The spring issue of Vogue is here – 500+ pages filled with beautiful, spring fashion collections I will never be able to afford. It is a reminder that yes – this horrid winter will soon come to an end. When I go to grab the magazine off the shelf however, I do not see a gorgeous fashion-forward actress or model in happy spring colors. I see Lady Gaga, giving me what I can only describe as a fierce death-stare, with, of course, white eyebrows and a pale pink wig. That’s right: Lady Gaga, on the spring issue of Vogue.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Lady Gaga. She’s full of surprises – from hatching out of an egg at the Grammy’s to wearing a dress made completely out of meat – but I do not want her on my Vogue. Vogue is supposed to be full of wonderful, beautiful, fashion – not costume-wearing theatrical crazies.
I would have been more accepting if she had stepped back into the box a little, just for Vogue, and done away with the pink wig and overly dramatic dark red lipstick. Possibly even put on a yellow dress, or a subtle pale green for this spring celebration, but no. This is Lady Gaga, on the spring cover, with her Lady Gaga self.
She does deserve a bit of credit, however, for not dressing completely outlandishly in her cover shot. Her $2,470 kimono robe doesn’t exactly scream costume. It isn’t until you reach the actual article that the true Gaga is unleashed, still in the same pink wig and makeup, she is seen in a heavily embroidered Alexander McQueen tulle dress. A few pages later, she’s photographed in an Alexander McQueen pale-gray duck and ostrich-feather dress. I appreciate both – as they are stunning pieces – but they just don’t belong several turns away from Audrey Marnay in a casual Balenciaga embroidered dress and red lambskin jacket.
All in all, she is someone who belongs on the cover of Rolling Stone, or Spin, or maybe even her very own magazine. I do not want, nor never expected, her face showing up where I go to find pure, lovely, spring fashions. Yes, it’s fair to say that fashion does get a little crazy sometimes –avant-garde -but even this has its home on the runway, that is, far away from Vogue, I wonder what’s next.
