Hey, I Like Your Style! Exploring the wardrobe of New Zealand comedian and actor, Johanna Cosgrove
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID ARGUE
WORDS BY CAIT EMMA BURKE
“My wardrobe looks like a grungey 15-year-old went to a deceased drag queen’s estate sale and cleaned out all the funereal stuff.”
We know personal style is a journey (I’m looking at you, Tumblr years) and our series Hey, I Like Your Style! dives into the fashion psyche of our favourite creatives. We’re talking the good, the bad and the 2007.
While the internet has made our fashion icons feel closer than ever before, even the most effortless of outfits came from a closet with some (well-dressed) skeletons. Clickable product tags, photo archives and lives chronicled in 30-second clips just don’t tell the full story.
For more fashion news, shoots, articles and features, head to our Fashion section.
These are the stories behind the wardrobes, exploring how we develop our personal style. There’s a brilliance behind the way we choose to express ourselves and at FJ, we know every outfit has a story. For this instalment of Hey, I Like Your Style!, we enter the wardrobe of New Zealand actor, writer and comedian, Johanna Cosgrove.
Blessed with a whipsmart sense of humour and a truly unfair amount of charisma, Johanna’s style is an extension of her inimitable personality – bold, maximalist and incredibly fun. Her wardrobe features an array of New Zealand designers like Jimmy D, Gloria, Kowtow and Zambesi and secondhand pieces that hark back to the ’60s, ’80s and ’90s, her favourite eras style-wise.
She describes her sense of style as being “Like if Brigitte Bardot went on a bender with Debbie Harry and Kathleen Hanna and they woke up reeking of cigarettes and jungle juice and wearing each other’s clothes”, and I really couldn’t come up with a more apt description than that. Later this month you can bear witness to her magnetic stage presence and one-of-a-kind style yourself at her one-woman show Hi, Delusion! for Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Read on to hear about her style journey so far.
Who are you and what do you like to wear?
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I’m Johanna Cosgrove. I’m an actor, writer and comedian based in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) and my wardrobe looks like a grungey 15-year-old went to a deceased drag queen’s estate sale and cleaned out all the funereal stuff. I once publicly described my personal style as “bogan glamour” but in reality, I like to wear clothes that make me feel a) sexy b) effortless and c) like I’m about to accept my long-deserved Oscar.
What has your style evolution looked like? Do you feel like you’ve gained confidence in the way you dress?
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Looking back at childhood photos where I am bedecked in veils and black satin at age three has made me realise that my penchant for theatrical dressing has always been… strong. I’m now 31 and am still whipping out the veils and black satin at any professional opportunity! I’ve always had a strong point of view regarding clothes and on more than one occasion forced that onto other people (my younger sister is still traumatised from me stapling her into handmade paper bikinis).
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This kind of dogmatic urge for creative control has long instilled an ill-gotten sense of confidence in me when it comes to style. As a girl whose weight fluctuates (shot PCOS) sometimes certain clothing items just straight up don’t fit properly which causes me irritation (read: full-scale screaming tantrums) but I firmly stand by the philosophy that I will one day get tattooed in cursive gothic text on my lower back: ‘Hotness is irrelevant to size’. In terms of personal style, feeling hot is the only thing that matters to me and lord knows that if I intuit that my extremely tight tennis skort will give me the juice to face the world and its horrors, I’ll be wearing it.
Personal style is a journey. Have you ever felt like you needed to fit into a particular fashion box?
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Although I now operate a strict capsule wardrobe that fits into three full-size suitcases, I am not immune to trends. Mum instilled a love of op shopping into us at a very early age which in the early 2000s was humiliating. Rocking up to school in a secondhand non-label hoodie when it was ESSENTIAL to have your own Roxy/Billabong/Quicksilver piece – you could fucking forget about having a turn on the elastics at morning tea!
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The embarrassment faded when I realised I could look just like Effie from Skins with one lucky trip to the secondhand shop. As an adult, I am occasionally swayed by these whimsical Y2K fairies on TikTok with their tiny waists and thousands of dollars of low-rise rags but ultimately I know that I’m always happier when it’s a piece that I’ve bought/borrowed because it looks good on my body and that I’ve never personally felt slay in a chocolate coloured tiered skirt with frayed seams and a chunky pendant.
Take us back to those awkward teenage years. Do you have any fashion regrets?
Why the fuck did I think I could wear muted jewel tones! Why did I go underage clubbing looking like a real estate agent with a ‘smart’ blazer and peplum top! Why did I make my own bootleg House of Holland T-shirt with spray paint! Why did I own an owl pendant! Jeggings!!!
What are the most expensive and least expensive items in your wardrobe?
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The least expensive is a secondhand Glassons skirt I bought last week at the hospice shop for $4 and the most expensive is a beautiful fire engine red magenta robe by New Zealand label Gloria that, at the time of acquisition, retailed for $700.
What is the most meaningful fashion piece you own?
A T-shirt that my grandmother embroidered for me as a kid. It says my name on the chest with a big purple butterfly. She spent three days making it for me. I wear it now as a slutty baby tee.
Who or what influences your style?
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Thinking in terms of eras it would be a mash-up of the ’60s, ‘80s and ’90s. Like if Brigitte Bardot went on a bender with Debbie Harry and Kathleen Hanna and they woke up reeking of cigarettes and jungle juice and wearing each other’s clothes. My outfits are usually very mood-dependent but if I’m performing you best believe I’m pulling out all the stops and whipping out the thigh-high eight-inch patent boots at a bare minimum!! Theatre!!!
What fashion piece are you saving for right now?
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A winter coat! I want one of those chic black, 100 per cent lamb’s wool and silk coats that fall to the ground with a turned-up collar so I can walk around looking mysterious and rich. That, or customised leather pants (for casual daily wear, obviously).
What are the wardrobe items you wear on repeat?
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A long sleeve full-length black dress from Kowtow, a hoodie from Nom*D, a T-shirt made by a friend Connie (@princessconstance) that says ‘Princess Di was Murdered’, a leather motorcycle jacket I bought in Edinburgh at a vintage store and a bra and undies set from new New Zealand lingerie label Ohen that I’m simply in love with.
Who are your favourite local designers?
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I’m a ride-or-die bitch for New Zealand designers! The talent in Aotearoa is unbelievable. Pretty much 80 per centt of the things in my wardrobe are by Jimmy D, Gloria (formerly known as Miss Crabb) Nom*D, Zambesi, J Palm and Kowtow. I love how dark and sexy and irreverent these labels are! I make it a rule to minimise my fast fashion intake as much as possible and either buy secondhand or save up and hurl my dollars at local designers – keep those landfills empty girls!
See more of Johanna’s outfits here. To secure your ticket to Johanna’s upcoming Melbourne International Comedy Festival show Hi, Delusion!, head here.
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