This week, the blogosphere's been abuzz with feedback on Britney Spears' new video for "Till The World Ends." There's tons of praise for the comeback princess of pop's catchy new single, her awesomely energetic dance moves, and the the fact that, well, our girl just seems to have (finally) gotten her groove back. And while we will be the first to admit that the song itself rocks (it's been on perma-play on our iPod for the past week), something else caught our eye during the apocalypse-themed vid — and it wasn't just those mop-topped boys Brit's getting down with. The songstress's studded leather jacket, which eagle-eyed style lovers might recognize from Christopher Bailey's spring collection for Burberry Prorsum, is fashion at its fiercest finest. Having drooled over a similar iteration hanging in Marie Claire's fashion closet recently, I was thrilled to see Spears embracing haute design while shimmying in a very hot underground club. Of course, this isn't the first time fashion's made a mark in a music video, so we thought we'd share some other recent examples of singers with serious style.
BEYONCE KNOWLES FEAT. JAY-Z - "'03 BONNIE CLYDE"
Yet another great fusion of Burberry and pop music. After watching The Artist Otherwise Known as Sasha Fierce exit a swimming pool in the label's trademark plaid, who among us didn't covet an itsy-bitsy Burberry bikini? While a similar design will set you back around $200 nowadays, Beyonce's banging abs are far harder to achieve.
LADY GAGA - "BAD ROMANCE"
Walk, walk, fashion baby. Mother Monster's made an insane impact on the industry since hitting the scene in 2008, and "Bad Romance" is definitely one of the chicest vids to ever hit MTV. It served as an impressive showcase of Alexander McQueen's couture-like Spring 2009 designs — especially those 12-inch-high armadillo platforms. Yowza.
CHRISTINA AGUILERA - "FIGHTER"
Speaking of McQueen, what could be better than watching the golden-voiced Xtina morph into a moth-covered, gown-wearing goddess as demented ballerinas hobble around on crutches? Friends of ours know that McQueen's "Oyster Dress," which the singer wears in this clip, is our dream wedding gown (though, admittedly, we'd prefer not to have hundreds of insects clinging to it as we walked down the aisle). Unfortunately, since the gown is now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it's strictly off-limits to all future brides. On a positive note, with a steady hand and the right beauty tools, those multicolored faux eyelashes might be DIY-able...
ASHLEE SIMPSON - "OUTTA MY HEAD"
In this Dali-inspired video, Jessica's little sis donned a Spring 2008 design by British bad-boy designer Gareth Pugh. A striped number pieced from leather and clear plastic, the avant-garde dress probably made a bigger impact amongst bloggers than did the actual song, which was met with mixed reviews (to put it kindly).
GWEN STEFANI - "WHAT YOU WAITING FOR?"
In one of our personal all-time favorite videos, Gwen does her best Alice in Wonderland impersonation, clad in a host of beautifully dramatic looks by Vivienne Westwood and ex-Dior designer John Galliano, B.C. (that's Before Controversy, of course). The platinum-haired musician/designer has always been a style rulebreaker, and in a mix of top hats, skyscraper stilettos, and a gorgeous take on the Queen of Hearts' scarlet gown, Gwen's in top fashion form here.
MADONNA - "FROZEN"
Obviously, we could create an entire separate roundup of fashion-centric Madge vids without thinking twice, but we did want to share the love here. To wit, we picked out the icon's 1998 "Frozen" video as one of our favorites — and not just because we adore the moody tune itself. Madonna wears Elvira-chic black gowns by Olivier Theyskens in the clip, and is even swallowed up by her own billowing skirt and transformed into a galloping Great Dane at one point. Sadly, Madonna-as-hound doesn't sport any Theyskens.
Since we don't have the bandwidth to share every great example of music video style out there (um, not even close!), we're sure we skipped a few of our readers' favorites. So tell us — what's your top-choice stylish vid?