Over the past year or so Lady Gaga has sometimes shocked but no doubt inspired us with her original and inventive fashion sense.

Her all in one red lace dress that went over her face and into Bart Simpson type spikes stunned everyone at the MTV VMA’s in 2009.  It went on to feature in white for her ‘Bad Romance’ video.  But this time it was in PVC play suit form.  Gaga has girls sporting her trademark lightening bolt, and her hair bow that she wore in the Poker Face video.

Even celebrities are trying to duplicate Gaga’s fashion.  Leona Lewis wore a black lace patch around her eye, a huge black ruffle around her neck, black bra top and black trousers to Perez Hilton’s party.

It seems that Rihanna has taken a leaf out of Gaga’s book also.  At her New Years eve gig she donned an out fit that screamed Gaga.  She wore a black head piece that looked like it was taken from Gaga’s wardrobe.  Her outfit was a bronze jacket and tights resembling women’s suspenders.

The world is slowly turning Gaga and I’m alright with that.  The world needs something new and fresh instead of the fashion industry regurgitating past trends that aren’t going to get much better than what they are today.  We’re running out of ideas and Gaga is our Messiah, so let’s not crucify her for her brilliant artistic take on fashion.

She has said recently that within the coming months she would love to get to work on her own fashion line and believes that celebrities should never look casual.  She wants them ‘to be who they really are all the time’.

It’s time for a renaissance.  Create your own style.  Go Gaga for fashion!

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It’s a given at red carpeted events that celebrities dress to impress and this years Brits were no different. The dresses and outfits certainly overshadowed the music that was performed on the night that included duets from Alicia Keys (in a dazzling black pointed shoulder mini) and Jay-Z, Florence Welsch and Dizzie Rascal, an outrageous rendition of ‘Dance in the Dark’ by Lady Gaga and a mix of Cheryl Cole’s ‘Fight for this Love’ and ultimate dance anthem ‘Show Me Love’

Lady Gaga is of course on top of the list for her awards get up. With an extravagant head piece and lace covering her face, she strolled up the red carpet in towering heels and a layer-cake white number which she exhibited with arms posing horizontally outward. Lily Allen channelled a gothic look in a black Chanel dress adorned with a red lace collar. When collecting her Best British Female award she changed into a sailor inspired number but her orange wig caught all of the attention. She insisted that it was for disguise reasons so the camera would not be able to pick her out of the crowd.

Florence Welsch of Florence and the Machine donned a gold vintage inspired corset dress. It was a very brave choice for the icy weather on the night. She too had a costume change when accepting the award for Best British Album which the gorgeous Tom Ford presented to her. Not unlike Lily’s red carpet dress, the asymmetric black satin dress with black lace set off her fiery mane beautifully as she gracefully accepted her award.

There seemed to be gothic darkness in the air at Earls Court as Pixie Lott also had a black lace number on. Alexandra Burke seemed to melt into the red carpet with a. Fellow X Factor winner Leona Lewis looked more like Beyoncé than herself in a metallic silver dress with bubble gum pink shoes- very Sasha fierce.

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The shoulder detail trend continues into Spring 2010. This dramatic ‘outsize’ look loved by everyone from Lady GaGa to Lady Beckham has been seen making a style statement on t-shirts, jackets and dresses!

Littlewoods take on the look is this exaggerated shoulders dress from Love Label.  The Love Label dress with shoulder details in magenta is a serious bargain at only €69 and also available in black if this shocking colour is too much for you!  Add some round glasses (preferably white) and a bow to your head and voila… you’ve gone gaga!

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The fashion world has lost it’s true visionary. News of Alexander McQueen’s sudden death on Thursday (11th Feb 2010) at his London home has sent shock-waves through the industry, as New York Fashion week began, instead of celebrating the new creative talents, we were mourning the loss of fashion’s Dark Prince. No doubt it will be a long time before someone of his innovative and creative ability steps into the limelight again.

Lee McQueen as he was known began his career in fashion at the early age of 16. He learned his craft as an apprentice in Savile Row and it was this early on that we got a glimpse of his twisted and naughty nature, when he revealed in an interview that he sewed ‘I am a cunt’ into the lining of a coat made for Prince Charles.

He then went on to graduate with a masters in fashion design from the prestigious Central Saint Martins College and revealed at his debut show his unique, raw vision that we know and love today. His designs caught the eye of Isabella Blow, an aristocratic British eccentric and former editor of British Tatler who became his mentor and bought his entire first collection.

