Beyonce and the Clothes She Wears

BEYONC É and

the clothes she wears

Terry Newman

BEYONCÉ and the clothes she wears

Terry Newman

Introduction

On the afternoon of 10 May 2023, the city of Stockholm began to buzz. Folks of all ages swarmed through the streets of Sweden’s beautiful capital, loading themselves onto the tunnelbana, piling in and out of restaurants and bars and swooping excitedly down hotel stairwells. Sequins twinkling in the early evening sun, they were heading almost unanimously to

the giant smart-phone-shaped Friends Arena – not to see the Swedish national football team play, nor for a political rally, nor an unusually Earth-shattering business conference. They were on their way to see pop royalty, a songstress whose glittering career spans several decades, gilded with more Grammy Awards than any other performer in history and lauded as one of the most talented and hyper-soulful singers of her generation. This was the night that Beyoncé Knowles would open her first solo stadium tour in seven years. The show was a glammedup tour de force of hit singles, gloriously camp dancing and designer wardrobe changes. Renaissance was the name of the tour, and renaissance the aim of the game. It had been a long time coming, but the former Destiny’s Child bandleader was kicking off her comeback at a canter. Over the coming months, the show would rock up in Amsterdam, Warsaw, London, Nashville, Detroit and more, with multiple dates at each venue, and a fresh line-up of dazzling outfits for each date. Later, as various economists totted up the ins and outs for the month of May,

this page: Red redemption - a poster for the 2023 Renaissance tour film.

opposite: Golden pearl - Beyoncé performs in London during the Renaissance tour, May 2023.

There are so many cultural and societal barriers to entry that I like to do what I can to level the playing field, to present a different point of view for people who may feel like their voices don’t matter.

— Beyoncé, Vogue, August 2018.

it became apparent that Beyoncé’s two nights in Stockholm had caused an inflation spike, potentially altering the entire Swedish economy. Fortunately, for the people of Sweden, the effect was slight and temporary, but talk about making an impression!

Beyoncé (or Bey or Queen B, as many fans like to call her) has earned her place in the historical iconography of successful Black women. With her powerful dance routines and her inclusive messages of social and cultural liberation, she is a proud and potent force, insisting on the right for all people to be heard. Her music canon connects messages of African-American egalitarianism with women’s rights, and serves to inspire respect for cultural subgroups, and anyone else who finds themselves languishing on the margins. As well as her strutting, mainstream pop hooks and near-superhuman singing voice, her wardrobe is another vessel for her convictions. Out of necessity, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, famously conceived and styled the outfits worn by Destiny’s Child. As Bey explained in her acceptance speech for the CFDA Icon of the Year Award: ‘My mother, and my Uncle Johnny, God bless his soul, designed all of our first costumes and made each piece by hand, individually sewing hundreds of crystals and pearls, putting so much passion and love into every small detail’. The love stitched into those clothes helped give B and her bandmates the power to launch their careers. These days, the entire fashion

world reveres Beyoncé. The most esteemed designers in the business will gladly mould their ideas to Bey’s requests and create pieces that reflect what the queen wants – not what their catwalk stories or mood boards denote.

During the Renaissance tour, Bey stormed the stage in a spree of McQueen, Mugler, Gucci, Del Core, Balenciaga, Giuseppe Zanotti, Ferragamo, Coperni and Daily Paper outfits – all tailored to her specific requirements. Each appearance demonstrated her stateswoman-like sway and the pinpoint accuracy of her fashion radar. Looking regal one minute and glamour-pussgorgeous the next, she was able to spotlight the concepts underpinning the Renaissance album, including the influence of LGBTQ+ culture on pop music as a whole. This was classic Beyoncé – synergising music, clothes and visuals to strengthen her message. On the release of her eponymously titled 5th studio album, she explained: ‘I see music. It’s more than just what I hear.’ The first Lemonade video, ‘Formation’, was a metaphor for the painful muscle memory of Black inequality. As American journalist Jenna Wortham wrote in The New York Times, the song wasn’t ‘just about police brutality’, as some had assumed: ‘it’s about the entirety of the Black experience in America in 2016, which includes standards of beauty, (dis)empowerment, culture, and the shared parts of our history.’ The laced Zimmerman tunic and corset Beyoncé wore while sitting in a spacious plantation house was both bucolic and poignantly resonant of past and

