Lady Gaga: Unconventional by Intent, Still Not a Fashion Icon Yet

Lady Gaga's fashion sense is something that you cannot just pass. It is there, characterizing her from the top to the bottom, and if there is anything more that she is going to be remembered for, besides her exceptional stage performances and progressive, even provocative video clips, it would be her extravagant outfits.

Lady Gaga is Eccentric by Intent

Being awarded the "Style Icon 2009" Lady Gaga got wild reviews proving that nothing she does is minor. Everything in the "Gaga world" is premeditated and intentional, designed to become a huge production. She never walks out of home without her humongous RayBan sunglasses, which come in numerous colors, nor without her alter-ego platinum blonde hair or her fashionable costumes that can be a weird outfit or just casual flashing skin-tight shorts, like the ones she wears in the video clip of "Just Dance". Armani, Channel, and Donatella Versace have teamed up with Lady Gaga to design several outfits for her and the famous (infamous?) Channel bejeweled mask that evoked Hannibal Lecter. All these moves are professionally managed by a super smart artist, who is able to appear like a glam rock queen, a holy vampire, a Marilyn Monroe punk or a lady latex and cause the same extreme reactions.

Creating Fashion is Part of Gaga's Success

Many consider that her unique fashion style is an inherent part of Lady Gaga's success. And to some extent it is so. It is not only the shocking element that she adores when performing live in front of her fans or while watching a Yankees Game at panties and bra. It is more her idea of creating fashion.

By almost eliminating pants and focusing on glamorous and elegant corsets, Stella McCartney heels, RayBan sunglasses, dresses and of course, the hair bow she adores, Lady Gaga actually plays around with various fashion styles. She can wear a glam futuristic outfit, or appear in really absurd attires and look equally artistic and fashionable. The point is that she always looks comfortable in what would seem so tasteless and kitsch on somebody else and this is what makes her unique in her fashion sense. Being eccentric is her routine and this routine is what makes her, at the end of the day, successful.

Another basic element in her appearance is her make-up. Wearing thick false eyelashes and a heavy eyeliner, Gaga looks like a cabaret dancer. In almost all her appearances and video clips, she wears black liquid eyeliner and loves to highlight her eyes. She also loves to hide her face under her long bungs or one of her eyes expressing an esoteric symbolism.

Is Lady Gaga Really a Fashion Icon?

Being on the pop scene since 2008, Lady Gaga has featured various eccentric outfits leading her fans, critics and the audiences to call her a "fashion icon". There is little doubt that wearing such absurd creations, not only on stage, but mostly on Grammy Award ceremonies, MTV Awards, fundraising and social events requires both boldness and confidence. However, aiming at making a shocking appearance and capitalize on her shock value doesn't necessarily make her a fashion icon. She does create fashion. She does follow her fashion, religiously. She seems to be incessantly inspired by new innovative fashion ideas. The question is: does she really transform herself? Does she really think out of the box? Or is just her way of increasing her popularity by stepping on the secure steps of Madonna, who is admittedly a fashion icon and has been challenging the pop scene since the release of her second album "Like a Virgin" (1984). In other words: are two years enough for Lady Gaga to earn her the title of "fashion icon"?

Regardless, Lady Gaga makes her futuristic statement

Even if she cannot be called a "fashion icon" yet, Lady Gaga makes a unique, futuristic fashion statement. Being able to change her image, but keeping her style different and progressive, she manifests her fashion since day one she entered the pop scene and peaked #1 at the US Billboard Hot 100 with "Just Dance". What makes it even more interesting is that Lady Gaga designs most of her stage outfits herself showing that she intentionally speaks out her soul loudly enough for the audiences to hear it. Lady Gaga is what she is perceived to be: futuristic, innovative, and crazy enough to be on the extreme, but also a smart professional and an exceptional performer, able to combine her talent and image to advance in her career.

Sources:

http://www.thefablife.com/2009-09-13/lady-gagas-top-40-hottest-outfits-ever/

http://www.hollyscoop.com/style/lady-gaga/lady-gaga-strikes-out-at-yankees-game_1819.aspx

http://www.hollyscoop.com/style/lady-gaga/gaga-channels-hannibal-lecter_1772.aspx

http://www.hollyscoop.com/style/lady-gaga/armani-designing-for-gaga_1695.aspx

http://www.hollyscoop.com/style/lady-gaga/lady-gaga-to-team-up-with-versace_1694.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_%28entertainer%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Dance