His work evolved into that of a true artist, taking his inspiration from nature and death, using predatory birds and lethal snakes to influence his designs. His work, however extreme in design, was always skillfully crafted using his early tailoring experiences and managed to have a romantic softness even in their bizarreness. His families Scottish heritage also had an impact on his imaginative designs and he showed tartan, kilts and feathers in a whole new light in his work!

Lee was made the head designer for Givenchy in 1996 but, was then was poached by the Gucci group, which supported and developed his own label, Alexander McQueen. His label has gone from strength to strength and had even opened up his own stores in London, New York, Los Angeles, Milan, and Las Vegas. He unsurprisingly won British Designer of Year four times throughout his career, and his fashion shows are the one spectacle that will be sorely missed on the fashion circuit as he was known for his extravagant displays of showmanship.

His most recent show for Spring/Summer 2010 was his most brilliant to date… a collaboration with friend Lady Gaga previewing her bad romance video while the models tottered down the catwalk in the now infamous mythological hoof-style shoes (see ‘extreme fashionistas’ article). The unique graphic-print designs from this collection were a combination of bug and beast influences, the bright colours remind me of when you would make those butterfly prints as a child where you would splodge paint on paper and then fold it to create a beautiful print. It is mesmerizing to watch what he puts down the catwalk every season, and it is deeply saddening to know there will be no more! No doubt his last ever collection will at some stage brace the catwalk in a final tribute to the influential designer.

Alexander McQueen was a designer like no other, he pushed the creative and artistic boundaries and truly made his mark in fashion history. RIP.

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Young British fashion label Lipsy have become a regular must have amongst celebrities but in particular our XFactor favourites.  Let’s not forget we’ve also seen the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Kimberley Stewart, Alesha Dixon, Kimberly Wyatt (Pussycat Dolls), Duffy, Lady Gaga, The Saturdays, Tulisa (from N-Dubz), Paris Hilton and Lily Allen all donning the label. Enough about them, let’s get back to the people we miss most in our lives!

Stacey Solomon, 20 year old single mum from Dagenham, Essex and our favourite ditzy girl is the biggest Lipsy fan of all the contestants and we here at wow.ie reckon it’s a label that definitely suits her.  Just look how far she has come since she first auditioned for the show!  Even when she is dressed down she still looks great.

18 year old ‘nice girl’ Lucie Jones from Pentrych in Wales, has since been signed up to Select Model Management who have helped launch the careers of top models such as Agyness Deyn and Stella Tennant. Lucie’s confidence grew during her time on the show and she’s gone from country girl to rocking the rock chic look.

What’s Rachel Adedeji doing now? We’re not sure what she is doing now or if we are even interested!  She did say she wasn’t interested in working with Rihanna as “We’re too similar there’s not enough room for the both of us..”!  Apparently there are people interested in working with her so the best of luck to her. This was definitely Rachel looking her absolute best on the show in a great little Lipsy animal print dress.

Should you want in on the Lipsy look we had a look at the selection available at BT2 and it’s definitely worth checking out. They’ve covered most of the trends with Lipsy including a white boudoir chic dress, sequins black and white animal print figure hugging dress and a favourite was their white bally doll cocktail dress.  They’ve also covered the retro, wrap and 80′s inspired trends so if you have a big night out looming and are on a budget they are worth a look.

L-R Lipsy at BT2: €70, €65, €65.

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BE WARNED - Gross Grammy Pics Lay Ahead!

I hope you are not about to eat your lunch before looking at these pictures, my apologies if you are!

Below I have put together some pictures from the Grammy Awards that will make you wince with embarrassment and pain! Lady Gaga was doing her impression of some sort of animal, which one I will leave to your imagination!

…..well, well, well or as I was thinking ouch, ouch, ouch. I just don’t get why ‘it’ had to be out there waving at everybody! All I can say is her beautican must have been busy before the show with her waxpot! We all know that she loves to shock with her fashion statements but that doesn’t mean she has to throw her ‘bits’ around so unashamedly. My sympathies are with the fans in the front row! I’m all for her excentric dress sense and I love that she tries really quirky things, but let’s not lower the tone too much or she might have to have the ‘Lady’ extracted and ‘Dirty’ put in. After seeing these pics you’ll probably be glad to see the ‘back’ of Lady Gaga…. oops that’s not much better.

Another celebrity that couldn’t keep her ‘mini mouse’ under wraps was Pink…

Again, I just think some areas are better off not on show! Is it me? Am I getting old? Or do I just have a sense of morality?? Surely if you have access to top designers they can come up with something great to wear that can also still leave you with some dignity? This is actually the same skintight suit that Pink wore during her tour so it’s actually not even specifically designed for the Grammys! Well in my opinion there’s only one way to describe the sparkly ‘mini’ and glittery boobs …ooh what is it again, oh yeah……..TRASHY!

