Date: August 31, 2006 Author: Sarah Rowland Publication: straight.com Headline: Tegan Transformed

An indie-pop icon abandons her folked-up look for new street chic. Shortly after recording Tegan and Sara's critically acclaimed 2004 release So Jealous, singer-guitarist Tegan Quin decided her indie-pop quintet needed a makeover. "I sort of had an intervention with the guys in the band 'cause they're very cute, but they were wearing these big stretched-out jeans and weird-coloured shirts. So I was like, 'Look, we all look fat.'" With that, Tegan, who is based out of Vancouver, and her twin sister/musical collaborator Sara, who is based out of Montreal, turned up the style-consciousness. For Tegan, this transformation from hokey folkie to hip new waver meant saying no to neon kicks and saying yes to neon ginch. This new street-chic look, which you can check out on Tegan and Sara's recently released "It's Not Fun. Don't Do It!" DVD, also consists of a lot of basic black, her ever-present high-tops, and one kick-ass asymmetrical 'do courtesy of Chad Taylor from Moods Hair Salon in Yaletown and Claudia Poulin from Mood by Pure in Montreal. And even though the former womb mates live on opposite ends of the country, according to Tegan, they still rock a lot of the same looks. Here, she gives us a rundown on what those are. Latest obsession "I bought a pair of $35 black jeanlike pants from H&M [in Montreal] and I felt so addicted to them in the first week that I actually had Sara go get me another pair. I have a feeling that these will be a part of my uniform forever." Preferred jean cut "We're really into tight, tapered jeans-we even hand-taper them sometimes-which is probably bad. My mom is always like, 'You shouldn't wear jeans like that, it makes your hips look bigger' and I'm like, 'Whatever' because we don't care. We're going against Oprah." Current foot fetish "White leather Converse. I bought three pair at once. The first pair ripped almost right out of the sole after three months because I was wearing them constantly, so I'm on the second pair right now. I am wearing those shoes to death for sure." Favourite top "I have a really fun T-shirt that I got at Plenty on Robson. I have it in black and in a bright green, and it has a zebra on it. And I basically go back and forth. My roommate always says, 'Today's the green day. That must mean tomorrow's the black day.'" Must-have gonch "I wear American Apparel boys' underwear because a) they're cheap and b) they just fit. They're, like, amazingly comfortable. We always laugh and say, 'They hold the muffins in.' Besides that, they're cute. They come in great colours and what isn't hot about a girl wearing neon boys' underwear?" Lingerie philosophy "I would love to get a proper bra made or buy expensive cool-looking fancy bras, but I'm just not there yet. Maybe I just don't take my clothes off enough. When I hear some of my friends talking about getting bras made for 150 bucks, I'm like, 'What the…?'" Bag du jour "I'm kind of obsessed with this black-and-white checkered Dickies backpack. I take it everywhere-even though it's really big and hot and it makes me sweaty. I really love it." Prized jewellery "Last year I got these hip-hop-style square diamonds [earrings], but within a month I lost one of them. So I took the other one out, put it in a drawer, and was like, 'I'm obviously not mature or responsible enough to wear you yet, so I'm going to come back and revisit you later.'" Makeup routine "I've always been really plain. The women in my family tend to go as long as they can before they start packing it on. So I wear Almost Makeup [Clinique]. It's really light. It's more like a toner. And it's got SPF 15 in it, which is good 'cause I burn really easily. I put that on and some mascara and I'm ready to go."