Sarah Knows Nothing About Music- Steps Fashion Top 5

If you’ve read any of my posts, you’ll have worked out by now that my music taste is incredibly well-cultivated and trendy. Obviously. This highly discerning nature has existed throughout my entire life, beginning young with my first big musical obsession, Steps. Of course, you know who these ICONS of British pop culture are, but simply for the novelty I will remind you. Big in the late 90s and early 00s, they were a co-ed group developed by Pete Waterman (one of the judges on Pop Idol if you can stretch your mind back that far) who specialised in the very fizziest of pop. There were five of them; Claire (the one who could sing); H (the guy who I still can’t believe I didn’t notice was gay); Lisa (Welsh hair queen); Faye (the blonde one), and Lee (who was also there). You know their bangers, from solid covers Tragedy and Better The Devil You Know through to shitty wedding dancefloor classics like 5,6,7,8 and Last Thing On My Mind (I’m implying the weddings are shitty things, not the songs, god forbid). They were the pop group when I was about 7 years old (them or S Club 7, but to me there’s simply no contest), and thanks to my parents they were also the first music act I ever saw perform live. We even got to visit the glamorous world of Cardiff for the privilege- Cardiff! I loved them, then grew up, pretended I didn’t love them, and now love them still.

Like so many groups from the period, one of Steps’ most iconic elements was their fashion. If you’re ever doing research into what was considered mainstream trendy in around 2000, their videos are a perfect place to start. So many colour-matched outfits, so much flicked-out hair, such frosty eyeshadow! It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. So I thought, instead of doing anything that could risk being considered productive, I would present the greatest five of these little time capsules, so as to give you the gift of some stellar fashion inspo. The songs alongside them are all bangers as well, clearly, but it’s important to look at the styling which presented these tunes to us in all their glory. And yes, this top five is in a particular order. And no, I haven’t included anything from the modern-day era, that’s not what this is about. If you disagree, fight me.

5. Stomp

A heavily disco-influenced party tune, Stomp is a great little thing. And you might think, with such a disco-y sound, the fashion would maybe speak to the era’s heyday in the 1970s. Well you would be a fool. Why do something that logical in a Steps video? This is puuure early 00s.

The video begins with H and Lisa taking the keys to a fancy pad that they’re housesitting at (H saying ‘chill bill’, where is his Oscar). Lisa is rocking a LOT of icy blue eyeshadow here, which she is coordinating with her top, and more importantly HER HAIR. I could talk at length about how much I wanted this hair growing up (wanted, sure, past tense….yes): it’s a deep indigo with light blue highlights sitting at about shoulder length. I cannot express to you how cool I think this is, I mean, thought this was. It is only emphasised later in the video when it is put up in PIGTAILS as she sings lounging on an armchair looking directly into the camera at a party. Such skilled direction. The rest of the hair in this video is pretty strong too; Lee’s Wolverine-style straight up look; Claire’s splayed pink-tipped bun thing, her earlier long pony (as she sings into a headset whilst driving- queen). The only real misstep here is the appearance (of which we will see more) of Faye’s unfortunate dreads. I have no idea why, but stylists gave her this look A LOT throughout the group’s career, and, given that she’s white and blonde….maybe not.

The clothing here has some standout moments too. As mentioned above, Lisa wears pretty much blue everything throughout this video, whilst Claire rocks an ornate peacock-pattern sequinned halter top, and H has the most dramatically acid-washed jeans in the room. And boy are there a lot of bootleg cut jeans here. It was a simpler time.

00’s-ness: 9/10, it’s pretty full-on.

Outfit coordination: 2/10. Aside from the abundance of jeans, they all actually have fairly unique clothes here.

Utter perfection of Lisa’s hair: 9/10. It will get even better, but damn I love the blue.

4. Summer of Love

Which one was Summer of Love I hear you (amateurs) ask? Well, simpletons, it’s the one where Steps have a salsa-off with evil Steps. Duh. This is particularly exciting because it guarantees us two whole outfits, something we don’t always get in a Steps video. Interesting sidebar: one of the tactics K-pop videos use to get fans to obsessively re-watch is having a lot of fast cuts to idols in different outfits. This idea had clearly not been introduced to Steps’ management team.

