E! Online has compared Lady Gaga’s latest hairstyle to Pippi Longstocking‘s braids.
But when I saw this ‘do, I didn’t think Pippi at all. What I thought was, “Been there, seen that, got the t-shirt.”
This is homegrown vintage — pre-1995!
The braided lady on that t-shirt is gorgeous Wall Street Journal artist Noli Novak. When I worked at the Journal in the early 1990s, I shyly gawked at Noli from a distance for a while. She was by FAR the coolest-looking person there. When I finally worked up the nerve to talk to her, I found out that she was the lead singer of a band called Gluegun. I got the shirt and a CD — which I also still have — at one of their shows. The braids were Noli’s onstage ‘do.
Photo courtesy of Noli Novak.
I interviewed Noli and her bandmate for a free Manhattan magazine called City. I’m going to dig up that clip and do a little email interview with Noli to get the update on what she’s doing musically when she’s not doing art for the Journal. Yep, she still does the Journal’s iconic stippled illustrations! But I couldn’t wait to share her 20-years-before-Gaga braids. There’s truly nothing new under the sun.
Very cool hair. Looks a bit uncomfortable. However, it really does scream Pipi to me too. 🙂
Interesting to see the “dot art” as I call it being used this way. I remember learning it from a teacher back in about 1979. It was something I was pretty good at and I stuck with it for a while. Still have some of my works in progress too. LOL
Yep, everything has been done before. I guess it’s just how someone puts their new and personal spin on it that makes it special.
Noli looks cool as shit!
Yep, it’s the personal interpretation that matters. (And Noli did it best, IMO!)
Who knew Pippi Longstocking would inspire so many! LOL
Pippi is a fashion leader.