Katy Perry for Teen Vogue

Posted on Apr 9, 2012 in Fashion

Katy’s on the cover of Teen Vogue! Let’s all put on records and dance in the basement and then go smoke Parliaments in the bathroom! Or whatever it is “teens” do these days when they’re excited. “Sext” each other, probably.

Katy Perry featured in the May 2012 issue of Teen Vogue photographed by Sebastian Kim.

On fashion: ”I don’t like to take fashion too seriously. I love it, and I am so grateful when big brands want to associate with me, but mostly I just want to take chances and have fun and truly live. And sometimes that means wearing some ridiculous, cat-inspired outfit rather than whatever happens to be in this season.”

On fame: ”I’m tired of being famous already! But I’m not tired of creating. Fame is, I think, just a disgusting by-product of what I do. It’s quite a delicate creature— it’s a wild animal of sorts. It can love you, and then it can attack you. I still want to be as approachable and relatable as possible—when I meet fans and they’re crying, I’ll say, “Calm down, there’s nothing to cry about. I’m not going to bite you or attack you or grant you three wishes. Let’s just hang out and have a good time.” But really, I stopped focusing on what other people think a while ago. If you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll only end up completely confused.”

We applaud her take on fashion (which is no surprise) and we get what she’s saying about fame but man, there is never a way for a famous person to talk about fame without sounding just a little tiresome. Them’s the breaks, Katy. Go cry on a bed made of mink bags full of money.

We’re on record as being quite over the blue hair but that’s due mainly to the sometimes-disappointing manner in which she has it styled. Put her in the hands of Vogue people and it comes alive. The shot of her in the Oscar de la Renta dress is pure perfection.

Oscar de la Renta Resort 2012 Collection

Mary Katrantzou Spring 2012 Collection

Oscar de la Renta Spring 2012 Collection

Zac Posen Pre-Fall 2012 Collection

[Photo Credit: Sebastian Kim for teenvogue.com, elle.com]

Tags:

MK03

Can she please go away now?
http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd

Apart for the truly gasp worthy absurdity of showing such clothes to teenage girls, since they will not (cannot) buy them, or wear them. A Zac Posen gown? RIght. Just exactly where is a teenage girl gonna wear that? The junior Prom? I gotta say, Ms Katy is looking mighty fab here, though.
- janetjb
  
  We get this magazine at our house, but I’m not sure why because all of the clothes are “horrible”.
  
  I keep hoping there is some content worth reading besides the ads.
  - http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd
    
    I’m sure that, just like in the grown up version, “content” is sparse and pretty superficial in the main. After all, we are talking about fashion, not exactly going to get anything really in depth or hard hitting.
    - janetjb
      
      I know that we’re paying for ads to be delivered to our door, but somehow I keep hoping for a little bit more!
      - P M
        
        As The Dread Pirate Robert would say ‘Get used to Disappointment’.
      - janetjb
        
        Love
    - http://www.facebook.com/charlotte.horseman Charlotte Horseman
      
      The conversation reminds of Project Runway and the youngsters who compete and don’t really know what has already gone on in fashion before their own brilliant “vision” was applied to some crap challenge. So, maybe at least kids who want to design fashion need to see high end looks in Teen Vogue so they know they didn’t invent the bubble skirt (or whatever…)
  - http://profiles.google.com/ameliaheartsu Amelia Logan
    
    I always disliked this magazine when I was a teen. The editorials were over the top, too many accessories, too much design, too many things that my eyes didn’t know where to look. So it just looked ugly to me.
- http://www.facebook.com/charlotte.horseman Charlotte Horseman
  
  I thought that too – especially with the white and blue long Oscar de la Renta! That’s no bubble gum dress!!
  - SignLadyB
    
    I loved that dress!
    - TheDivineMissAnn
      
      I’ll race ‘ya for it!
- Eta A Isiorho
  
  But the parents of the targeted audience of Teen Vogue can…
  - http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd
    
    I suppose that is true. It still begs the question about the suitability of such clothes for really young women. With the exception of the De la Renta, the clothes in this editorial are FAR too adult looking for them.
    - formerlyAnon
      
      Yes, but. We get several fashion catalogs aimed at teens in my home and while most are cheaper than designer wear (there’s one I can’t account for that seems to be selling designer and custom made prom/bridesmaid gowns), the clothes are often no more wearable. There is apparently a huge market in establishing your brand on fantasy wear (tea length sequined ballroom dance gowns?, flimsy nothings created from see-through gauze and substantial amounts of what must be dry-clean-only decorative trim created by free-trade/eco-friendly/sustainable co-ops out of hand dyed cotton and beading?) and then making money on smaller, cheaper pieces.
      
