GAGA IS THE LIFE OF THE PARTY
3/1/09 // 3:06 PM
SOURCE
If Paris Hilton is the ambassador to the party, then Lady Gaga is the president.
The main difference between the two is that Lady Gaga worked hard to earn her fame while Paris is famous just for ... well, being famous.
It so happens that she attended high school with Paris and Nicky Hilton at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan.
"Prom at my high school was like a Ralph Lauren runway," she said.
The 22-year-old's first two singles, "Just Dance" and "Poker Face" off her debut album "The Fame" tore up dance charts around the world upon their release last year -- the first landing at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the latter at No. 6.
"I'm enjoying all of this at the moment. Unfortunately, I've been too busy to go clubbing, but that's okay because the last couple of years of my life were spent at clubs," she joked in an email interview.
She has gained such a huge following that cos-play, or costume play events have sprung up around the world with female fans dressing up as her -- and Korea is no exception.
"Even Ne-yo dressed up as me as a joke -- which I took a photo of," she said.
"A lot of my fans upload pictures of themselves dressed up like me on my MySpace page and seeing them makes me very happy."
Even if you don't recognize her name or her music, you have most likely seen images of her everywhere.
Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta in Yonkers, New York and raised in Manhattan by an Italian family, she began her career in music as a precocious 20-year-old at Interscope records composing music for such popular acts like the Pussycat Dolls.
Even before that, though, the petite dye-blonde bombshell went the traditional route of establishing her presence by hustling in the underground club/dance scene through lavish glam-rock and pop performances in underground clubs around the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
She did this despite the fact that she was well-below the legal age for admittance at such clubs at that time.
After three years of such performances, she entered NYU's prestigious Tisch School of Art to study music at 17 years-old -- one of 20 people to gain early admission.
Now Lady Gaga has formed an iconic image for herself by fusing vintage '80s-haute and contemporary aesthetics in her outlandish stage wardrobe. When it comes to the topic of fashion and music, Lady Gaga is all business.
"My philosophy is to make music for the dress. The thought of what the music video would look like and the type of visual elements to be used are all things I think of when writing my songs," she said.
"The music I perform on stage and the visuals I present to my fans are all singular entities. When I say I make music for the dress, that's just my own metaphor which defines me as an artist."
Shoulder pads, over-sized sunglasses, latex, androgynous '80s Yves Saint Laurent power suits and '80s-era glam-rock glitter are all elements she has indulged in her choice of fashion motifs.
"Fashion and art are essentially one with my body. What I do is performance art, not just music," she said.
"It's worthy of being presented at the Louvre. For people to truly understand my music they need to listen of course but they also have to watch my music videos and look at the costumes I wear during my live performances. These three things are so very important in 'getting' my music."
But she has no plans to keep her current style concept any longer than she has to -- at least perhaps until her next record drops.
"Image is very important to me as you know and I'm always keen on being on the lookout for new things that catch my attention."
"I not only create my own wardrobe but I oversee and direct my stage performances as well and I will never go on stage wearing clothes that were made by someone else."
Her love of fashion came from her mother, who was "always very well-kept and beautiful. She wore Ferragamo, Valentino, Paloma Picasso. Her taste is absolutely classic Italian."
She cites Madonna and David Bowie as her inspirations because of the importance they place on visual pageantry.
"I used to love making my own wardrobe when I was little. My childhood fashion idol was Donatella Versace and it still is to this day."
Lady Gaga recently announced plans to start her own clothing label.
"I can't wait to do my own line. It's definitely something I want to do in the next year."
