Lady Gaga Proves How Method Dressing Can Be A Success – When Done Correctly

lady gaga in red at joker folie a deux premiere in london
Lady Gaga's Method Dressing Is Next LevelSamir Hussein - Getty Images

Another press tour and another method dressing extravaganza to tuck into. Picking up the baton from Margot Robbie and Zendaya, this time it’s the turn of Lady Gaga, reporting for duty for Joker: Folie à Deux. And if we know one thing about Gaga – who takes on the role of Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker – it’s that she isn't going to miss an opportunity to play to theme, albeit in a (slightly) more subdued way that one might once have expected from the premium performance dresser.

And so, last night in London at UK premiere, Gaga wore an architectural gown and bolero (super duper 1980s, with its puffed, peaked power shoulders), a custom look from Hedi Slimane’s Celine.

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The wonky, sculpted silhouette echoes the off-kilter, exaggerated aesthetics of the Gotham universe, while the strident red shade calls to mind the paintbox primaries beloved by the villainess. This was accompanied by a haul of Tiffany & Co. jewels.

lady gaga in red at joker folie a deux premiere in london
Gareth Cattermole - Getty Images

But it was Gaga’s glam squad who really played to character, giving her a jagged, black and red bob – as if shorn and dyed herself – and aqua eyes with a single, bejewelled tear. Take away the wig and eye make-up, however, and the look would have read more Dallas than Gotham. There, clothes were more glamorous and less carnivalesque than they could have been, without a harlequin check or Pierrot collar in sight.

lady gaga bob hair
Samir Hussein - Getty Images

That is a smart move. Lately there has been a sneaking suspicion that the method press tour shtick might have become a little tired. The unfavourable reception that Blake Lively’s punt on sort-of thematic florals for the It Ends With Us tour was not only down to the fact that it seemed to undermine the serious subject matter but also a sense that the movie didn’t really need or warrant it.

Gaga’s method-ish dressing shows an evolution on her part too. Whereas once she’d be dressed like a theatrical DC character for the most mundane of occasions (wonderfully refreshing, by the way), in her thirties she has made space for a little bit of Stefani Germanotta to show through.


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