present discrimination in America’s rural south. The day after ‘Formation’ dropped, Bey and her dancers, wearing black berets and military-style harnesses, shook Superbowl 50 with a blistering and overtly political rendition of the song. The Black Panthers references prompted long-time activist William Johnson to write: ‘As an original member of the Black Panther Party I thank Beyoncé for her courage to make a statement on National TV. I am sure she understood the backlash that would follow her performance @ the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl, so on behalf of The National Alumni Association of the Black Panther Party we thank you & salute you.’ If this seems like a far cry from the sweet, young showstopper who emerged from Destiny’s Child, don’t be fooled. The queen has had some major social issues covered from the start. Songs like ‘Independent Woman Part I’ and ‘Survivor’ boldly declare messages of feminine empowerment, while ‘Bootylicious’ was a defiant response to body-shaming. As she later told Harper’s Bazaar: ‘I woke up one day and refused to feel sorry for myself, so I wrote “Bootylicious” … It was the beginning of me using whatever life handed me and turning it into something empowering’.

It takes a refined sense of timing, taste and social awareness to push big cultural boundaries and still become one of the most successful recording artists of all time. B won her first Grammy in 2001 with Destiny’s Child, for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group and Best

R&B Song for ‘Say My Name’. In 2004, she was awarded her first solo Grammys – five all on the same breathless night! 19 years later, Queen B clocked up her 32nd trophy, sealing the all-time record. Her pregnancy announcement in 2011 also broke records by prompting the highest number of tweets per second ever recorded up to that point on Twitter (now X). And the Renaissance tour is widely speculated to have been among the highest grossing tours ever –and possibly the highest grossing tour ever by a woman. Speaking to W magazine, Bey once said: ‘In my videos I always want to be a powerful woman. That’s my mission.’ So far, that mission has been accomplished, maybe in part because she actually is a powerful woman. Her mission to appear strong may, in turn, have helped define who she has become. Classic Beyoncé looks include a catalogue of corsets, bustiers, thighhigh boots and mermaid dresses, hand-onhip, with cascading blonde locks, radiating body

Bey B pink - the Renaissance tour dazzles in Chicago, July 2023.

confidence and unapologetic femininity. Versace, Bottega, Balenciaga, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton are just a few of the brands she namechecks in her Renaissance lyrics. She flourishes in va-vavoom showpieces, including Valentino leopardprint catsuits with Louboutin heels; hotly stylish LaQuan Smith cut-out bodysuits; and gatheredleather mini-dresses with gloves featuring trompe l’œil gold fingernails by Maison Schiaparelli.

Using her power for good, B loves boosting the visibility of fashion prodigies who exist outside of the mainstream. When the legendary Vogue editor Anna Wintour gave Queen B creative control of the magazine’s September 2018 issue, Bey duly nominated the first Black photographer in the magazine’s history to take her cover portrait. She explained in the featured interview: ‘Until there is a mosaic of perspectives coming from different ethnicities behind the lens, we will continue to have a narrow approach and view of what the world actually looks like.’ At the 2018 Global Citizen Festival in South Africa, she turned to South African designers Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa, Quiteria Kekana

and George Malelu, who together made the forest-green bodysuit and opera coat she wore to close the show. Black designers also featured prominently in her 2020 visual epic Black Is King, with B wearing Loza Maléombho’s monochrome suits; Lace by Tanaya’s crystal cape dress; and Deviant La Vie’s cord gowns among others. During the Renaissance tour, she performed on the eve of Juneteenth 2023 wearing outfits made exclusively by Black designers. Afterwards, Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing said on Insta: ‘This tour is a revolution. Thank you for supporting us and bringing all the creatives through your beautiful journey around the world’. As the tour drew to a close, it became clear that ‘revolution’ was not too strong a word. A musical fiesta and a fashion manifesto for the ages, it created a safe space for the various cultural expressions of many who are far too often othered – a mainstream marquee for the marginalised. And it served as a compelling ellipsis on Beyoncé’s sartorial trajectory, which has made pop-culture history in much the same vein other Black female style warriors like Tina Turner, Donna Summer, The Supremes and more. Crucially, it should serve to inspire the next generation of super-talent to slay – whoever you are, wherever you come from and wherever you want to go – even in the hardest of times.

this page: Circuit training - a typically physical Queen B performance in Chicago, July 2023. opposite: Baller - Bey plays the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam during her Renaissance tour, June 2023.

