Frida Kahlo

Conventions didn't stand a chance with Frida Kahlo. From her nakedly honest self-portraits to her open bisexuality to her radical politics, the Mexican artist wrote her own rules. The same held true for her personal style. Let other women be demure and dainty, pale and powdered; Kahlo dressed in rugged men's suits or color-soaked Mexican traditional blouses and skirts. She played up her famously dramatic features—the heavy brow, brooding eyes, and ink-black hair, center parted and slicked into a bun—and made them her signature. Hypnotically alluring, sensual and earthy, Kahlo's charisma transcended her time so much that stars like Jennifer Lopez and Madonna were scrabbling to star in her life story. The role, of course, went to Salma Hayek, now starring in Julie Taymor's Frida.