204. in bloom, or, kurt cobain in a dress
November 18th, 2009 § 9 Comments
Yes, this post is about Kurt Cobain; no, it’s not about how grunge is coming “back in vogue” (and no, I don’t actually believe in that trend, either) or how it has been coming back in vogue or how the 90s are the new 80s; no, this is not about the story I wrote for my Advanced Fiction Class in undergrad called “KC,” about a woman who had a teenaged boy, and how she was afraid that her fey son was gay and in love with Kurt Cobain and how the boy ran away on April 8, 1994, and the trials and tribulations she goes through trying to find him; no, this post is actually about something that come up from the dark recesses of my mind, which was my once-fascination with the idea of finding photographs of Kurt Cobain in dresses, and the strange sartorial choices he would sometimes make when wearing said dresses.
I’m not going to get into Kurt Cobain and his proclamations about feminism and gay pride and how his wearing dresses was supposed to be a statement towards those ends, which is a post for another blog and also would require access to materials that I don’t have access to right now (e.g. all of my Nirvana stuff, which is at my parents’ house), but I will start this post by saying that Kurt would sometimes go to interviews or photo shoots wearing dresses. And some of them were definitely better-looking than others.
This one is probably my favorite out of all the dresses I’m going to show you. Not so keen on the massive amounts of eyeliner, but I would definitely wear this one; it’s girly and reminds me of some of my 40s dresses in a good way, plus all of the cute red buttons put a smile on my face.
I actually used to have a video tape of this interview, which happened on “Headbanger’s Ball” (MTV, remember?). Wearing this dress is like being eaten by a giant yellow flower, but it is kind of awesome in its ridiculousness. And no, it would not be nearly as awesome without the satiny peacock-tail thing going on in the back.
Is this a wedding dress? I also can’t tell what decade it’s from. But it does seem to fit him pretty well. Look at that I’m Wearing A Wedding Dress Grin! Happiest day of his life! Etc.!
Okay, so this isn’t a dress, per se, but COME ON. I had to include it. Tyra would be proud.
xo, mw
YES, YES YES! Thank you for posting these photos. I love the third photo especially. In a twisted way, they all look really demure and sweet. Possibly related: I woke up today with the Nirvana version of “Jesus Don’t Want Me For a Sunbeam” in my head.
It is really sweet, isn’t it? They look so happy.
omg, I saw the men in skirts on Tyra this week – she would be proud. Dave and Christ are really rocking it out in that last photo too.
They are ROCKING it like whoa!
When I was in middle/high school and Nirvana was popular, I didn’t have a crush on Kurt, but rather Krist Novaselic (I think it was partially because he, like me, is of Croatian descent, and I was so insanely proud of my heritage when I was that age).
And I just realized, now, due to this post, that I ended up marrying a man who looks EXACTLY like him. We even live in Seattle! I wish I could go back in time and tell my 14 year old self the future!
Aw, that’s such an adorable story! Thank you for sharing it.
I honestly didn’t even know Kurt Cobain wore dresses on a regular like this. I know I have seen him wearing a wedding dress before–but poor lil ol’ me thought it was simply and isolated incident.
You’ve opened my eyes! But boy does he look absolutely adorable in each and every one of them.
Haha! I LOVE Nirvana!
That last photo is so good! Dave Grohl is killing me!
Hey, how could you forget Rio de Janeiro? His dress was all sparkly and glittery. He even wore a crown <3 !