      I mean, I know there are teens with substantial buying power out there, but how many can drop even a couple of hundred dollars on the practically unwearable and the one-wear-only?
  - http://profiles.google.com/ameliaheartsu Amelia Logan
    
    I used to get teen vogue for free so I suppose I was targeted. There is a huge difference between being able to afford it and having a disposable income for $1000 pants.
- Paigealicious
  
  I used to wonder that about “Seventeen,” where they have photo fashion editiorials that include a pair of pants, say, that cost $1200. I guess the idea is to show the readers the high-end looks that they can then (apparently) copy with mallwear.
  - http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd
    
    That seems like a pretty fair estimation of what they are shooting for. That, plus creating a training ground to get the young girls hooked into the process of following fashion, and then spending on fashion as adults.
    - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1248212910 Jessie Melcher Brown
      
      I’m 47 and have neither the body or the money to wear the clothes in the grownup vogue so I figure its like looking at barbie stuff. Pretty and maybe we take away an idea (a color, a skirt shape) we can incorporate into the real world.
- Nelliebelle1197
  
  We had exactly the same thought. Kids look at these magazines for something to emulate. Unless she’s an Olsen sibling or yet another pale Fanning, WTF???
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2P2ANLRZ6YAVGONA36I2AQJYGI VicD
    
    I’m picturing some poor misguided girl with bright blue hair at the prom…
    - Nelliebelle1197
      
      Actually, that’s not the point. The blue hair is fine and totally appropriate for a teenage prom. It’s the high-end runway dresses kids can’t even reach for that confused me.
    - formerlyAnon
      
      It’s a surprisingly popular look. No, I’m not kidding. It may seem played-out to we ancients, but silly hair coloring still has its little micro-communities.
- kimmeister
  
  Why, to lean up against wooden fences, of course. Just like they will put on mesh gloves and Oscar de la Renta dresses to climb ladders.
  - http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd
    
    Oh RIGHT! Silly of me not to have seen the essential value of the right frock for laying about the barn. I really must get more focused on the now.
- ccm800
  
  Which mag exactly shows affordable relatable clothing to any demographic?
  - http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd
    
    You’ve got me on that one, CC. lol
- http://profiles.google.com/missrandomness Emily Wilson
  
  Teens don’t look at the photos in magazines to buy the clothes. They look at the photos for the people because they know they will never be able to afford the clothes.
- ballerinawithagun
  
  You said it first, Teen Vogue???
  Great clothes, love the pompadour hair!
http://twitter.com/arodenha Alli

I love the styling in that Mary Katrantzou as well!

I can’t fault her for her crazy fashion choices because I would be doing the exact same thing if I had her body/money/fame. Get it while you still can, right?
- http://eclectictsunami.blogspot.com/ Cassie
  
  That eyeliner is fabulous, and she is MADE for Mary Katranzou.
Amy Ellinger

Such a pretty girl. I don’t mind the blue- its better than the pink.
- Terence Ng
  
  Or that Dame Edna crap Kelly Osbourne is sporting nowadays.
  - MilaXX
    
    A -MEN!
Call me Bee

I just don’t get what everyone sees in her. And I certainly agree that a celeb who says they are tired of fame while having a photo shoot in a big magazine is just…just… Just stop it, then. If you’re tired of it–stay home and quietly write your stupid songs.
(Sorry–she’s at the top of my Celebrity Strongly Dislike List becasue she keeps making records and she can’t sing.)
Call me Bee

I just don’t get what everyone sees in her. And really. Saying you are tired of fame while doing a photo shoot in a major magazine is just…just… Just stop it, then. Go home and quietly write your stupid songs.
(Sorry–she’s at the top of my Celelbrity Strongly Dislike List because she keeps making records and she can’t sing.)
- Call me Bee
  
