Lady Gaga: Styles of an icon

How did the singer whose first widespread fashion statement involved no fashion at all (Gaga was known for not wearing pants) ascend to the highest rungs of the fashion ladder? One bubble dress, burning bra and sheer bodysuit at a time.

“When she was just coming out, I saw her outfits and I was like, ‘Wow, what is she wearing?’” said Gaga fan Lilia Orozco. “I like that she is bold and brave and just wears what she wants. She expresses herself sometimes in her clothes. She doesn’t want to be like Britney Spears; she wants people to look at her and think.”

Orozco, 21, a nursing student at Gainesville State College, discovered Gaga in the summer of 2008, when she heard “Just Dance.”

“I remember hearing and thinking it was very different from what was being played on the radio,” Orozco said. She quickly decided that Gaga was a different type of pop star. “You’ll never see her in jeans,” she said.

When Gaga came to the Gwinnett Arena in April, Orozco took the opportunity to emulate the mode of her idol. She wore a black bra with glued-on sequins, leggings and a tiny shirt that didn’t cover up a lot, Orozco said. She then tied her very long hair into a bow, just like Gaga did in the video for “Poker Face.”

In about a half-dozen costume changes at the concert, Gaga sported everything from a red cape with matching head covering to a sheer leopard print leotard and a purple biker jacket. Orozco, the only one among her friends to “dress up,” was loving Gaga’s flying nun outfit (complete with a sheer rubber dress) and the spark-spouting bra.

“It was such a great show,” Orozco said. “She sings, but she also acts and screams and she makes you believe. I left the concert feeling like a new person. I’m such a big fan now that when I see her, I don’t even look at what she is wearing,” Orozco said.

That ability to transcend whatever wacky or genius outfit she is wearing may be the secret to Gaga’s sartorial success. She’s not just getting dressed, she’s making a statement, and the fact that people listen to her has made her an icon in an industry where the truly great are often clawing against the grain.

In February, MAC Cosmetics tapped the star, for the second time, as spokeswoman for the Viva Glam campaign, an initiative to benefit the MAC AIDS Fund supporting HIV/AIDS programs worldwide. In a statement, the company called Lady Gaga “one of the most iconic artists of our time.”

Though she almost ran afoul of fashion etiquette when she appeared in a self-designed bubble dress similar to a recent design by Hussein Chalayan, only the press seemed to care. Lady Gaga’s longtime collaboration with another avant-garde designer, Nicola Formichetti, creative director of the House of Mugler, and her own penchant for Chalayan’s designs (he created her red carpet egg for the 2011 Grammys), seemed to give her a pass with fashion insiders. During Paris Fashion Week in March, Gaga closed Formichetti’s first show for Mugler womenswear, a position that any model would envy.

Devoted monsters (Gaga’s pet name for her fans) responded with enthusiasm.

“She models better than professional models,” said Penny Haney, 37, of Dunwoody. “She is not afraid to take on any look. Her photo shoots look amazing.”

Haney should know. Though her “normal” job in insurance doesn’t allow for much in the way of creative dressing, Haney studies Gaga’s makeup to replicate the looks on weekends. She mostly likes when Gaga does the gothic thing with lots of black lace and black hair. And whenever she appears on the cover of a magazine, Haney is sure to make a purchase, such as the March issue of Vogue, which hit newsstands just weeks before Gaga’s fashion icon status was cemented.

In the photos, she appears with a cotton candy pink bob and dark red lips, in several elaborate dresses from Alexander McQueen, the label launched by the late Lee Alexander McQueen.

“I think the fashion is to get people to notice,” said Haney, “but if you look beyond that, there is a lot more.”