The ‘good’/’light’ Steps troupe is decked out in simple bold, bright colours, in warm tones for the girls, and blue for the boys. The girls are, of course, all wearing varying lengths of crop top, because it is actually illegal for a woman to appear in a music video without wearing one. Lisa has those cool trousers that split halfway up, giving the illusion of a skirt. Faye has a bandana, and much longer dreads. For God’s sake. Claire has her pink dip-dye again, down this time. The men are also wearing clothes.

Now onto ‘dark’/’evil’ Steps, who are obviously having a lot more fun. They, and the dancers surrounding them, look like the little avatars you used to dress up in gothy outfits on questionable websites before we had social media to occupy us. Faye gets a red halter, black jeans and black arm-ribbon-tassel things, whilst Lisa is given a translucent blue cardigan over a black bra top with cropped black trousers and red boots. These boots match her now jaw-length, deep red hair. Still a fabulous colour, but it’s not the blue moment. Claire has the long ponytail back for her evil incarnation, and is wearing a top so stringy it looks like Edward Scissorhands handed it to her. Again, the men here aren’t adding much, though Lee is rocking the long, straight-up style again and looking good. That was pretty much what he was there to do, so well done Lee. H’s hair is completely typical of the period- dyed blonde and gelled down. His trousers are also studded, but with this guy it’s about how he sells the outfit rather than the clothes themselves. His hand dance moves when he sings ‘re-sist’ are everything. Shout out to Claire’s diamanté choker as well.

00’s-ness: 7/10. It’s there, but slightly hidden by the dance ‘battle’ element.

Outfit coordination: 8/10: both light and dark compliment their respective teams well, though we’re not quite at ‘all one colour’ level yet.

Utter perfection of Lisa’s hair: 7/10. I love the red, but as I say, it’s no blue.

3. Deeper Shade of Blue

This is Steps’ ‘avant garde’ moment. Their ‘blue period’ if you will (chuckles smugly). At least in terms of fashion. Again, we actually get two very distinct looks here, namely ‘gay PVC flight attendant’ and ‘contact lens high couture’. If you don’t believe me, watch the video.

The flight attendant outfits are delightfully matchy-matchy. The royal blue PVC jackets and tight trousers are accented with red gloves and lapels, with little dinky red caps for the girls being the only gender difference we see here. It’s all camp and lovely. BUT THEN THEY MORPH. First, we see H turn into basically C3PO except with bird’s eyes, and a strip of black makeup across his face. Next, we see Faye turn from a very pretty 40s wave and red lip moment (yay no dreads!) into a look that would be at home in the ‘make it yourself’ design challenge on Drag Race. The hair is short, blue and spiked like Lisa Simpson, with an outfit consisting of a metallic silver corset, a sort of spiky blue glass semi-circle tutu, thigh-high black PVC boots and elbow length gloves (so very drag), one hell of a choker, and the most 00s tinted glasses ever. Oh, and then her hair extends and starts moving independently a-la Medusa. It’s a moment.

Next comes Claire, given YET ANOTHER high pony (Ariana eat your heart out) and a full blue, rubber (I think) cat suit complete with studded head covering, matching corset and strategically ripped leg and arm sections. Oh and the hair is also blue, you know, like the song. This colour scheme continues to the entire top half of Lee’s face (poor boy gets no top at all and is left with only silvery trousers to prance around in) and ALL of Lisa’s body. Bless her heart. Shamefully we see the least of her edgy alter-ego, but what we do get is most notable for how her blue body, boob tube and miniskirt are contrasted with bright red lips, nails, eyes, eyeshadow and of course, the hair. We don’t get a lot of it, but boy she steals the show.

There is legitimately no reason for the members to have alter-egos in this video (aside from the line “I’m a darker shade of me”, but still, it’s a stretch), but my God what iconic moments they all create in getting them. Even Lee’s having fun.

00’s-ness: 5/10. This is more of an abstract moment for the group. Free from the constraints of time and place. Apart from Faye’s glasses.

Outfit coordination: 9/10. They literally wear the same thing for half the video, and the aesthetic matches in the other half.