  Sorry for the double post. I tried to delete it to no avail….
- ConstanceGrace
  
  I generally kind of like her as a famous person, but I hate her as a singer. And the thing that really annoys me here is that she says fame is a just byproduct of doing what she wants to do, but I think that it’s more likely that being a singer is actually just the thing that allows her fame to flourish. She’s a pop star, not a serious musician. If she wanted to sing and not be famous, she could ditch the cartoon couture and start writing meaningful songs, and I doubt she’d have any trouble booking a gig at some local dives.
http://www.facebook.com/charlotte.horseman Charlotte Horseman

Katy looks great!! But, UGG!! – hate the look of the material and the arms on the up close shots of the Zac Posen dress.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=601016544 Amy J Albin

Loved them all but the last one.
paginatrix

Tangential thought — but why is it always assumed that teenagers will like a magazine with 800 different typefaces loaded upon a pile of other ugly graphic design elements? I mean, ugh. What’s the matter with adult art directors today?
- MilaXX
  
  Sadly they do the same insanity on the regular mags.
Paigealicious

I think the hair looks good because it’s *all* blue, not faded out with roots showing.
- Lizzyisi
  
  Photoshop is pretty much the only styling tool that makes the hair work.
nannypoo

The staff at Vogue can try all they want but they will never make me like this blue hair. She looks great in the clothes, but I think she would look even better if the focus were off the stupid hair and on her beautiful face.
http://twitter.com/Nancer Nancer

The clothes are great, and she looks great in them, but nothing about this says “teen” to me. These looks are way too sophisticated for a teen market segment. This works in magazines for adult women, there isn’t a youthful vibe to any of it. Just sayin’.
http://twitter.com/susanpcollier Susan Collier

Smurfy.
alyce1213

TEEN Vogue? Really??
I see no teen here.
SpcilK

Swoon, she in very pretty naturally and makes fashion fun without being contrived.
Terence Ng

I’m LOVING the blue hair, personally. It is some straight up Sailor Mercury REALNESS.
- http://onebluetree.blogspot.com/ Sara L.
  
  I love you.
- Celandine1
  
  I want to live in a world were everyone is sporting anime hair. Is that weird? I too love the blue hair.
  
  Katy, please hire this hairdresser for your red carpet events.
- Amy Ellinger
  
  omg yes!!!!! that’s what it is- been racking the brain! I love it, too.
MilaXX

I like the hair makeup and clothes on all of the looks except the Zac Posen. That dress is boring and the hair looks like what she would do on her day off.
JackieOBlue

Why would TEEN Vogue put Katy Perry on the cover? That makes no sense whatsoever
- christinewithanx
  
  Because that is the age level of her music?
- RebeccaKW
  
  Because they want teens to buy the magazines. Putting a popular star, of any age, on the cover is a good way to guarantee that. When I was 7, I wanted to be Cyndi Lauper. I didn’t care that she was 15+ years older than me. I would have used my allowance to buy anything featuring her.
  - http://profiles.google.com/sara.e.munoz Sara Munoz
    
    I used my birthday money to buy “She’s So Unusual” on vinyl. Ah, those were the days.
TheOriginalLulu

OMG I love her in that Oscar gown. Fabulous.

I really love that last photo of her too. Not posing. Just leaning there with a smile on her face. Kind of makes you feel like you’re just leaning there with her, smoking Parliaments and talking about shit.
http://phantomminuet.blogspot.com/ MinAgain

The hair really does look great in these photos. I’m incredibly taken with that Oscar gown, and I pretty much hate strapless.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=506473106 Mori Clark

i actually like her blue hair a lot here!! katy, just hire whoever did your hair here for as long as you rock the off-colours. it’ll be costly, sure, but it’ll be worth it.
Judy_J

That Oscar de la Renta gown is gorgeous, and her blue hair compliments it perfectly. And THAT’S something I never thought I’d ever say.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1248212910 Jessie Melcher Brown

Nice that the boobage is under control for the teen market.
Susan683

Katy. You are 27 years old. Stop singing songs suited to a 16 year old, dying your hair the color of an Easter egg, and whining about being famous. It is all extra-annoying, especially when your talent is inversely proportional to your success.
Pants_are_a_must

