All Hail the Swamp Queen: Doechii’s Ever-Evolving Style

Doechii performing at the Grammy Museum in Dec. 2024. Photo by CwE via openverse.org

After a highly successful year in 2024, Doechii has left claw marks on the music industry, and she’s not letting go.

Doechii, whose real name is Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, has made quite a name for herself over the past few years. The Tampa native has had several viral hits throughout her career, but with the release of her mixtape “Alligator Bites Never Heal” in Aug. 2024, her popularity soared. Compared to her previous music, this mixtape was much rawer. With 19 brutally honest tracks that dive deep into topics of mental health, the music industry and sobriety, the mixtape resonated with audiences everywhere.

Doechii acknowledged that her sound changed from previous releases, and that was exactly what she intended. In an interview with The Forty-Five, she said, “I gravitate towards any sound as long as I show up as myself… My music and everything else just aligns with exactly who I am and where I am right now, which feels like a lesson.”

With this rebrand of musical style comes a rebrand of personal style. Sam Woolf, Doechii’s stylist since 2023, wanted her look to reflect the growth of her style of music.

“During the summer, when she was recording, we were both looking for a way to change things up. Doechii wanted her style to reflect that she’s grown up and out of this playful trashy world. After hearing the project and its direction, we started experimenting with this preppy aesthetic, suiting, tailoring, office siren,” Woolf said. 

For her tour and performances, Doechii fully leaned into the “office siren” aesthetic. Working with brands like Thom Browne, Vivienne Westwood and Miu Miu, she picked tailored suits, collared shirts and pinstripes to represent her growth.

“This tour reflects an immense amount of personal growth for me this year. I did a lot of studying; studying myself and a student of hip-hop, which you can see reflected in some of the academia looks I wore on this tour,” she said in an interview with Vogue. “We intentionally chose pieces that create a throughline or a ‘preppy narrative,’ but still gave us enough freedom to make them funk and ‘Doechii.’ The timeless collared shirt is an example of a throughline piece we used to ground every look on tour.”

The combination of Doechii’s fast-paced flow and eye-catching style garnered a lot of attention. When her Tiny Desk concert with NPR was posted, clips of her rapping “Nissan Altima” at a quicker speed than the original went viral, showcasing her diction and musical talent. The academia style was reflected in each member of the band as well as Doechii herself, with tennis skirts, collared shirts and sweaters on display.

“It ended up being a blend of office, preppy and streetwear. We really leaned into her masculine energy,” Woolf said about the look. 

Doechii’s performance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” also caused a buzz. Not only was she wearing a perfectly tailored Gucci shirt and skirt set, but she also had braids weaved into each of her backup dancers’ braids. She impressively choreographed an entire number while being connected via the braids, looking flawless while doing it. 

While “The Late Show” number showcased her talent, as well as her personal style, many people online commented on Doechii’s use of prominent face tape. Face tape is often used to lift features of the face to achieve an ideal look, but it is often stigmatized. Doechii, however, does not care about the stigma and addressed the use of her face tape in a video where she said that the visible face tape is completely intentional. 

Even though her style is a reflection of the growing up she’s doing, Doechii still gets playful with her fits. In a surprise appearance during a show of Tyler, The Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA Tour, she donned boxing gloves, a leather trapper hat, a sweater and khakis to sing her verse on the song “Balloon.” With her endless energy, the look showcased her fun and energetic side while still sticking to her academia theme. 

The end of 2024 was incredibly successful for Doechii. With several viral hits and looks, one can assume that the Swamp Queen will only be bigger and bolder with her presence in 2025.