Lady Gaga for L’Uomo Vogue (NSFW)

Posted on Jan 6, 2012 in Fashion

We’ve been pretty open about loving Lady Gaga’s turn toward fashion-as-costume in the last year or so, and away from all the transhuman stuff that we found kind of boring and silly (all that horns and eggs stuff). But sometimes Steffi should be encouraged to ditch the Joan Crawford dresses and Donatella sunglasses and just get the weird out of her. A weirdness high colonic, so to speak. She clearly has a need to do this sort of thing now and then and she’s got a massive fanbase of little monsters who would be disappointed with her if she failed to fly her freak flag for them. It’s not our thing necessarily, but sometimes a girl has to glue shit on her face and rip open her top just to satisfy some primal urges.

And besides, it makes a pretty arresting editorial.

Lady Gaga featured in the January 2012 issue of L’Uomo Vogue photographed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.

[Image Credit: tarsha via thefashionspot.com]

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Anonymous

Horrifying.
- Jolene Barnett
  
  I’m sure she’d be delighted to hear that. I mean honestly pleased since these kinds of shoots are meant to get strong reactions. Whether they are positive or negative is largely irrelevant.
  - Anonymous
    
    How about “yawn”…think she’d like that?
    - Jolene Barnett
      
      She’d probably be doubly pleased that you took the time to type it out.
      - Anonymous
        
        would she be triply pleased if I farted?
- Anonymous
  
  And NOT in a good way.
akprincess72

Not my style.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Emily-Smith/12431153 Emily Smith

she’s an odd duck, that one.
Anonymous

Oh, this is from a mini-video she did:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=20pO5fvei-o

She did three of these, “The Bride,” “The Mermaid,” and “The Nymph” to go along with her “You and I” video. Kind of interesting, really. Don’t ask me what it’s all supposed to “mean,” mind you!
- Sara__B
  
  Thanks for the link. The video is more compelling than the photos. Motion makes it work.
- Anonymous
  
  Oh thanks for the link. Puts the shoot in perspective. Not sure what perspective exactly.
- http://twitter.com/urban_gypsy Urban Gypsy aka Tess
  
  Thanks for the link but it made me mad. I am so totally over our idiotic perception that female nipples are so dangerous we need a sliding bar to cover them lest we damage a wee child for all eternity. I know this isn’t particularly the forum for this particular rant but I’m having the kind of day that’s about expressing rather than holding back.
  
  That said, the pics, and even more, the videos, are quite amazing. Say what you will about Stef, she willing to go out there and test any waters and I admire that greatly.
- Anonymous
  
  The video is much more interesting than the stills. Thanks for the link.
- Anonymous
  
  It’s interesting to see all three videos. Something about her is so compelling
http://profile.yahoo.com/_DT7XZZMWCT25ZTAOTY2UAFTQ7I Elizabeth

she looks like one of those things from the hills have eyes..
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_66HP3YKWCLFAIKBQGHWDF3P3JY Adam
  
  I was thinking Akira:
  
  http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/7c8b11c3e2a9160d40faf0b77a119fbd.jpg
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_66HP3YKWCLFAIKBQGHWDF3P3JY Adam
  
  I was thinking Akira:
  
  http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/7c8b11c3e2a9160d40faf0b77a119fbd.jpg
Anonymous

Is she supposed to be a Borg, like Seven of Nine? I don’t get it. Interesting pictures, but I don’t get it.
Sara__B

I’m not one of her little monsters, so this leaves me confused and, since I just finished my lunch, with an unsettled stomach. I need the Cliff Notes to understand the appeal of this.
http://twitter.com/Deac82 Mike M.

Were her boobs always that nice?
- http://profiles.google.com/sara.e.munoz Sara Munoz
  
  By “nice”, do you mean, “big”?
  - http://twitter.com/Deac82 Mike M.
    
    well, they always looked so tortured
- http://twitter.com/mellafe natalia h
  
  I was going to ask the same thing. I’m suddently really, really jealous.
- Anonymous
  
  Those are some beautiful breasts … I want to know also — Are they hers?
  - Anonymous
    
    Regardless of if she was “Born that Way” or bought them….they are hers now.
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2CNDPMVO4W23R5TVC2QMTJ5BZE Heather
    
    I say bought – but she has a really, really good surgeon.
- Chantelle James
  
  I wondered that, too. They look bigger than they usually do and well-formed. There are some nice-looking breasts there.
Anonymous

That’s the costume she’s wearing at the beginning of “You and I.”
Anonymous

Steffi as Borg.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3JSTXMWWVZN2QNP2UEKJMTWD7U Isabel
  
  Yes!
  Shall we call her Gwen of One? – She’s unique.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1043171034 Tadiana Walton Jones
  
  “Borg” was my first thought as well. I’m not sure they were trying to be so derivative, but there it is. I think the Borg may have met their match in Steffi, though. She’ll turn that colony on its hardware-bedecked head. Steffi for Queen Borg!
  - Anonymous
    
    Really, I don’t think either she or her team care about being derivative, they are so all the time.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Sarah-Friedman/100002363116424 Sarah Friedman

I get where they’re trying to go with this (I think). Some of the pictures are quite arresting. Very raw. Not unattractive. Certainly not “horrifying.”
Anonymous

ew
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=506473106 Mori Clark

sure, why not.
http://profiles.google.com/sephski Jennifer Szczublewski

“but sometimes a girl has to glue shit on her face and rip open her top just to satisfy some primal urges”

I love you guys for understanding that!

