Lists: Washington's best dressed musicians

By Chris Richards

Washington's own U.S. Royalty returned from New York City's annual CMJ Music Marathon with a new feather in its proverbial cap: Esquire magazine had named them the festival's best dressed band.

This might come as welcome news to a local indie rock community that's constantly slagging on itself for its supposed lack of great bands and its supposed lack of well-dressed people -- two attitudes around town that we've always thought were bunk. But U.S. Royalty weren't the first musicians in D.C. that knew how to get dressed. Click Track ranks the most stylish musicians in our fair city's history.

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10. The Delta 72: If you've seen Cat Power on tour recently and wondered who that bespoke keyboardist is, it's Gregg Foreman, former frontman of erstwhile D.C. soul-punks the Delta 72.

9. Trouble Funk circa "In Times of Trouble": Breaking from their usual high-tops/tank-tops/sweatpants thing, Trouble are looking like the forebears to Dungeon Family on this 1983 album cover.

8. Wicked Witch: I actually saw a guy dressed like this at the Nicki Minaj show at D.C. Star on Saturday and now deeply regret not asking him if he makes distressed synth-funk, too.

(Riot grrrls and soulmen, after the jump)

7. Jonathan Fire*Eater: Before they morphed into lauded NYC band the Walkmen, and after they had graduated from the preppy halls of St. Albans, they were Jonathan Fire*Eater, one of our city's most dapper rock bands.

6. Juju: These guys looked as intense as the spiritual free jazz they created.

5. Vernon Burch: If you're going to wear a yellow velour sweater and pink leather pants, everyone is going to buy your album. Then everyone is going to discover that Deee-Lite sampled your slide whistle for "Groove is in the Heart."

4. The Make-Up: The best-dressed band in the history post-harDCore. Not a tall order, but still.

3. Bikini Kill: Everything about these riot grrrl superheroes was wildly influential, including their fashion sense. Without Bikini Kill, Karen O would probably be wearing Zubaz or something.

2. Duke Ellington: He tops a lot of Washington music lists, but not this one.

1. Marvin Gaye: He's Marvin Gaye.