The first time I visited the midwest, I found myself in the passenger seat of a car as one of my girlfriends was driving me out to Minneapolis. She pointed toward a sign off the right side for “Winona, Minnesota”. 

“Like Winona Ryder?”, I asked. She nodded, telling me the small town was the actress, and my idol’s, namesake. The more you know.

Where to start with Winona, forever our 90s Ingenue.

Maybe it’s appropriate to start with Johnny Depp’s “Winona Forever” tattoo. I’d hate to define a woman as a man, but I think it’s significant to mention the way he pined for her years into his relationship with Kate Moss. If Johnny Depp is thinking about you while he’s with an international supermodel, you must be remarkable.

Did I mention their song was “Crazy for You” by Madonna? Nothing screams teenage dream quite like that. That song is sweeter than sugar.

Male species aside, it’s impossible to deny that Winona is special. She has always been trendless, unmoved by what everybody else is wearing or how they’re plucking their eyebrows. The heart of her beauty identity is simple makeup that suits her. That being said, it doesn’t hurt that she’s the perfect doe-eyed face for the smokey eye, berry lipstick era of the 90s. These days, she cites lipstick as her makeup staple.

So what makes her so special? Where did her sparkle originate? Maybe it’s the fact that she was raised in a commune on 380 acres of the redwood forest. Maybe it’s the fact that her godfather was a well-known LSD advocate. Either way, she’s cool through and through. What other 14-year-old girl was obsessed with the sex pistols? But then again, there’s nobody else in Hollywood quite like Winona.

Original now, original forever. Winona, you have my heart forever.

xo -VS Girl

FEATURED

EXPLORE VANITY STORIES