Utter perfection of Lisa’s hair: 8/10. They make amazing use of the red, but alas, I want…a deeper shade of blue. You’re welcome.

2. Say You’ll Be Mine

Say You’ll Be Mine has two things which make this rank so highly:

1) Movie pastiches

2) ALL GOLD COORDINATED OUTFITS.

I don’t know what more you want. This video gives us H as Austin Powers and Faye as Heather Graham, H as Leo and Lisa as Kate in Titanic (I ship it-ha, geddit?), Lee and Claire as Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz in There’s Something About Mary and Lee and Lisa as, I’m assuming, characters from Armageddon. H actually doubles up on his Leo roles, playing Romeo to Claire’s Juliet, and also Faye is Catwoman. What else could you ask for?

These movie fashion nods are all amazing in and of themselves, but pale in comparison to the dance outfits. Here, Steps fully commit to the ‘we’re-all-going-to-wear-one-colour’ motif (see Love’s Got a Hold on My Heart or Better Best Forgotten for more there), and they pick the colour of VICTORY. The girls are once again in various lengths of crop top, with Lisa getting the cropped, fringed trouser, Faye the sliiightly longer edition, and Claire the baggy look WITH A TRANSLUCENT SKIRT OVER IT. So very 90s. As are Lisa’s chunky platform heels, also in gold. But my favourite part of their outfits? Gold has actually been put into their darn hair. Faye has gold strewn through her short dreads (seriously stop it, you’re white), Claire has a glittering gold gelled-down fringe, and Lisa has gold highlights in her now long, auburn hair. Swoon. The boys are obviously more boring, though kudos to both for making the gold bodywarmer look work. It’s also worth mentioning that these outfits aren’t all just the same colour- they’re the same fabric. Ah, they don’t make ‘em like that anymore. Probably because of the fire hazard.

00’s-ness: 4/10. This was actually released in December 1999 so they can get away with the more 90s looks.

Outfit coordination: 10/10. Its. The. Same. Fabric.

Utter perfection of Lisa’s hair: 9/10. Again, loving the auburn, and the gold highlights are just *chef’s kiss*. But better is to come…

1. The Way You Make Me Feel

More like the way Steps makes ME feel, amirite? Throughout many, many iconic fashion moments, nothing tops the video in which we get to see what it would look like if our favourite five were in a Jane Austen novel.

We open with a shot of a bridge and a carriage, and then BOOM, outfit number one: Faye. Whilst the awful dreads are SOMEHOW still here, the rest of the outfit takes its cue from Say You’ll Be Mine by being an entirely gold gown. It has an unusual, semi-crumb catcher style neckline and a complimentary fan. More to come. The assault continues with H, wearing a grey suit, the ruffliest shirt in existence, and spiked-up blonde highlights. Clashing the period details, I love it. Before we have time to recover, we rush to Lisa, playing the harp (we stan a talented queen), and wearing her signature electric light blue. We don’t get to see it in its full glory yet, but rest assured, the hair is indigo, long, and with light blue highlights. Bliss. Claire then strides behind in a pink corset and floor-length skirt, with a blinged-out necklace that would have been at the higher end in the Argos catalogue. Lee is also decked out in a flouncy shirt (though not quite as flouncy as H’s), a waistcoat and a necktie. The hair is more accurate to the period than anyone else’s, but that’s because literally no one else is trying.

When we get the full-length shots of the girls’ looks, we see that Lisa is also in a corset/skirt combo, with matching knee-length boots and a choker. Queen. Faye’s dress has a split up one side and a longer skirt, and buttons running up the spine on the back. They all dance together in a Georgian-style hall in a semi-Austen fashion (shout out to the dancer wearing just an underskirt and blending in), with the girls’ long skirts in their hands and fans at the ready. And I simply swoon. I seem to remember the girls actually had some say over the outfits they chose in this video, which is even cooler in my eyes. Swishy partnered dancing, colour-blocked gowns, flouncy shirts and 00s style still sneaking in, the peak of fashion is truly here.

00’s-ness: irrelevant. We’re in the 1800s. But edgy.

Outfit coordination: all perfect, so all a 10.

Utter perfection of Lisa’s hair: