Madonna’s Never Ending Fashion Dictatorship - Solis Fashion

Madonna’s Never Ending Fashion Dictatorship - Solis Fashion

By: Dino-Ray Ramos and Steve Haas

Ever since the 80’s, Madonna has been a purveyor of pop culture. More than that, she has become a lucid template for style. Her name has become synonymous with fashion and she has been dubbed as the “mother of reinvention.” But one question lingers in the mind of intrusive pop culture junkies everywhere: why? They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, but what makes people drawn to her like an addictive drug? What makes Madonna the fashion God among Gods?



In today’s fast-paced 21st century society, we have seen a flood of icons that have influenced the world of fashion. Paris Hilton made a Chihuahua the latest accessory for wannabe celebrities and Pharell made it cool to pop the collar of your Lacoste polo. Even so, these fads (and oftentimes celebrities) tend to fade out as soon as they come. With Madonna, it’s totally different. Back in the 80’s she made rubber bracelets a staple in little girls’ jewelry boxes and we will never forget her “pleasuring” antics in that pointy Blonde Ambition bra. Sure, there are times when her experimental couture ways were immediate flops, but most of the time, her style tends to echo throughout time. Otherwise, people wouldn’t be wearing those rubber bracelets today or donning pearl snap cowboy shirts reminiscent of her “Don’t Tell Me” video.

Album after album, the ex-Material Girl has been a literal chameleon of style. The topic of her distinctive looks has been beaten to a pulp like a dead horse dressed in a Dior suit, but still, her role as a fashion deity has always prompted haute couture dissection. Does Madonna choose her next reinvented style or does she have a closet full of stylists forecasting her looks for the next twenty years? Or is it all of the above?



Nonetheless, with her latest dance-frenzied release, Confessions on a Dance Floor, she is blatantly using her music as inspiration. Her high energy, Euro-pop singles have already given her that Farrah Fawcett feathered hairdo and she has also been giving us a taste of the 1920’s flapper with embellished headgear. Playing with two historically significant dance eras, Madonna has created a unique revival of the disco look with a twist of a shimmying flapper. At the MTV European Music Awards, she performed her ABBA-drenched single, “Hung Up” in a sleek purple leather jacket, a purple leotard, matching sequin belt and sexy fishnet stockings. Also emerging from the disco ball were her dancers soaked in bold vibrant colors, bell-bottom slacks, draping form fitting discothèque dresses, satin jackets, gold lamet bras and sunglasses with outsized lenses. In the latest issue of French Elle magazine, she dons the same gear in a photoshoot, but this time she switches it up with off-the-shoulder ruffled blouses, effervescent satins, flapper-inspired hats, Technicolor shades of the 70’s, clunky bracelets, high-cut shorts and torso-hugging tops. It was a very complimenting combination of old meets new. It will only take time before college coeds, gay minions and drunken party girls will be living it up in this kind of garb – but that brings us back to the main question: why?



It seems as though her imitated style is based on a combination of her ambition for constant, inventive change and the success of her album. In the 80’s she was new and gave a fresh, innovative style to the florescent colored public. Throughout the years, she transformed her style with shades of platinum blonde, poppy colors of True Blue, Argentinean classicism with Evita and savvy businesswoman Versace panache. When her acclaimed Ray of Light hit the shelves, America became enamored with the concept of henna tattoos and Jewish mysticism. From this stemmed a religion-marketing fad in the form of those red yarn Kabbalah bracelets. After her introduction of life-healing spirituality, came her beat-bumpin’ album, Music. With her collection of tracks, she showed that she was ready to have fun again, but it was her Drowned World Tour that served as a remarkable gateway of fashion. During her theatrical performance, she featured four distinct styles: punk, cowboy, Japanese and ghetto fabulous. Without fail, most of these fashion genres became big trends (and they still are). Fashion designers began taking a deconstructive approach to their clothes to create that perfect Euro-punk, Mohawk look and everyone was scouring vintage stores for the perfect western shirt. With the over criticized American Life, she jumped onto the scene in striking militant apparel. Unfortunately, the fad didn’t reach mainstream status. Wearing fatigues and berets wasn’t too appealing for the mass majority of her fans. She tried to go beyond her album and collaborate with Missy Elliott for a Gap jeans campaign. Sales may have gone up in jeans, but do jeans ever go out of style?



When it comes down to it, there seems to be a slight correlation between the success of Madonna’s albums and her ability to dictate her creative style. “Confessions on a Dance Floor” is already garnering praise. It is reminding everyone why we fell in love with the “Boy Toy” to begin with. The dance tracks bubble over with club friendly merriment and her new disco/flapper style (it seems to be more disco than flapper) is another fresh, yet nostalgic, outlook on the world of fashion. Despite all theoretical examinations and pop culture curiosity, Madonna will forever be an unstoppable purveyor of fashion. This year, we can expect a lot of fishnet stockings, heavily feathered hair with Aqua Net and tons of 70’s inspired fashion – but this act of imitation is something that the world is used to. Whether she wears some Osh Kosh B’Gosh overalls or a Jean-Paul Gaultier gown, people are always going to be two dance steps behind.