And I actually like this editorial. I like the cybernetic/sci-fi take, and the drama of it. Fashion needs to be more than just pretty. …Though I do love the pretty too, don’t get me wrong!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1344922354 Eric Scheirer Stott

Borg
Valerie Little

Is this what it takes for her to shock the masses now, personifying a dead body with an inexplicable remote control ear?
- Anonymous
  
  I was just thinking she’s moving into S&M now. There’s only so much farther she can go before not even her fans can get their fix anymore.
  - Terence Ng
    
    Ah, she’s in the “Justify My Love” phase now. It’s okay, though. I loved that part of the Madonna trajectory.
- Anonymous
  
  I don’t know if it’s the makeup or the lighting or what, but she looks ill. And corpse-like, now that you’ve mentioned it…
Anonymous

Makes me wince in pain.
Ceur -

I want her boobs.
Stephen Bornstein

Is this our moment of pretty…?
Anonymous

It’s the feminist cyborg. Donna Haraway would dig this. Look her up – fabulous feminist theorist.
- Anonymous
  
  That’s who came to mind for me too. The Gendered Cyborg was a great anthology that had her in it. Brings me back to my undergrad days.
foodycat

I like that she doesn’t need to be “pretty”, but if she is hoping to shock she has failed.
M N

I like the concept, but the execution lacks. The cybernetic pieces look like they were made out of sculpey.
- Anonymous
  
  I’m with you. I like the arm application, the make-up, and the concept, but something about the face piece is totally missing it for me.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1314255041 Irina Ryabchuk

She has the most gorgeous eyes.
P M

#3, #4, and 2nd and 4th from down are pretty good. What’s the deal with the mutilated nipple??
Anonymous

Whatevs. Where’s Hot Ginger Handler?
Anonymous

WTF. She looks like a deranged mental hospital patient.
Anonymous

And that whole hand over boob thing is just awkward.
http://twitter.com/Nancer Nancer

Wow – I love these shots, think they are interesting and beautiful. Guess I am in the minority here. Love the face jewelry; I wonder if this will ever be a “thing,” you know?
- Sara__B
  
  Face jewelry. That’s a whole new perspective for me to think about. Thanks.
http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd

fascinating in a deeply disturbing sort of way, which I am sure is precisely the point.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Micaela-Cannon/1465504041 Micaela Cannon

I feel like because this is Gaga, it’s expected and slightly cliched…but if she was a model unknown to most of us these pictures would stop you dead in your track. There is a lot of power and emotion in these shots….I honestly really love them. Her schtick gets old, (and I am saying this as a huge fan) but I could see these in an art gallery. Especially the two from the neck up.
Cathy S

Eh.
Anonymous

Yikes! One man’s (OK–two men’s) “arresting” is another man’s (OK–woman’s) completely freaked out.

I must now go brew up a vat of boric acid and try to wipe those images out of my mind. I wish it were that easy.
Anonymous

What’s with her and nudity? I have nothing against it but this and the Vanity Fair photo seem like cheap gimmicks to me.
bloodshothalfblind

i get it. but im so bored by it.
http://www.facebook.com/luv2birdie Elana Bryan

One word: HATE
Anonymous

How very unappealing. I, for one, am tired of her tits and her shtick.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3AJ237ND3GAHDQJZ4TLCO4WLRA Emily

Not my cup of tea.
Anonymous

Hmm. Not my thing. She looks kind of like the Borg Queen in a pants suit.

I really dislike her hair. If that’s her hair.
http://twitter.com/VicksieDo VicksieDo

This is art. GORGEOUS. And wow, nice tatas!
Anonymous

well…they are definitely interesting.
Anonymous

I think she is her most beautiful when she has no makeup on and is at her most raw. I especially like the sixth one down (the close-up). Reminds me of some of the portraits of the women back during the dust bowl era. I don’t much like the rest.
Cheri Lee

Is that her real hair? They had to ugly her up so she could match that hideous hair!
Anonymous

I don’t know. I always get the feeling that she is trying too hard. That what she wears is no longer because she’s got funky taste, but because “everybody expects me to dress weirdly, so what can I do to top that last outfit?”.
Anonymous

Rutger Hauer called and he wants his angsty vibe back.
Anonymous

I’ve seen enough of her breasts to last me a lifetime. Nice photography though.
Anonymous

I’m still waiting for her to make an appearance in Marian the Librarian drag.
Can you see it? Halloween concert. Over the PA from backstage: “Are you ready to be Scared, my monsters?”
Maybe they’ll wheel out a large wooden coffin. It opens, and there’s Gaga:
Sensible shoes, plain brown skirt, white blouse, tight bun on top of her head. No glasses though, cause she’s usually got glasses.
- Anonymous
  
  Like is not nearly enough. Love.
  
