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There are so many influential fashion icons over the past 40 years, but here's my Top 10 Female Musicians Turned Fashion Icons: 

Note: I'm uncommitable to hiearchy, which kind of defeats the purpose of a top 10 list, but the following is a compilation of women who played a key role in music and their fashion made a mark on celebrity and the common person's sense of style.  I've attempted to compile these icons chronologically (with a few exceptions when one musician leads into another through fashion influence).  Let me know if these female musicians turned fashion icons have influenced your style or not.

The first female musician is Janis Joplin, who may seem a little unlikely as a fashion icon because she was seen in the '60's as a "dirty hippie" often on the verge of nudity.  But what she did wear is still present in today's trends.

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Joplin's patchwork pants, fringe vests, headbands, and long layered necklaces has infused itself into the styles of singers like Joss Stone.  As reacently as August of 2008, Fashion Rocks magazine published a spread in honor of Joplin's still prevalent style.

In the '70's, Debbie Harry of Blondie took over the fashion world with her high-wasted skinny jeans and monochromatic slinky dresses that hugged all the right places.

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Her bold styles have been adopted by such singers as Ashlee Simpson.  On Gwen Stefani's sophomore album with No Doubt, Return to Saturn, she became a carbon-copy of Harry.  But that was just the beginning of her fashion take over because she's since become a fashion icon all her own.

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Stefani isn't affraid to try anything because she's got the confidence to pull it off.  Not only has each album (No Doubt and solo) along with each video  transformed her style.  She sports sexy on stage costumes and rocks sophisticated attire in her day to day life.  Her line, L.A.M.B is funky and successful but it comes with a high fashion price.  She's going to continue to be a force in fun fashion for girls of all ages.

The 80's gave us our next female singer turned fashion icon.  Pat Benatar.  Her fashion sense seems effortless with it's rock edge mixed with disco glam, Yet she's making her mark on current trends (liquid leggings) in addition to other singers, like Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs (who adds a bit of Joan Jett to her style).

                                                                                                        anewmuse.com

The fifth female musician to turn fashion icon is Madonna.  A given, but her influence is indescribable for the fashion world.  Yes, Like A Virgin fashions seep into the outfits of celebs and the like often but even her misunderstoon looks, like Vogue cones, barely there Erotica s&m fashion, "Frozen" goth and even when she went the western route on Music, her mark is made.  You want a fashion icon, pick one: you've got about 10 different looks to choose from with Madonna.

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The last of the '80's  female musicians were the anti-fashion icon of the time: The Go-Go's.  They prided themselves on having true rock-n-roll attitudes.  While bands like Heart were glam-rocking out with leather coats and boots (masculine styles like those of other "hair bands"), The Go-Go's were performing on stage as if they were either at a house party or heading to prom.

                                                  morrisonhotelgallery.com                                                      souledoutmusic.net

The Go-Go''s domented the music world while they were hot, but they also mean a lot to "fashion-savvy" women of today. Right now, everything is '80's friendly and it's virtually impossible to step into Brooklyn with out feeling the influence. From celebs like Barton to the regular hipster college students, 80's fashion has made it's comeback.

Number seven on the list is an urban fashion icon: Erykah Badu. She mixes traditional African garb with funky hip-hop fashions.  When Badu began her career in the early '90's, she wore traditional headwraps but she currently rocks the natural afro.

                                                  starpulse.com                                                                                         sunsentinal.com

No matter how she wears her hair, Badu's style is unmistakable. She's bold and true to her urban roots.  You can see her look replicated through other hip-hop artists, such as Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott.  Badu not only makes fashion statements, she states that African American women should embrace their natural beauty.

Shania Twain is a female musician turned fashion icon because she changed the way the music industry and world looked at country singers.  Prior to Twain, the country music genre was filled with honky-tonk type women--their fashion sense had only moved from ruffly prarie-style dresses to tight Reba McEntire wranglers and cowboy button-ups .   Then Twain came along and took the twang out of country when she dared to be sexy by baring her midriff.  Her sound was more pop that country and her style reflected that.  The country music industry didn't dig on it and she was essentially kicked out of Nashville. 

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Not only has her pop/country sound been reproduced over the past decade but her style has too, such singers like Faith Hill (who originally gained success around the same time as Twain but her style has transformed over the years to be more like Twain's), Dixie Chicks, and most recently, Carrie Underwood.  Country became sexy when Twain came along.

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Okay, so Courtney Love may not be the type of fashion icon you're inspired by, and I know I would never set foot outside looking like the disaster she often did when her career began/peaked.  But the thing is, the bad must be taken with the good, and she was the queen of grunge.   There's no denying that, for some reason, grunge just never goes away.  Love was the chick rocker of the '90's and she partied as hard as the boys...which showed in her style.  But young women were seen all across the country wearing babydoll dresses, docs, and greasy bleached hair.  It was like, for a few years, some women threw out the idea that we need to be pretty to be liked and she gave that to us.  Women rockers, like Brody Dalle, of the Distillers, is keeping Love's attitude and sound alive, while Amy Winestone and Mary-Kate Olsen are just keeping her look.

The final female musician turned fashion icon on my list is Roisin Murphy.  She's taking the music world by storm with her unique sound and style.  Like her music, she takes influences from all decades and many genres.  Murphy's not a woman to be put in a box and labeled--she's unpredictable and fearless.  I feel like she embodies every female fashion icon on this list in one way or another and she's able to pull it all off.  

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Although not everyone is a fan of her style, but only time will tell who will attempt her daring yet playful outfits..  I have a feelings she's going to be around for a while, and with her talent, I certainly hope so.

So, that's my top 10 Female Musicians Turned Fashion Icons, let me know what you think.