That’s it ladies, feel free to skip your next meal after looking at this post!

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There were copious amounts of plain, ‘artless’ dresses on show at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards last night, although there were a few standing out from the crowd in something different. Some played it safe whilst others were brave and donned edgy pieces and then you had the usual people who just try too hard and look ridiculous! I’ve selected a few from each of my above categories so see what you think…

Carrie Underwood – Absolutely stunning! This is one of my favourites, it’s slightly edgy and yet not over the top, although you would have to have a very slim figure to pull it off. This dress is by George Chakra and it’s got unusual leather strap detailing across the bust and shoulders which add that something special to the dress.

Beyonce – Personally I am not mad about Beyonce‘s curve enhancing cream dress by Stephane Rolland, I don’t think it did her figure any favours and was pretty unexciting and drab, but hey – who am I to judge Ms. Knowles! I think she looked great on stage whilst preforming though in her little black dress and shoeboots, she most certainly had cause to celebrate as she scooped SIX awards, which is a record for a female artist.

Lea Michele – For those of you that don’t know, Lea Michele she is an American actress and singer. I had to add her to the list as I thought her dress was fab, and she looked absolutely stunning on the red carpet. Her navy blue cocktail dress was by Romona Keveza and her faultless figure carried the dress beautifully.

Miley Cyrus – Miley sported a green Herve Leger mini-dress with long sleeves that enhanced her young trim body. It really worked well on Miley and kept her youthful rather than dressed in something too old for her.

Katy Perry - Oh dear, I don’t know about you but this just reminds me of something Katie Price wore a few years ago! The flesh-coloured dress by Zac Posen had gold metal flower-shaped embroidery….to eh.. add to its bling! Hmmm..

Taylor Swift – Taylor wore a topaz blue Kaufman Franco dress, it was a stunning dress but I think it was a little old for her. It’s a pity she didn’t go all out and find something quirky and more suitable for her age. Mind you, after winning four awards I’m sure she won’t be bothered about what people think of her dress!

Pink - Oh sweet lord, check out this onesie! I’m just hoping all the right areas were covered up and she was also surrounded by dancers in gold bikinis and body paint. Pink is one of those artists that can look really well or…. how do I put it…. a little on the ‘manly’ side, so adding those two factors together and putting yourself in a skin coloured, skin-tight catsuit might not look so good! In saying this Pinks preformance on stage was aparantly amazing as she sang whilst suspended in mid-air by a white sling.  I’m exhausted just thinking about that!

Lady Gaga - Need I say anything?! I think it’s pretty cool actually! Created by Giorgio Armani the Prive interplanetary dress only confirms that Lady Gaga has a fashion sense all of her own. I have no idea how she managed to walk in those platform shoes, but her crystal-covered stockings completed her outfit.

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The fashion world are hailing Marc Jacobs an innovative genius for introducing the bunny ears to the fashion world… but they’ve been around for a long time, so where exactly did he get his inspiration from? There is of course the infamous Playboy bunny costume introduced by Hugh Hefner in the 1950’s and, instantly associates bunny ears with sex appeal.

Then, of course there is the return of the Cadbury’s Caramel Bunny, who’s new look and dress was designed by Top Brit Designer Giles Deacon this year. It is also being debated whether Maison Michel came up with the idea first or not? He had made lace headpieces of bunny ears and mouse ears too, and Marc admittedly came across the idea accidently when he saw someone with a large ribbon in their hair resembling ears.. So when Marc Jacobs’ Fall collection for Louis Vuitton came out this year (pictured bottom), and his models paraded the catwalk with bunny ears, was this fashion history in the making or a copycat idea?

Regardless of who thought it up first, as usual, celebrities are the first to take on this outlandish trend, no shocks that Lady Gaga and Madonna were one of the firsts to wear them in public. But now uber cool Olsen twins and singer Lily Allen have been seen taking on the trend too. I do think this look is actually really cute… but I really can’t see myself walking down Grafton street donning a pair of animal ears just yet? However, I also remember everyone initially laughing at leggings, skinny jeans, shoulder pads and structured skirts so maybe, just maybe this too will become known as “wearable”. Topshop have already begun to challenge the trend and have come up with their very own versions of slightly smaller headbands, so a little more normal, but I am still yet to see anyone actually wear them!

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