Countercultured: Joanna Gikas

Joanna is the frontwoman for relatively obscure band Io Echo. Take a moment to check them out. It's okay. I'll wait for you. Done? Awesome, right? I knew you'd agree. I wish I knew how exactly to describe their music. I've heard it called goth or pop-punk, but I don't think either of those quite work. Think Interpol meets Yeah Yeah Yeahs meets New Young Pony Club. That's the best I can do. It's good stuff, though. Just trust me on this one.

I think that as Joanna and Io Echo become more famous, Joanna will emerge as a fashion icon. Already, I really dig what she's been putting out there. There are elements of femininity to what she wears. I've seen a lot of simple dresses. But she doesn't look super "girly" in that she tends to use other elements such as a jacket or even her hair to give some edge to what she wears. I'm not sure if it's intentional, but in almost every picture I could find of Joanna she was wearing black and white. I love that she rocks a signature color scheme already, but I'm also hoping to see some different stuff from her soon.

This is a pretty good example, I think.

Joanna rocks the vintage look and makes it a little more edgy and "tough" for lack of a better word. I love that. I'm not a huge fan of the girly, vintage thing, but I'm definitely a fan of this twist on it. Sometimes, I think vintage comes across as "cute", but I wouldn't really call Joanna's style "cute." So, congratulations Joanna on doing vintage without looking overly feminine or trite.

I've drawn on some of the elements I've seen from Joanna to create some looks that I know I would love to rock and I'm sure you could pull off, too.