Turn and face the strange changes
When I was 13, I gave myself a shag haircut over Easter vacation. (They published the how-to instructions in Young Miss magazine.) When I came back to school, they made fun of me because I looked like David Bowie on the album cover of Hunky Dory. I didn't mind - he was a British rock star! That was cool, not hurtful!
At the beginning of 1976 it happened again. I got the newly famous Hamill wedge cut, and leaving the JC Penney's salon, walked past the record display, where I was immediately mocked for being a twin to the cover of Young Americans. This time, I not only didn't mind, but actively took fashion cues from his androgynous style. When you're a teen with a figure described as "flat as a board" and still taller than most of the boys, androgyny was pretty natural.
Bowie influenced me in more ways than just fashion. Back in the 70s, I only knew what I read in the music magazines; in the 80s, what was reported on MTV and VH1. I pictured him as a chameleon, a rebel, someone who could fluidly change from one style to another, never caring what the Establishment thought, only following his muse. I wanted to be that, to do that, and in many ways, I've incorporated that feeling into my life.
Thank you, David, for sharing your alien creativity with the world.
I always say I have no heroes; but we can be heroes, just for one day.