Lady Gaga’s Glasses – High Fashion, Art, or Soon-To-Be-Commercialized Gimmicks?

Probably all of the above. Lady Gaga’s glasses and over-the-top look have made her almost as famous as her music has. With appearances on American Idol and Oprah, Lady Gaga is the biggest thing in music, fashion and media (she even made Time’s 100 Most Influential People List).  With a sunglasses line with Linda Farrow in the works, is there any stopping the Haus of Gaga?

The Fame Monster

Now famous for her outrageous eye-wear and glam-to-the-max fashion style, twenty-four year old Lady Gaga burst on the music and fashion scene after being signed onto Streamline Records in 2007. Her first album was entitled “The Fame” and won her two Grammy Awards in the categories of Best Electronic/Dance Album and Best Dance Recording.

In 2009 she was the opening act for the New Kids on Block and later in the year began a headlining tour of her own. Having now sold over ten million albums and thirty-five million singles worldwide, she says her primary musical and fashion influences are glam rock artists David Bowie and Freddy Mercury and pop music icons Madonna and Michael Jackson.

Courtesy of GagaDaily.com

More than a Gimmick

According to an interview with the TimesOnline, while decked out in a rubber dress and crystal-encrusted sunglasses, her over-the-top style is more than a mere gimmick. “This is just how I am” she said. “You’ll never see me in flip-flops and a T-shirt.” In addition to being inspired by Mercury, Bowie, and Madonna, she says she considers herself an artist inspired by Warhol.

How do I make pop, commercial art be taken seriously as fine art? That’s what Warhol did.

Eyewear as Art

Understanding her Warholian roots and philosophy of “pop art as fine art” makes it easier to put her outrageous spectacles into perspective. Gaga has been spotted sporting perhaps the most out-there glasses of any celeb to date. In 2009 she wore razor blade sunglasses in her music video “Bad Romance”. She told MTV, “I wanted to design a pair [of glasses] for some of the toughest chicks and some of my girlfriends”. She continued “…this is my weapon, this is my sense of fame, this is my monster.”

Courtesy of GagaDaily.com

Cigarette Glasses

If you think razor blade glasses are pushing the limit, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. In her “Telephone” music video with Beyonce (see below), she begins the story by poking fun at rumors that she’s a drag queen. After she’s escorted into a prison cell by super-hot female guards and stripped naked, one guard comments on her lack of male anatomy. She then goes on to don glasses made of what appears to be nothing but burning cigarettes.

Gaga Gets Her Own Line With Linda Farrow?

So far it’s still technically rumor, but according to WWD Gaga is in negotiations with London-based sunglasses label Linda Farrow for her own line of sunglasses.  It’s a natural move for Lady Gaga, whose sense of fashion and trend-setting fame pervades everything she touches.

Here’s a great post over at GagaDaily.com covering some of her more famous glasses -- will her new line of sunglasses be as out-there as these?

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