Lady Gaga at the VMAs 2009. Image from MTV.com.

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The first time I heard of Lady Gaga was on an episode of The Hills. (Gosh, where do I begin with that statement?) Kelly Cutrone’s People’s Revolution was hired to style Lady Gaga for a party since she was named “the next big thing” by her record company, and Lauren and Whitney were the ones who had to zip up her slinky red suit. Within a few weeks I started to hear some of her songs, and even started to like them. But even so, I kind of forgot about her.

Since MTV doesn’t play videos any more, it took me a while to catch on that the over-the-top androgynous blonde chick I kept seeing here and there was Lady Gaga. Every image I saw prompted me to say “WTF?”, or at least to have it sprout over my head in a bubble. Odd, shocking, surreal, disturbing, sexy, downright nutty, and not to mention uncomfortable-looking – these are all the things that come to me when I see the “looks” of Gaga.

Then, I saw the MTV Video Music Awards and the many costume changes Gaga made during that evening alone. Other than the wardrobe, her insane performance of "Paparazzi" left me reeling. But of all the style, fashion, and self-created hype surrounding that event, the only thing I really remembered about the whole thing was Lady Gaga. There was something visceral about her that knocked me for a loop, and I’ve been mulling it over ever since.

Lady Gaga at the VMAs 2009. Image from MTV.com.While people get shocked or outraged over the dominatrix-meets-Dali designs Lady Gaga creates for herself (everything is self-designed through her creative production company Haus of Gaga,) I find myself more and more entertained and intrigued. My “WTF?” is turning into “why the fuck not?” I think the public outrage over these looks comes from taking them so seriously. And why? It’s just pop music. It’s an experience and it’s meant to entertain, why not have fun in the process? It’s clear that Lady Gaga wants to be known as much for her look as for her music, so why not drop the bomb?

People link her style to Madonna, but that’s not really it. Madonna only ever went so far; every look she created was always closely linked to street wear. It was edgy, yes, but ultimately you could wear it out and look sort of normal. Lady Gaga goes way beyond this, to the point where you probably wouldn’t recognize her if you actually saw her without hair, makeup, and costume. Even Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera (two other pop stars she’s been compared to,) have time out from their stage character. Lady Gaga seems to do nothing but live it.

Peter Gabriel during the Genesis Foxtrot tour, 1973.David Bowie in a costume by Kansai Yamamoto for Ziggy Stardust, 1973.Elton John in concert, 1976.

Perhaps the better part of her audience is too young to understand, but Lady Gaga is just the latest in the long tradition of pop performance artists. Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, and Elton John all went for this sort of heightened performance, creating odd and disturbing characters that served as the song’s storyteller. Lady Gaga’s roots come from the performance art/music scene of the Lower East Side of New York, which makes perfect sense. Her costumes are high concept and provocative, creating memorable entertainment. True, Madonna came from this same area too, but again, despite the many trends and style changes, the main character there was only ever Madonna. (It was a stroke of genius, however, that last weekend’s Saturday Night Live got Madonna to appear with Lady Gaga.)

Lady Gaga at Jet Las VegasBecause of stars like Madonna and Gwen Stefani, everyone looks to pop music these days as the trendsetter for new styles in street fashion. It’s like the whole purpose of the music industry to drive fashion trends. It’s true that the two industries do feed each other, but sometimes it’s not about that. It’s obvious that Lady Gaga’s ensembles are not meant for the real world; they’re pure fantasy, meant to create an image that supports a performance, and the persona of the performer. They’re playful, strange, shocking, and even humorous, but no one’s asking you to wear it out for a night on the town. Perhaps the world needs to relax a bit and remember that it’s entertainment, and with entertainment comes a costume.

I loved this segment from Saturday Night Live with Lady Gaga and Andy Samberg. If anything, it shows that with all of her outrageous creations, Gaga knows it’s just a show. She has a sense of humor about it…at least she knows it’s all in good fun. Maybe we should too?