  And, with her, there’s always an outside chance . . .
  - Anonymous
    
    What I’d really like is for that to be a non-Halloween costume, for an appearance on a talk-show.
Anonymous

Tick tock.
http://twitter.com/Merneith Merneith

Got to love her commitment.
Judy_J

Over-exposed, literally. She needs to bring some mystery back.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1084733830 Kate Andrews

Damn, I love this! Scary, but so captivating.
Anonymous

Bionic, insane, what?
Anonymous

I don’t like that at all. What’s the point? Is it fashion, music, art, or (as I suspect) sensationalism. I’m getting rather tired of ol’ Gaga.
Anonymous

I have become a fan of miLady, but dang this is creepy.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jane-Lister-Korwan-Doherty/1332309111 Jane Lister-Korwan Doherty

No thank you, I love her weirdness, but I can’t stand her hair it reminds me of post surgery hair and after having nine surgeries in my life I don’t need to see hair like that any more.
Anonymous

Reminds me of the old lady and all her plastic surgeries in the movie Brazil: “My complication had a little complication.”

It all just seems so OTT affected that it doesn’t stir anything in me at all.
Rebecca Johnson

Is she a Borg stripper?
MilaXX

It’s Cyborg Gaga!
Anonymous

Is there another reboot of “Terminator” I haven’t heard of?
Anonymous

WILD!!!(i used caps and exclamation points, so you know i’m excited). it’s like she ripping herself open, coming apart and showing us the inner workings of her body, mind, and spirit. and in photos 6, 8, and 9 she’s revealing more of her real face to us is in a new and ancient way. you GO new and ancient conceptual art being!
Lulu Lafurge

Good for her. I dig it. I also enjoy Chloe Sevigny’s man-suits.
http://twitter.com/lenabena_ Elena

I despise her, but she has nice boobs.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mary-Stone/100001328135240 Mary Stone

props to her for not having to be “pretty” 24/7, and I am hoping that the rat on her head is a tortured wig, rather than her own tortured hair.
http://profiles.google.com/withano Loren S

When she rips open her shirt, is the paint supposed to look like a hammer and sickle? That’s all I see.
Anonymous

I LOVE the fact that she isn’t trying to be pretty or cute or colorful or princess-y, like so many female musicians that should go unnamed. These photos are repelling yet fascinating, and capture a real rock vibe. Excellent.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=751285857 Sally Brownson

I think she looks more like modern sculpture than human in these. I think that’s actually a good thing.
http://twitter.com/GlenAllenWalken Glen Allen Walken

There are a few of those photos where she almost has a Tilda
Anonymous

Time for a sabbatical.
Anonymous

She looks like she got some really bad headgear from a steampunk orthodontist.
http://angryfemur.tumblr.com Andrea Lane

She’s so strange.

I love it.
Anonymous

Kinda the opposite of objectifying.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mary-Elizabeth-Poytinger-Baumer/1516981341 Mary Elizabeth Poytinger Baume

VISUALLY ARRESTING.
http://profiles.google.com/phyllis.craine Phyllis Craine

“Resistance is futile. Prepare be assimilated”
Anonymous

What is the point? It’s vulgar and ridiculous.
Anonymous

I think there is a certain bravery in the ugliness. Didn’t think much about her until the recent Vanity Fair interview. This really is her and I like that.
Anonymous

Ugliness in the ugliness. Gross and fungus-like. I need a good, long shower after seeing this post.
http://www.facebook.com/amy.ennis Amy LeBaron Ennis

All I could think of was how perfect her boobs look. Who’d have thought?
- Anonymous
  
  Those do not look like her boobs. I’m sorry, but I call photoshop shenanigans.
Anonymous

I like that she’s not afraid to show herself “rough”–and that it’s not always easy to understand where she’s coming from. She’s a really interesting person, at least from what she shows us.

