Meredith Graves of Perfect Pussy’s Festival Style

Meredith Graves, the singer for the band Perfect Pussy, talks about dressing up for the stage at last weekend’s Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago.

Describe what you’re wearing and what your favorite piece is.

I’m wearing a navy and cream striped ‘60s-style dress, five-dollar ballet slippers from Walmart and a bunch of hideous wristbands. My favorite thing I’m wearing is my grandmother’s sapphire band from the late 1940s.

How much of a role do your clothes play in your performances?

I always try to look nice for shows. It’s good manners, like getting dressed to go to work.

What’s one thing that you always pack when going to festivals?

My cameras! I’m taking lots of Polaroids this weekend.

 Do you dress differently for festivals than for concerts or small venues? If so, why? 

Nope. I try to look nice for every show, because every show is equally important. It helps me get into character, because I’m terrified whether it’s 20 people or 2,000. Then again, I also dress like this to go to the grocery store.

What inspires your overall style?

Characters from my favorite movies: Sofie from Hal Hartley’s “Surviving Desire,” the Maries from “Sedmikrasky,” Jean Seberg in “Breathless.”

Tell me about one memorable style moment while you’ve performed. It can be funny, embarrassing, expressive, etc.

 

 The sculptural Calvin Klein dress I wore when we went to CMJ last year. We had only played three or four shows and had no idea what to expect. I almost didn’t pack the red dress I ended up wearing, and I’m so glad I did because we ended up getting photographed a lot, and it became slightly iconic afterward. I thrifted it for three dollars and I had to retire it afterwards, it was less a dress and more of an event.