they're a big no-no, considering how active Ella is: 'I move around like a maniac [on stage], so trainers are the only thing for me. My collection is ridiculous - I have a shoe pantry and there's at least 150 trainers in there.'
As well as trainers, Ella is a big fan of a high waist - on A-line skirts and early 1980’s-inspired flared trousers. 'They suit my body because my hips are quite wide and I've got thick thighs, so I like to find things that flatter my waist and accentuate my legs.
'I used to have this obsession about not having my legs out,' she continues 'and now I do it all the time. When I was younger, I would see a bad picture of myself and think "I can't ever wear that [outfit] again". I think I went through that a lot growing up, while I was discovering how to dress my body properly. That's something I wasn't really educated on enough and there weren't enough [fashion] options. But now I'm able to experiment and be a lot more open-minded about clothes because there's more options and more information [on how to dress your body]. So I just make fashion choices that make me comfortable but also push boundaries in some way. Most important, I need to feel good, because that's something that helps me breathe confidence, and confidence is the most important thing that you wear.'
One look at Ella's music video for her upbeat song Ego shows just how experimental she's become when it comes to fashion. The set of the '90s-inspired teen bedroom is awash with pink, and in the video, Ella switches between a number of retro, unashamedly girly ensembles. 'When I wrote Ego, all I could think of was pink, bubblegum and girly, upbeat stuff, so in the video I wore fluffy pink jackets and flowery Gucci trousers and had ridiculous pink and sparkly nail [designs].' Her trademark curly hair, which she calls 'one of [her] biggest accessories', looks effortless, although she admits it can take up to three hours to style. And as for accessories, she's big into over-sized earrings, from hoops to '80s party-worthy pom-pom droplets: 'a lot gets lost in [my hair], so I like to wear earrings that stand out. And it's important to represent a song properly with good and appropriate [fashion] styles.'
In the past, Ella has said that she always gets her mum's approval when it comes to her music and music videos, but is this the same when it comes to her fashion choices? Err, kind of. 'I'll only ever ask my mum if she likes my outfit if I know the answer is going to be "yes". My mum used to be a fashion designer and she worked for Alexander McQueen, so the problem that I have is my mum really rates her own opinion. [The other day] she actually told me to "stop wearing those small girly skirts, you look too cutesy and I can't take you seriously." And it's not that I don't value my mum's opinion when it comes to fashion, it's just that I don't want it.'
But while she may not want her mum to dish out fashion advice, she's more than happy to ransack her wardrobe. 'She's got a lot of really good vintage pieces, like this amazing bodycon dress that’s off-the-shoulder. It's really stretchy so it doesn’t matter what size you are, it just fits. She wore it when she was 9 months pregnant with me, but I wore it to an event once and I still wear it every now and then.' And of course, access to her mum's vintage closet and a team of fashion stylists means that she's able to experiment with different looks. Ella, who is hardly ever seen in the same outfit twice, tells me: 'I don't like to re-wear a whole outfit because I found it was a really valuable tool for me to grow and learn fashion by challenging myself [to switch things up]. So it's not because I'm a snob that I don't recycle outfits, it's that I'm teaching myself that other things go with it. I like to be different and I don't want to wear the same outfits twice - I want there to be a variation.'
Be just as bold with your fashion choices by shopping the new autumn/winter collection at River Island. Plus, to be in the chance of winning a £1,000 voucher from River Island, enter our competition here!
Keen to look on-trend and individual this AW/17, but not sure how? Send your styling questions into theteam@thedebrief.co.uk and it might get answered during our Instagram stories with The Debrief's Fashion & Beauty Editor Lucy and River Island on 27th November 2017. Be sure to tune in!
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.