This spread is incredibly mature for Teen Vogue, no?
- formerlyAnon
  
  One would think. But look at the prom dresses marketed to teens. Closer to these than to anything you’d think a teen would like. (In my neck of the woods, anyway.)
- http://profiles.google.com/ameliaheartsu Amelia Logan
  
  No. this is pretty much what they look like.
giiiirrrr

I love love love her in the Mary Katranzou. Best picture I’ve seen of her maybe ever. I would not have put her in anything blue with the blue hair (matchy much?), but for the Teen Vogue audience, it works. Well played.
http://eclectictsunami.blogspot.com/ Cassie

Fabulous. The girl takes a good picture and I love the blue hair for once. And that Zac Posen is *so* her dress. Everyone else can get the fuck out of the way.
http://profile.yahoo.com/J2VE4NE2FY2BP4QD2XOYKJGLPI Laura

Stunning. Don’t like the Zac Posen, but otherwise, dig it.
gdougs

“what teens do these days” ….read TLO haha. But I think I’m in the minority there (as far as teens go), unfortunately.

Also, I’ve been subscribed to Teen Vogue for awhile and it is extremely annoying that everything they publish is completely out of my price range. I love high fashion, but even the “steals” they write about are hundreds of dollars! I don’t know what world they’re living in, but I do not have that much to blow on clothing, let alone gas, etc.
christinewithanx

Are there really 281 ways to amp up my look? Do I know what that means?
- http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd
  
  RIght? And does a TEENAGER need 281 ways to amp their look? Really? REALLY?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-TallGirl-Freeman/1043623567 Jessica TallGirl Freeman

It’s annoying to hear them chat shit about being famous, when they are the ones who in fact, are the reason they are famous. No one made you do it, Katy. So stop fussing. (((steps off soap box)))

For once, the blue hair is working. The white and blue Oscar de la Renta is fabulous without all that shittery on the chest. She looks gorgeous.
PeaceBang

Hate everything but the strapless de la Renta.
formerlyAnon

Good for her & Teen Vogue. She’s the kind of ‘fashion icon’ I think teens could use some exposure to (as if anyone in the media consuming universe hasn’t had enough exposure to her!). She’s not a mindless trend follower, she does not confuse skanky with fashionable, and she does seem to hold on to the idea that if you are going to put time and effort into your look you ought to be having fun.

So, yeah, sometimes her looks are catastrophic and sometimes fun, but them’s the breaks.
FourPointOhMyGracious

She’s a pretty girl. Don’t love her hair, but she has a pretty face.
Judith Mignault

Seriously, I love her blue hair!
guest2visits

That Mary Katrantzou suits her; youthful, beautiful. Too bad she’s lost in the hay stack in the cute Oscar de la Renta polka-dot;
I think that was a lost pic. The Imelda Marcos sleeves are a touch….matronly. And the de la Renta gown is beautiful;
– if out of focas.
Katherine Warakomski

As a teenager, I really like this photo shoot. Most teenagers don’t immediately beg for a Zac Posen gown or Oscar de la Renta, we do have a sense of how expensive things are… They are more like inspiration when we go to the mall or Target. I personally just love to look at beautiful things. This is a fashion magazine, not a catalog. We know that we won’t wear these exact things, but we can look for sensibly priced items other places. I also don’t think its too mature, yes there are long gowns, but its just fun fashion! Also, of course its dreamy and fanciful, no one wears those dresses in a barn, but its a photo shoot. Most teenagers aren’t mindless drones who copy everything from Teen Vogue. We just love to see clothes, just like adults. As Nina Garcia would say “Lighten up, it’s just fashion.”
- guest2visits
  
  I have to agree with everything you said. I’ve been reading Vogue and other fashion mags since I was 13 or so; and I’m
  ancient (50′s). In all that time; – I’ve almost never, ever seen stuff that I could possibly afford. And a huge percentage of
  the clothing pictured is just plain weird or ridiculous. It never stopped me from looking, or figuring that out for myself.
  Still; it’s regretful that Teen Vogue, and other youth-targeted mags; don’t feature more cost-accessible items.
- joe_tey83
  
