ICYMI, Lady Gaga teamed up with crooner Tony Bennett for their Cheek to Cheek record, which is an album of jazz standards. The music is from another era, so of course that period has provided inspiration for Lady Gaga's latest style. Gaga has admitted that the rebellious nature of jazz music and iconic singer/dancer Ginger Rogers are influencing her right now, making her want to be, somewhat contradictorily, unconcerned with her looks all the while interested in being elegant. The music she made with Bennett, who appears to be on board with her wild child past, is her main source of inspo and it shows.
Gaga, who channeled Old Hollywood glam earlier this summer and who has embraced androgynous looks in the past, confessed to being a shapeshifter during ARTPOP, but that she felt more at peace performing standards, which seems to translate to her clothes lately. "I feel I'm my peaceful, young musician self," she told Yahoo Style. "I've been enjoying dressing up, and you know, feeling like a lady. I had been working with Tony for two years recording, and [when we started] I was quite blond, but I found the sexuality of it all to be quite distracting. It was unnatural in a way. So I began to experiment with the hair that I had back in high school. It was dark and curly. More natural. Something about jazz makes me not care about the way I look."
Still, it's not like Ma Monster, who showed off those giant Diana Ross-like curls earlier this year, doesn't care about clothes or is going around wearing sweatpants. That would be punishable not by death, but by banishment from the front row at fashion shows or on mag covers — a far worse fate for fashion moguls. She is just... freer.
Gaga said, "With this album, I am channeling his rebelliousness. Because if you think about it jazz is the most rebellious form of music. It's totally different from my previous message, where there was an intention behind each look. Jazz brings out the fighter in me. The type of clothes that I've been wearing is less form fitting. Other days, I'll wear something more corseted and glamorous."
Gaga said she expected her duet partner, who sketched her naked for charity for Vanity Fair , to raise eyebrows at some of her clothes or to suggest other outfits during their promo rounds. But he didn't. He lurves her for who she is: a fashion star.
"I'll come downstairs wearing a dress, and he'll say, 'Oh Lady, you look so different today, so beautiful. Thank you for always looking so nice,'" she revealed. Can we get an "Awwww"?
This flowing, draped black goddess dress with the blinged out detail at the waist is a perfect example of Gaga dressing appropriately in relationship to the sound of the music she made with Bennett. The dress, even with its plunging bodice, is also age-appropriate in relationship to her singing partner, who, as we mentioned, has seen her in the buff.
She continued, "He has a different view on things… around that time there was Ginger Rogers who dressed so beautifully. So elegant. So I think of her. I am a woman of many references. That's what I want my fans to take away from all of this. You can be every icon…I'm doing a most rebellious thing by singing jazz. It's so complex and so improvisational."
Below are eight times Gaga was rebellious, jazz-inspired, Lady-like, trying improv, and being looser with her clothes during the Cheek to Cheek promotional efforts.
1. Lounge Singer Lounging By The Piano
This mermaid-like, sapphire blue gown definitely nods to another era. Of course she modernized it by showing serious boobage.
2. Loose But Not Losing It
Gaga alluded to liking looser-fitting outfits, like this ornate, brocade-like blazer and bottoms. It's not skintight but it's still structured and high fashion.
3. Larger Than Life Hair
Ma Monster returned to her high school Italian curls. The halter-neck, silver-grey gown is also a bit '70s, but it's loose-fitting and sexy in a non-overt way. I bet Mr. Bennett approves.
4. Still Fancy Even When Sheer
Gaga's black gown is sheer, which can be suggestive, but she has been wearing long, flowing frocks while she promotes the album, indicating her previous era inspo.
5. Rocky Horror Or No?
Okay, so this one is a little different. Mother Monster loves her natural Italian girl curls, which falls in line with her comments about not caring too, too much about how she looks. But is it me or does she call to mind Dr. Frank N. Furter of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which has a MAC collabo out this fall? Maybe just a little?
6. Lips And Lashes
Old Hollywood glam and the look of classic jazz singers was all about bold, defined lips and miles of lashes, both of which Gaga is focusing on here and in her Cheek to Cheek looks.
7. A Head Wrap And A Train
Gaga has been rocking jewel tones as she pairs up with Bennett to promote the album. This cobalt blue dress with a major train shows off her toned legs, while the head wrap plays up her facial features. She looks classic while seated next to that class act Tony Bennett.
8. Those Curls And That Nose Ring
Gaga has added a tight, wild mane of curls but she didn't ditch her nose ring. It's details like that that keep this jazzy makeover feeling totally Gaga.
Images: Getty (3); Lady Gaga/Instagram (8)
