Siobhan Magnus: American Idol Season 9's fashionista

Making the stage her runway
Siobhan Magnus' quirky ensembles have met with mixed reviews on American Idol, with even mentor Usher gently suggesting she might want to tone it down a notch. But for Lucky creative director Andrea Linett, the 20-year-old's sense of style is refreshing. "(We're) used to seeing people dressed by stylists, but she's obviously dressing herself, which makes it so charming," she says. Linett and USA TODAY's Kristin McGrath take a closer look at Siobhan's fashion choices so far.

"She has a real knack for layering," says Linett. For Siobhan's first semifinals appearance on Wicked Game, "I loved the way she put the slip under the black dress. It was like she thought, ‘If I put something underneath, you'll see a little lace.' You get a sense that she's having fun putting her outfits together."

"She likes to take an evening look that might ordinarily be kind of conservative and then she roughs it up," says Linett.
She's the chic but awkward teenager," says Linett. "But it's all intentional. It's a basic prom dress and she punks it up with the boots, the tights and the cool necklace."
"She loves the '80s," says Linett about Magnus' hair on Billboard No. 1 Hits Night, when she sang Superstition. "The rest is a cute, normal outfit. But she always throws one thing in, like Iron Chef, and this time it's the hair."
Despite Usher's cautionary advice, Magnus took risks on Through the Fire with an outfit that featured snowboot-like footwear from Missy Elliott's line. And that paid off, Linett says. "She's having fun, and I definitely think it works. She's young, and she looks cute. She's finding her stage presence."
Magnus took fashion out of this world for her performance of Across the Universe from the Lennon-McCartney songbook. "It was almost couture," says Linett of Siobhan's frothy dress. "It was almost crazy high fashion, but with that vintage thrift-store appeal. I like the way she put a tailored vest over it. You get the sense she would never wear something off the rack. She's a customizer."
Decked out in butterflies, Magnus took on When You Believe for Songs of Inspiration Night. Although judge Simon Cowell found the performance "odd" and mistook the butterflies for leaves, Linett found them "charming" and said they "show some originality."

The look is "a departure from her usual ‘80s-teen-movie-heroine look," Linett says. "Here, she reminds me of a futuristic pixie."