  It’s Michael Kors who said “Lighten up, it’s just fashion”, no?
marilyn

Isn’t she in her thirites (or close to them)? Isn’t she way too old to be in a teen magazine? I hate the hair, but now I think she is really a case of arrested development. Her interview indicates that she thinks she is a teenager however. Someone needs to tell her she is NOT a teenager anymore.
joe_tey83

How is not “take fashion too seriously” necessarily have to do with “take chances and have fun and truly live” – and wear silly cartoon clothes? Can’t she do all that without all the crazy stuff she wears? Most people who don’t take fashion too seriously and have fun with it won’t ever think of spraying cream from their boobs. The outfits she wears goes beyond playful having fun clothes, they are attention-seeking LOOK AT ME clothes. I don’t get it. It will be more refreshing and honest if she just flat out admit she REALLY craves the attention.
ccm800

”I’m tired of being famous already!” Go eff yourself – you been whoring yourself in every genre you could since you could walk.
- http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd
  
  I have a suggestion, Katy,….
  Shut up, step away from the mike, stop doing interviews, stop doing concerts, let your natural color grow out, get a “real job” in an office somewhere, and,…oh yeah, return all the free clothes, jewelry, bags, shoes, belts, hats, and gloves so that they can give them to someone who appreciates the gift.
http://twitter.com/jaythenerdkid Aaminah Khan

I have such a crush on her, always have. I do miss the black hair, though.
- http://eclectictsunami.blogspot.com/ Cassie
  
  The black hair was perfect on her. Maybe she got sick of being confused with Zooey Deschanel?
snarkykitten

if by some act of god I get famous and they ask me about being famous, I promise to be like “fuck yeah I love being famous! Free shit and lots of money!”

and then everyone would call me tacky.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Kelsey-Albrecht/100001647200441 Kelsey Albrecht

Are we not done with her yet?
abigail3

What is that thing coming out of her ear in the last photo? Scary!
http://twitter.com/connectinglines Me Again

Love the Mary Katrantzou dress, but I wish you could see the bottom half in the picture of Katy, because the dress as a whole is more amazing than the top half by itself.
Lisa

Nope, still not tired of the blue hair! I still love her looks.
ri_dic

Get. Rid. Of. The. Blue. Hair. Already.
http://cheekypinky.wordpress.com/ Rebecca

*glurg*

I think I just swooned at my desk over that de la Renta.
http://twitter.com/nkk Nikki

P.S. TLo you two crack me up… Parliaments in the bathroom… did you follow me through secondary school? wow, flashbacks! Just this weekend I saw a man, maybe late twenties, early thirties, and I asked him if he was a teenage rebel, about to make his orders by flipping through Vogue… he didn’t get it. Boy this post made me happy. Thanks guys! Oh and I liked this, it’s fun- I mostly agree.

I think I get the gist of what she is saying though. Fame is necessary for her “profession” to be successful, but people/society place celebrities on such a pedestal that they can barely handle themselves in their presence and it creates a vicious cycle. Alas, slightly vapid to state in an article in Teen Vogue.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=555593309 Alexis Peñafuerte Wenceslao

She should have worn an “Imelda” beehive in the last dress to serve Imelda Marcos realness.
http://mllesatine.livejournal.com/ mllesatine

Is the second Osca de la Renta sold on Etsy? Because that is a whole lot of barnwood for one photo.
kingderella

the paragraph about fame sounds more or less resonable… until you realise its coming from katy fucking perry, a person who has never once missed a chance to be complete and utter attention whore. from the controversy baiting gay panic of “i kissed a girl” to the whipped cream and fireworks hurling boobs to her commitment to blue hair and nutty fashion… say about her what you will, but she is working *very hard* to keep the spotlight on herself. fame is a “disgusting by-product”? its all you ever wanted, you insufferable brat. and just when i was finally starting to warm up to her. blergh.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=583505025 Kelley Comfort

Beautifully styled, were it the adult version of Vogue. I’m kinda digging that earring or ear…clip? that she’s wearing that looks like a lightning bolt. I’ll have to google it later.
http://angryfemur.tumblr.com Andrea Lane

I had a dream that I met her and she was super rude. Go figure.

Cute pics, though.
http://twitter.com/santumisra SANTU M.

look at all the retouching failures!

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Katy Perry for Teen Vogue

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