Posted by Leslie Price on 07/30/2012 at 11:06 AM Style

The Popdust Files: cher lloyd, simon cowell, x-factor

If you’re a Popdust reader, you’re well familiar with 19-year-old Cher Lloyd.

Photo: Getty Images

The U.K. sensation’s first stateside single, “I Want You Back,” is playing in near constant rotation on Top 40 radio. Across the pond, the small-town girl from Malvern, Worcestershire first captured audiences’ attention with her sometimes polarizing performances on the U.K. version of X Factor. She failed to win the competition (coming in a totally respectable fourth place), but her talent, stage presence, and looks caught judge Simon Cowell’s attention and he signed her to his label, Syco Music. Cowell has said that Cher is pop music’s next big thing, and while we’ll know better when her debut album drops in September, she’s already established herself as a gamine-to-watch in the fashion world.

Photo: Getty Images

Here are four reasons American teens may be copping Cher’s look come fall:

1. SHE ALREADY HAS A SIGNATURE ACCESSORY

Photo: Getty Images

Elton John has his spectacles, Michael Jackson had a glove, and Cher Lloyd has a bandana, which she wraps and knots like a street wear version of a headband. It takes a dressy outfit down a notch, like when she paired a red paisley style with a little black dress, gold chains and pink lips for a red carpet event, and adds flair to everyday looks.

Photo: Vevo

2. SHE’S A CHAMELEON

Photo: Vevo

One minute, she’s a girly-girl in a miniskirt, heels and long wavy hair, the next she’s channeling an entirely different, edgier, more tomboyish side. You never know what to expect, but you know whatever you are going to get will be interesting.

Photo: Fame/Flynet

 

3. SHE’S FEARLESS ABOUT HER HAIR

Like fellow style icon Rihanna, the singer changes her hair on the regular. She was recently papped with her long curls pinned up in a retro faux-hawk, but we’ve also seen her with an Amy Winehouse-esque bouffant, a sleek bob, her hair dyed bright red and, perhaps most daring of all, with half of her head shaved. When Avril tried that we weren’t feeling it but on Cher, it’s somehow flattering.

4. EVEN HER CASUAL CLOTHES ARE A BIT BONKERS

Photo: Fame/Flynet

Any self-respecting pop star goes a little over-the-top even under normal circumstances. We don’t know what Nicki Minaj wears to the grocery store, but we imagine it’s tight, colorful and worn with a big wig. Cher, on the other hand, has been papped repeatedly doing mundane errands, and she’s managed to stand out by combining basics like sweats and jeans with more fashion-forward pieces like wedge sneakers, black moto jackets and, of course, her iconic bandana.

Photo: Fame/Flynet