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When George Verger isn’t working his multiple day jobs as a costume designer, stylist, secondhand-clothing buyer, and custom fabricator, he’s updating his cult-favorite throwback Instagram account @destinyslegendarychildren. The feed is a trove of noughties images, such Gwen Stefani circa her No Doubt hot-pink-hair days, complete with rhinestone bellybutton rings (and belly chains!), and of course, plenty of Destiny’s Child. But among the cheeky glam shots of Kelly Rowland and super-low-slung jeans, Verger himself will occasionally will make an appearance on the feed, typically flashing some leg in a dress and a skirt.
Though it’s not new for men to wear dresses or skirts—i.e.: Kanye West and Jaden Smith—Verger’s style is heavily influenced by the icons that fill his feed, or rather, his digital mood board. “At its core it’s a fan site for all these iconic femme figures that have raised me culturally, so they are a huge influence,” he writes in an email. “While I don't generally dress in full-on pop star drag, or as an extra out of Clueless, nostalgia is a big part of my style.” His outfits have a turn-of-the-millennium flair, like a black dress with O-cutouts around the waist—something Xtina may have worn—or a long sweater dress with a harness on top of it.
Currently, Verger is going through what he calls a “country fabulous” stage, inspired by music videos like Destiny’s Child’s glitzed-up buckaroo “Bug a Boo” or “Don’t Tell Me,” starring Madonna as a midriff-baring cowgirl. “I’m influenced by Westernwear of the late ’90s and early 2000s. I’ve been wearing Cabela’s hunting pants that look like chaps sewn on top of jeans, giving this sort of subversive sexuality to them that really excites me,” he says. “Next month, I'll probably get tired of that look and evolve on to something else.” Some trends he wants to try? Verger is looking to explore sheer looks, thanks to the Fall 2017 Calvin Klein collection. “I loved how Raf Simons used texture under transparency. I’d like to try something like that with fur or feathers,” he writes. Though no matter how his style changes, the root of his aesthetic remains the same. “The way I dress has always been a key source of self expression for me,” he writes. “It's interwoven into my identity.”