I actually really dig the giant-sunglasses picture.
http://tigergray.blogspot.com/ Tiger Gray

I love it. I have always loved her transhuman stuff though, personally. I like how she’s always had a touch of the grotesque in her work and in her fashion.
http://twitter.com/Alloyjane Alloy Jane

I actually kinda love this.
http://beautyforrealgirls.blogspot.com/ accidental housewife

She’s really starting to grow on me. I love this, despite how disturbing some of the images are. And “You and I” is the first Gaga song I actually like. Granted, I haven’t heard many of them, but, either way, that’s a great song.
Anonymous

I’ve read a lot of dystopian sci-fi lately, so this is actually kind of speaking to me.
Anonymous

These look like still from the fashion film http://youtu.be/20pO5fvei-o
Anonymous

This looks silly. Not cool. Not edgy. Not interesting. Just stupid. She’s trying so hard to be ‘ugly’ that it looks forced and artificial. A missed opportunity.
- Anonymous
  
  I agree. Silly and forced. And butt-ugly.
http://desilluist.tumblr.com/ Briarnoir

I love these. I love these so much that it it’s a little ridiculous. They’re beautiful. Point to the photographer for the condition of the black and white in these images; it’s stunning as is the space.

What Lady Gaga does best, when she is at her best, is blend horror and beauty into this glorious little, repulsive cocktail that disgusts and keeps you drinking it. (Also the contrast of ‘rebuilding with cybernetic additions’ and reconditioning for a fashion magazine amuses.)

I was speaking to a friend the other day, in reference to this series, about how fascinating it is that she will create characters to basically express conditions — good, bad, ridiculous, sometimes insane. And how committed she is to following through with that. Like these. Hate these. Be grossed out by them. They carry along this bizarre, disturbing character beyond her You and I video, who has pieced herself together into someone else. (And will forever remind me of Chuck Palanuk’s “Invisible Monster,” which is a weird and fabulous book.)
Anonymous

I thought these were kind of interesting. I really like the relative lack of makeup because then I could actually see how her face is put together and it is a very intriguing face.
Anonymous

I am torn. On the one hand, wow, this is weird. But that’s also precisely the reason why it’s interesting and kinda cool and so unlike any other editorial you’ll see these days. And I’m a lover of her crazy.
http://twitter.com/aStudiobytheSea Jody Lee

Her “jewelry” is referencing the sexy cyborg art that’s been popular for years, only the jewelry looks really bad, like it was made of silver sprayed papier mache and cardboard. So Steffi, get some actual artisans – your Borgy attachments look like something a nerdy 5th grader had put together for his C-3PO costume.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=lf UltimaEsperenza

Deconstructive and classic.
http://twitter.com/deusxmac kim bunchalastnames

love that she’s willing to toss away the “beautiful” for the sake of something more. she’s an attention whore, to be sure, but certainly no worse than madonna ever was, and with far more talent.
Anonymous

she takes belle laide to a supreme level. love this woman’s fearlessness about her looks, unexpected in someone her age. perhaps a testament to the way she was brought up. she does a lot more with her facial features and presents more aspects than a conventionally pretty woman.
Anonymous

I think a cogent question would be: “Would this be compelling and interesting visual art if the subject were not a top selling pop star known for bizarre performance art outfits?
vmcdanie

Well….I give her credit. She’s not worried about looking pretty. These are so so bizarre and just plain busy though I’m confused. Is there some item of clothing that I’m supposed to be looking at here?
- Anonymous
  
  Not to be mean – but I don’t know that she has ever looked pretty – are the usual glasses, makeup and coverings a way to “hide”. her body is quite good though
http://www.joannao.blogspot.com JoannaOC

zombie-cyborg. We’re on the threshold of a world in which the corruption of the flesh co-exists with prosthetics. We crossed the threshold from “pierced ears and tattoos–yuck!” to high fashion tats. Body modification and fashion are walking the streets together. I rode the bus the other day with a guy who had horns, some kind of implant on his scalp.
Anonymous

good grief….
http://phantomminuet.blogspot.com/ MinAgain

I would have flipped right past these images in a magazine, because they’re kind of ugly and not quite interesting enough to compensate for the ugliness.
Anonymous

It really is too bad there isn’t a current Star Trek series on the air. She’d be a natural guest star as some alien or another.
Anonymous

Successful on her part – my reaction was visceral. Eww.

As long as no one tries to make me believe it’s art, I’m good.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=768540908 Badriya Al-Badi’a

I kind of love the fourth one from the bottom, one of the head shots–it has an almost renaissance look to it, partially thanks to her features. Nice juxtaposition of a classical look with the science fiction accoutrements.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1102410968 Liz Davey

Fascinating. I present a class on objectification/transformation specifically into dolls/robots and this is a buffet of opportunity for me!
https://profiles.google.com/104791269167429064986 Judy S

I had an interesting dream, possibly a nightmare, Saturday morning, based on these images.
Anonymous

Waste of the pages. It just looks stupid.
Michael Thomas★

I’d stick around for more, but I’m having bamboo shoved under my nails in an hour.

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Lady Gaga for L’Uomo Vogue (NSFW)

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