Wearing the Corset to Work
Madonna talks about her two collaboration efforts with Hennes & Mauritz on today’s New York Times:
“The Madonna zip-front tracksuits sold at H&M last year may have disappointed some fans, for in all their polyester shininess, they didn’t look like something She would wear. A cheerleading squad at a Florida retirement home, maybe, but not Her.
Next week Madonna gets a do-over as a celebrity designer. Blouses, wrap dresses, printed halter tops, corset belts and a turban – all designed by Madonna – go on sale in H&M’s 1,300 stores on March 22. And, She wants you to know, real effort went into these clothes, like maybe She does care, just a little, about what people say.
“Did they come and see my show?” She asked, still on the subject of the mixed reviews. “If they’d seen my show, they would cut me some slack about how simple my tracksuit was. I like the simplicity of it and live in my tracksuits.”
But one cannot live in tracksuits alone. The new collection, called M by Madonna, has an unexpected vibe that could be described as landed-gentry Madonna goes office-casual Madonna.
The degree of workplace appropriateness depends on whether one chooses to accessorize with pearls or a riding crop. Madonna, who chooses both, was inspired by the dynamic young women who work with Her, a group She calls the Semtex Girls, because, you know, they are like the explosive. Naughty!
“They are the kind of clothes that mean business and fun all at the same time“, Madonna said. “I thought about what I like to wear every day.”
Still, there will be Madonna fans (um, me) looking for something more emblematic of the many, many Hers. Like that bodysuit that speaks of “Confessions on a Dance Floor”, or the double-breasted pantsuit, circa “Express Yourself”, or a long white dress that could have been a castoff from “Vogue” days. But no.
“I didn’t really think about anything in connection to the stages of my career or the evolution of my persona,” Madonna says.
Not even the $34.90 corset belts?
“Well, what part of my career didn’t I have a corset in?“.
From an article by Eric Wilson, The New York Times.