I Love Your Style: Jessica Delfino

Jessica Delfino at Stripped Stories - Photo: Francine Daveta

I Love Your Style
Jessica Delfino
By Giulia Rozzi

Style is an extension of your persona. When you’re onstage exposing that persona, what you wear can say a lot about who you are. I think lady comics have some killer style, in this new column I’ll pick one fabulously fashionable funny female to invite us into her closet to discuss her style inspirations and maybe even offer up some garb for grabs.

This week’s style spotlight: JESSICA DELFINO!

Oh the wonderful Jessica Delfino. No one else can make a rape whistle sound so rockin’ while also being publicly denounced by the Catholic League. Amazing! And she does it all in hip, colorful, dazzling style. This ECNY winner for Best Musical Act has appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, The Sundance Channel, Fox News’ Red Eye, and she’s played the Montreal Comedy Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and The Dublin Comedy Festival. Described as “The Joan Baez of the Vagina Song” by Blender Magazine’s Rob Tannenbaum, Delfino has the impressive ability to use naughty words in the most intelligent way, and with the most delightfully catchy beat. (If you have yet to see the adorable, brilliant I Wanna Be Famous video by Jessica & Nick Fox-Gieg, watch it NOW!) Jessica Delfino gets people to laugh, toe-tap, and think. A smart, sassy, hilarious, force-to-be-reckon-with, glittery, gorgeous girl? Now that’s fashionable!

I love your style!

Thanks!!!

How do you think your style reflects who you are/what does your style say about you?

It allows me to express how I feel on any particular day. It can say, “Get out of my way, jerk hole, I’m a rock star!” Or a more classy, “I am feeling very thoughtful and introverted”. I like to name my outfits, like, what I’m wearing today is called, “SuperBitch” because it caters to and blends the meeting, rehearsal and two shows I have today, and I look and feel good, like an ass-kicking fox.

Is your onstage wardrobe different than your day-to-day clothes?

I try to make them work together. I want to look good but stay functional. Some days I’m at auditions and meetings all day and I don’t have time to go home to change before shows. I don’t want to have to cart a suitcase around with me, lest I look like I’m on my way to my job as a stewardess or a stripper. Both of which are A+ jobs. But I am neither. Anymore.

What’s your favorite onstage outfit?

I like this striped jacked plaid-ish skirt combo I have which is potentially seizure-inducing and guaranteed to keep most creep wads and turd captains from messing with me before or after my shows.

This "seizure inducing" look got Delfino named one of TimeOut Magazine's "Most Stylish New Yorkers"- Photo: TimeOut

What’s your favorite off-stage outfit?

I like leggings and a soft cotton shirt paired with a flowing knee length skirt and pointy witch shoes, a cute jacket over it all. Sort of “funky librarian,” if you will.

The funky librarian look.

What are your style inspirations and/or favorite designers?

Models on toy and cereal boxes, random mannequins, gay men, Obama’s daughters and children in general—kids’ clothes are always so great, covered in sequins and glitter with bows and fun patterns—some of my favorite clothes items are rare finds of kids’ clothes in giant sizes. Designers, take note and please start making kids clothes and shoes in my size. Designers I love include Pat Field and Cynthia Rowley. I love how their clothes are almost prostitutical but yet so undeniably lovable. I also love Malene Birger. She’s Danish, an artist, really, who’s medium is fabric. She’s just on a totally other level.

What’s your favorite place to shop?

I love Pat Field and Juniper Galaxy. I stop into thrift stores in every city I go to, I also love to hit yard sales when I see them. I love the random game show aspect of it. Let’s see what the prize is today? Oh, a box of dusty old encyclopedias. I lose. Wait, a pair of brand new gold vintage shoes in the box in my size for $1? I WIN!!!! But thrift stores are getting a lot crappier, they are full of Faded Glory/Walmart brands and Old Navy pullovers and less vintage gems. It’s bad for the future of fashion.

What’s your most recent favorite find?

A gorgeous pair of vintage red and blue shoes.

Ooooh, gorgeous indeed!

Have any on-stage or off-stage style pet peeves?

I wish we dressed like it’s the future, ’cause it is. Where are the fish bowls on our heads, the asymmetrical hats, the sci-fi silver outfits and what have you? I also wish that people dressed up more, just for the fun of it. Bankers and even bank robbers dress up. If they can do it, so can everyone else.

If money were no object, what would be your dream on-stage costume/outfit?

I’d dress like Elton John every night. I’d wear extravagant outfits with hats and veils. I dressed like Lady Gaga before Lady Gaga, in my old band “Haunted Pussy.” It was a lot of fun. I saw Grace Jones perform when I was in the Reading & Leeds Festival and she blew my mind. She had all these hats and the hottest legs and her fashion was part of the concert. I was absolutely delighted by it all. I think having a gazillion dollars would be really freeing to my sense of fashion. Rich people dress insane, it’s because they’re rich, so they can.

Delfino Gaga

Any style advice or anything you’d like to add?

Take a chance. How can you truly be yourself if you look just like everyone else? I appreciate people’s necessity to be individual and stand out in their own way. I’ve gotten attitude from people when I dress outlandish, like “Who are you to be so trendy and stylish?” Who am I not to be? Who are you not to be? I also don’t want to die in a lousy outfit. Also, come to the Swap O Rama Rama at NYU on Earth Day afternoon. Bring a bag of clothes, leave with a bag of clothes. I take almost my entire wardrobe and cash it in for a new one once a year.

“How can you truly be yourself if you look just like everyone else?” I Iove that! Lastly, got an item you want to give away, sell or trade?

I got bags and bags of clothes, I’d like to sell, trade or give away including this:

Vintage short sleeve sweater

Snag some designer Delfino by emailing giulia[at]thegloc.net

See Jessica Delfino in her monthly show Skits N’ Tits at Bowery Poetry Club, and buy her awesome album I Wanna Be Famous here. You can find out more about Jessica on her website at JessicaDelfino.com.