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"As an emo NYU coed, I was an early adopter of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, checking out their first shows in Manhattan's East Village. Since then, the band's boisterously branded tunage has taken up permanent residence on every workout, dance-till-dawn, and breakup playlist on my iPod, and vocalist (and fellow NYUer) Karen O's costumes, designed by her longtime pal Christian Joy, have become eyepopping precursors to the bold looks of Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj.\n\n \"At first I wasn't wearing anything special. [Then] I met Christian, and we had an immediate rapport,\" explains Karen, who admires the stylish swag of Elton John and Grace Jones. \"She made me a deconstructed car crash prom dress. I remember thinking, 'Please, rock gods, let me live up to this dress.' I didn't know if I could pull it off, but I did. The rest is history.\"\n\n Karen's famous rock alter ego is a far scream from her introverted everyday persona\u2014she describes herself as extremely modest and conservative. It's the stagewear, Christian explains, that takes her from being Karen to being Karen O: \"It's like Superman changing into his costume and suddenly he can fly.... It gives you something to inhabit and you're no longer onstage as yourself being vulnerable.\"\n\n With more than a decade of consistent, fearless albums and wardrobe changes, Miss O has literally found her strong suit with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' latest self-assured release, Mosquito. \"I like a little androgyny\u2014I've been preoccupied with suits and glam rock, but it turns into total psychedelic, Western pimp daddy,\" Karen says with a laugh. \"These things have been brewing inside me. I feel like I've earned the right to wear and rock them\u2014I've finally graduated.\" Major pomp and circumstance!\n\n Want to know more about Karen's edgy stagewear, her designer's inspiration, and her awkward teen years? Read on for our web-exclusive Q&amp;amp;A!"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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