It sounds like BS to say someone's primary defining quality is their je ne sais quoi, but for Aaliyah, it was actually true. Her ability to look stunning in anything—mostly tomboyish baggy jeans and a crop top—wasn't necessarily just about her sinewy, athletic body or her angelic face. It was about the look she gave you, that sense that you never knew what was truly going down beneath her cat-eyed gaze. It was all tied into the music, obviously—the way she and her team of Timbaland, Static Major, Missy and them wrote the songs was like they were letting you in on a secret—and, moreso, her wispy voice feeding into her essential unknowability.


Aaliyah in 2001.
Photo: Getty Images

Beyond that, of course, the Brooklyn-born, Detroit-raised Aaliyah Dana Houghton was the epitome of LOOKING BKLYN FLY. She still is, to be sure—look on Opening Ceremony's website, or on Tumblr, or on cool current musical women, from the underground (DJ Venus X, rapper Junglepussy) up to the mainstream (hello, Rihanna and Ciara), to see how her look endures. Most people associate her look with Tommy Jeans ads and her "One In A Million" videos—the diamondique bra top and baggy jeans of the title track, in particular, as well as the trenchcoat and pirate du-rag of "4 Page Letter." This shot, taken at Summer Jam in 1997, was one example of that iconic zone: those omnipresent sunglasses (which, along with various eyepatches, led to a weird and unfounded rumor that she had a lazy eye), an athletic-inspired croptop, and what appear to be breakaway pants, all sexified with simple silver jewelry and heaps of attitude.


Aaliyah in 1997.
Photo: Getty Images

The influence of those looks, with the feminine top, boyish bottom, and, often, a sexy man-boxer sticking out the top of the beltline, cannot be overstated. But it's also true that Aaliyah had a full style evolution from the first inklings of fame to her devastating untimely death, that reflected her growth as an artist, a woman, more than a woman.