29 May 2018

Material Girl: The style aesthetics of Madonna

Vogue on.

[“][T]o me, the whole process of being a brush stroke in someone else’s painting is a little difficult,” Madonna once said. Recycling the past is very much in vogue right now – but the Queen of Pop couldn’t care less about copycat culture. Madonna is the master of reinvention – still – after 30+ years in the spotlight.

A tour de force in fashion, whether pioneering the underwear-as-outerwear trend (two words: cone bra), styling New York thrift store chic garb in 1985 comedy of errors Desperately Seeking Susan or perfecting the edgy virgin bride look (no easy feat). Time magazine even coined the phrase “Madonna Wannabe” in the mid-80s to describe young women who slavishly copied the singer’s haphazard style and bleached crop during her Like a Virgin era. Impulsive. Erotic. Playful. Let’s take a look back through the icon’s style evolution…