Whether she is riding in egg-cocoons or attractively dressed raw flesh dripping with blood, it is stunningly obvious to everyone in the entire pop-loving culture world that Lady Gaga loves nothing better than making a grand entrance when the cameras are turned on. However, the fashion world hasn’t quite decided whether or not this makes Lady Gaga a great fashion writer.
In her new fashion column in V Magazine, Gaga explains that she is a librarian of pop culture fashion; as a warning to anyone daring to criticize her writing, she states that anyone should be able to understand her fashion column. Despite the ferocity of her warning, the “critics” haven’t remained silent about Gaga’s fashion column, which has been called “pretentious,” "annoying," and worse. Gawker, who broke the story, was not all that impressed with Lady Gaga’s column and neither was Media Bistro who wrote:
“Essentially Gaga writes as pretentiously as possible, lecturing readers about how much fashion knowledge she has and why she’s so transcendent as an artist.”
In the column, Gaga discusses her inspirations for fashion on her music videos. And, although she is a self-proclaimed librarian of fashion, Gaga’s truthful fashion inspiration is derived from more than just books and fashion magazines. For example, the artist prides herself on her in-depth knowledge of biology. Regarding her mini-egg parade:
the Hussein Chalayan vessel I wore at the Grammys wasn’t inspired by a chicken. It was stolen from an egg. But the transformation, the context, and the approach taken to reinterpret the meaning of birth and rebirth in terms of fame on a fucking red carpet?—?this is what creates the modernity of the statement. The past undergoes mitosis, becoming the originality of the future.
Gaga’s “Born This Way" video was inspired by her youth; the specific inspiration for the video was apparently a combination of Bazooka bubble gum and memories of freely dancing with her mother as a kid. While the video was made to reach out to all audiences, she felt a strong need to connect with the younger generation in the video.
Like most who read the column, I am uncertain as to who Lady Gaga is trying to reach out to with her fashion commentary and incredibly well-documented sources. Was it really necessary to use the word “mitosis” to describe a re-birth? You know, given that she likes to reach out to the youth audience and all? And, while she does list several names that inspired her, she fails to explain how they inspired her.
Of course, because she is Gaga and because she wears meat on occasion, her fashion column will still be a success.