Sporting a dress designed by Luca Luca’s Luca Orlandi at the Crossroads première in Japan (left), Britney Spears shows that she’s more than confident to cultivate her image as we deconstruct the fame

N RECENT TIMES we've seen Britney Spears move on from Mouseketeer ears to the midriff-baring Catholic schoolgirl uniform of ‘Baby One More Time’ to more sophisticated apparel such as Versace, Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana, Balenciaga and most recently, at the Crossroads première in Japan, Luca Luca.
   The Spears phenomenon has really taken shape over the last year. While adored by teenage fans, a group served by the likes of Jessica Simpson, Britney has moved with the times and the ageing of her original fan base. And she has found a larger group by extending her reach from music to movies. If her aim was to have the level of fame of Madonna or Marilyn Monroe, then she has arguably achieved it.

T would not be unfair to refer to Britney Spears as a phenomenon. Some parents have been outraged that their grade-school daughters are picking out crop-tops as the thing to wear, highlighting the pop star’s appeal. Even a computer virus bore her name. Not too long ago, she appeared in a Lucire article about an endorsement deal with Skechers (there are now Britney Spears roller-skates), which follows on from Pepsi, Youtopia, Enroute and a part-ownership in web site Sweet16.com. The latest this week has been a THQ video game for PlayStation 2 called Britney’s Dance Beat, featuring her songs, DVD content and a digitalized Britney with apparently authentic (according to the press release) dance moves.
   In 2001 and 2002, the sophisticated Britney Spears has emerged, with a greater say in what she should be dressed in, and determining and now co-writing some of her songs. The pop star that exploded on to the scene in 1998 has grown up.
   Explains Selda Gulcan at Luca Luca, ‘[Originally,] Kurt and Bart, her stylists, asked for the dress for the Europe and London première[s].’ Instead, having chosen something flashier for London, Spears opted for the dress for Japan, on the basis that ‘Britney really loves it and definitely wants to wear it.’ Gulcan lends weight to Spears’ growing independence of choice.
   Her music has reflected this. The Britney album points to a more mature star comfortable with her identity and sex appeal. (And like her first two albums, it went platinum.)
   And what should she be dressed in? Spears has been reported as saying that some of the clothes chosen for her have not been ‘grown-up’ (Fashion Magazine, November 2001), so recent months have seen more plunging necklines and more elegant dresses. There have been covers on the aforementioned Fashion, Vogue, Allure and Harper's Bazaar. Lucire might be right in predicting slightly more restraint—her Luca Luca dress is an elegant progression on what she has chosen at various American Music Awards, MTV and Grammy ceremonies.
   When we enquired with Lucire editor-in-chief Simone Knol, she said, ‘I think it's time that she started to dress a little more grown-up. By that I don't mean plunging necklines and baring lots of flesh. She would look very good in more sophisticated outfits rather than some of the frightful outfits she has worn in the past.’
   However, fans can probably expect to see the provocative outfits on stage. As she told the Associated Press, ‘I'm on stage, I'm performing; Janet (Jackson) wears clothes like that, Destiny's Child wears clothes like that … And I was always pinpointed. I never understood that.’
    ‘I suggest she gets a dresser who actually likes women rather than the two men who dress her now. Failing that, a full-length mirror wouldn't go amiss!’ advises Knol.
   The other answer to Spears’ lament is her fame and her success at having differentiated herself—the two ingredients of a great marketing campaign. It is the irony of the southern, Christian girl who dresses against the stereotype.

S SHE an example? There is that southern down-home appeal about the Louisiana native who’ll celebrate her 21st in December. We now know that singers from that state aren’t all into bluegrass. She has not denied her Christian roots and is one of the few celebrities to have made virginity a virtue, even if some associations have started an anti-Britney movement (fuelling her fame further).
   Going on the ’net, there are plenty of anti-Britney pages, one slamming the singer for not singing live. Search for ‘“anti-Britney”’ in Google and there are c. 15,300 results. Detractors and misquotes by the press are part of the territory, upsetting observers and forcing the opinions to be posted online.
   Other criticisms we found include one that teenagers have more power than any of their earlier counterparts, yet play to the dumb-blonde act allegedly perpetrated by Spears.

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