[READ] Madonna's 5 most iconic looks
No Comments
To celebrate our Queen's 55th birthday, our reader Spencer decided to share some of his thoughts with you.
Enjoy!
p.s. if you would like to share yours, we're only an e-mail away!
--
As you know by now, last week Madonna turned 55, a huge milestone. Many naysayers thought that she would be long forgotten by this point, and that she’s “too old” to keep up - well, they obviously were wrong! Madonna is still breaking records, selling out arenas, and bringing in millions, all while raising four children. She has redefined what it means to be an older woman in the music industry and she’s broken down many barriers in the process.
One thing that I think everyone (fans or not) can agree on is that Madonna is a fashion icon. She is never the one who follows trends: she creates them. She’s never been afraid to push fashion boundaries or re-invent herself (or her outfits) as she sees fit.
So in honor of this major birthday, let’s take a look at what I feel are just 5 of her most iconic looks, and how she even re-invented a few.
The Desperately Seeking Susan Look
When Desperately Seeking Susan came out in 1985, it changed the way girls dressed for the rest of the 80’s, with Madonna being the reason. Girls couldn’t rush out fast enough to stock up on lace bras, vintage jackets, rubber bracelets, and red lipstick. To this day, the look that Madonna created (along with costume designer Santo Loquasto) is used as shorthand to describe what 80’s fashion was all about.
The Wedding Dress
Madonna may be the only woman whose actual wedding dress is far eclipsed, in terms of coverage, by her costume version of it. When she performed “Like a Virgin” at the very first MTV VMA’s clad in her now-trademark wedding dress, she made international headlines and ensure that the image of herself rolling around on the stage in that dress was burned into everyone’s memory. To this day she owns that look, and it has only ever been worn by other performers as an homage to her.
The Cone Bra
This piece, created for her by French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, was inspired by the popular lingered of the 1950’s. Gaultier’s spin on the look was taking it to the extreme: by making the bra cups come to a sharp point he was essentially making the most feminine part of a woman also the most dangerous. The singer immortalized the look during her Blond Ambition tour and brought a more modernized version out for her last tour, the MDNA Tour.
Both times she has worn this hyper-feminized look she has paired it with pieces from mens suits, providing the perfect contrast of masculine and feminine.
The Marie Antoinette/”Vogue” Outfit
For her now iconic performance at the 1990 MTV VMA’s, Madonna took a page from another scandalous blond: Marie Antoinette. Wearing one of Michelle Pfeiffer’s dresses from Dangerous Liaisons, she spun across the stage fanning herself, flashing her undergarments, and being fondled by her backup dancers while singing her hit “Vogue”. The look was re-invented (pun intended) for her 2004 Re-Invention Tour where she donned a custom-made Christian Lacroix outfit and opened the show with the song again, this time performing head stands and other yoga moves in the (much smaller) outfit.
The Super Bowl Outfit
For the 2012 Super Bowl Halftime Show, Madonna knew the eyes of the world would be on her, and she was determined to never let them look away. Her incredible performance drew in the largest amount of viewers for the halftime show ever (114 million) making the outfit she wore during her performance instantly iconic.
Madge started the show clad in a custom Givenchy Haute Couture robe, which was hand embroidered in gold sequins and beads (taking over 750 hours to do), as well as a custom Phillip Treacy headdress. When she took off the robe she revealed another custom Givenchy Couture outfit paired with custom Miu Miu thigh high boots. As elements of the outfit were torn away through the show, her gladiator look became a cheerleading outfit. She ended the show by slipping on yet another Givenchy Couture sequined robe, this time in black.
Author Bio: Spencer Blohm is a freelance entertainment blogger for Direct-Ticket.net. Despite not being alive for most of Madonna’s reign as the Queen of Pop he is a huge fan anyways. A highlight in his life is when Madonna pointed her gun at him while performing “Revolver” at the MDNA Tour stop in Chicago.
