One Great Look: SZA In Miaou, Cavalli, Pucci & Gucci (All at Once)

After (finally) releasing SOS Deluxe: LANA just in time for Christmas, SZA is stepping into a new role in the new year: actress. The modern-day prophetess was spotted outside of The Drew Barrymore Show in New York, where she was doing promo for her debut feature film, the Issa Rae-produced One Of Them Days. Her outfit so immediately perplexing and visually overwhelming, it took us a few days to come around to just how fantastic it is.

Ms. Solana Rowe has always worn close-fitting clothing, the better for showing off her figure, and this first taste of her movie-star style leaned into her skin-tight, early-aughts fashion obsession with aplomb. Thanks to fashion’s busiest nerd Kim Russell — aka @thekimbino — we know this ‘fit is comprised of (deep breath) a vintage Roberto Cavalli bustier in mismatched snake-print patterns, a Miaou striped skirt, vintage Emilio Pucci heels, a Seks shearling-lined denim duster, and a Gucci monogram box purse.

By our count, there are four patterns at play here: an oblique ombré circle print on her heels, a splice-and-dice stripe on the skirt, the aforementioned dual-tone animal print on the corset top, and Gucci’s unmistakable double-G pattern wrapped around the box bag. In anyone else’s hands, the combination would read as true fashion victim. But SZA is a known vintage lover, fan of loud prints on strappy tops and slinky skirts in offensively uncoordinated colors, so it reads as natural extension of her style. It’s all so wrong, it turns the corner back around to right.

It’s also a refreshing counter-punch to the monotone neutral looks that heavily dominate celebrity street style: For every ivory cashmere dress, SZA has a jigsaw puzzle of a look for us to visually feast on. SZA’s stylist Alejandra LaPilusa also dressed her in two different polka-dot pieces a few days earlier, topped with a dirt-print trench coat. Hell, she’s even dressed her as a bug — nothing is off limits, and nothing is easily comprehended. Here’s to more complicated outfits that demand closer reads in 2025.