Bad taste, Britney-style
July 20, 2003
By Karin Nelson (Fashion Wire Daily)
The girl’s got some
appalling taste, but at
least she knows it. In an
attempt to salvage her
style reputation, sources say
Britney Spears has hired Lori
Goldstein to help spiff up her
wardrobe.
The decision couldn’t have
come at a better time. Earlier
this month, The New York Post
ran a full-page article-cum-intervention
on Spears’ fashion
sense. After a series of excessive
and absurd style decisions, the
pop diva apparently put the
paper over the edge with the
fruitcake cabaret get-up she
wore recently on MTV’s Carson
Daly Roast.
The mini-skirt, pop art leggings,
rhinestone bowtie, fedora
and Page Six T-shirt
designed by Sophomore (but
cut and cropped by Britney)
were all bought by Spears on a
shopping spree at House of
Field in New York.
Besides the tee, "her outfit
was clearly from hell", thundered
the Post’s Libby Callaway.
Fortunately, award-winning
stylist Goldstein knows some-thing
about turning trashy stars
into class acts. The former
Steven Meisel wing-woman
made Madonna into a
Galliano-and-Sevilla-clad
Spanish seductress for her Take
a Bow video - a job she won
an MTV video music award for.
And for years, Goldstein was
the stylist behind the Versace
runway shows and all the
effortless decadence of its ad
campaigns.
Yet Goldstein’s efforts to
make Spears more ladylike
have, so far, been futile. For the
MTV event, she apparently
pulled several elegant outfits
for her, including some Chanel
dresses, but Britney bucked the
suggestions in favour of her
own stripper ensemble. And,
for the recent Legally Blonde 2
premiere in New York,
Goldstein picked out a crinkle
chiffon J. Mendel gown and
chopped about 15 centimetres
from the bottom of it for the
diminutive diva. Unfortunately,
Spears flaked and was a no-show
at the event.
Goldstein’s office had "no
comment" on anything having
to do with Spears.
While change is clearly slow
for Spears, everyone from
Courtney Love to Lauryn Hill,
from Puffy to Aerosmith is
attempting to avoid fashion
sins by consulting an expert
with a contact book brimming
with designers, and closets
brimming with free clothes
Armani, Tommy Hilfiger and
Prada are keen for them to don
publicly.
In the late 1980s, Madonna
was judged radical wearing
Dolce & Gabbana and Gaultier
bustiers on tour. More recently,
hip-hop queen Hill was spotted
wearing Armani on stage,
Gwen Stefani and Elton John
wear Versace, Lenny Kravitz
shines in Hilfiger and Mary J.
Blige performs in Fendi.
But image has always been
vital to musicians. Remember
Jimi Hendrix with his boa-trimmed
jackets, Rod Stewart
in leopard lycra (Richard Tyler),
the androgynous David Bowie,
safety pins and the Sex Pistols
(Vivienne Westwood and
Malcolm McLaren) and don’t
forget Courtney Love and her
retro baby-doll look.