As an African-American, I know, I’ve always known, that our fashion, our vibe, our style, our swag, has influenced the fashion world greatly… I remember I used to design things and I would get criticized for it, but the next thing I know, it would be on somebody’s runway.

—

Tina Knowles, Washington Post Live, August 2020.

Dress Code

In the 21st century, the little black dress has become a wardrobe essential. Previously worn by housemaids and those in mourning, there is something almost a little insolent about its universal appeal in the modern age. An elegant uniform that transcends class and defies classification, the frock perhaps began its chic journey when Coco Chanel launched her first crêpe de chine LBD in 1926. Her forwardthinking designs are now the basis for many a fashionhouse favourite. The LBD’s popularity has since been cemented by numerous star turns, such as Billie Holiday’s rebellious and ultra-glamorous silk gowns in the 1940s, and the concertinaed polyester Pleats Please Issey Miyake piece worn by Grace Jones to The Fashion Group International’s 20th Annual Night of Stars Awards Gala in 2003.

this page: Billie Holiday, American jazz singer and songwriter, c. 1940s. opposite: Beyoncé sings at the 52nd Grammy Awards in January 2010.

Despite this deep history, Beyoncé has a way of owning its charm and her closet is a swirl of unbeatable varieties. As a megastar, she wears them skilfully; a review of her LBD wardrobe is something of a fashion masterclass. In 2010, she looked to the craftsmanship of Versace Atelier and chose a visionary latticed leather mini dress for her performance at the 52nd Grammy Awards. The handcrafted bustier gown was souped up with studded detailing and accessorised with Giuseppe Zanotti crystal-embellished, zip-up stilettoed boots.

That night, Queen Bey reigned supreme in her little black dress, reimagined as a raunchy rockstar sensation. She went away with six statues, including Song of the Year for ‘Single Ladies’, a track as classic as the LBD itself.

Queen of the world – Bey performs in Versace at the 52nd Grammy Awards, 2010.

— Beyoncé, BEAT, 2015. ‘ ’

What does fear taste like? Success. I have accomplished nothing without a little taste of fear in my mouth.

In Fine Feather

Feathers are a showgirl’s staple decoration. In the hands of a couturier, the art of the plumassier can rise to greater heights. When Beyoncé attended the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in Madison Square Gardens, she arrived on the red carpet in a Maison Francesco Scognamiglio couture dress with the palest sea-green neck plumage. This was her version of the ‘naked dress’, but it covered up more than it revealed. The floor-length frock was embellished with hundreds of strategically placed crystals and teaming with diamonds reportedly worth over $12 million.

this page: Josephine Baker in typical scanty costume, bedecked with feathers, 1926.

opposite: Flight risk – Queen B makes her entrance at the MTV Awards in Madison Square Garden in 2016.

— Beyoncé, Vogue, 2018. ‘ ’

I think it’s important for women and men to see and appreciate the beauty in their natural bodies.

In the Western World, feathered dresses are most notably associated with the Belle Époque and the Jazz Age. The legendary dancer, singer, and actress Josephine Baker was famed for her Revue Nègre at the Théâtre des ChampsÉlysées, where she made her 1925 debut. As Janet Flanner described in the New Yorker at the time, Baker was ‘entirely nude except for a pink flamingo feather between her limbs’.

Having been nominated 11 times, Queen B flew home from the 2016 ceremony with the wind beneath her wings and eight awards for her trophy cabinet.

Beyoncé poses for photographers in NYC, 2016.

Punk It Up!

It’s all about the boots.

— Beyoncé, huffpost.com, 2013.

In 2013, Beyoncé acted as the honorary Met Gala chair, alongside the host, Riccardo Tisci, the then Creative Director of Givenchy. The theme was ‘Punk: Chaos to Couture’ –a big diversion for a House built on refined elegance and best known for dressing Audrey Hepburn. But the Maison’s founder, Hubert de Givenchy was, in some ways, as much of a revolutionary as punk provocateurs like Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McClaren. Back in 1978, de Givenchy employed an all-Black team of models –something unheard of at the time. Punk’s DNA is built on attitude, and Beyoncé’s outfit for the event personified seditiousness. The design incorporated a rock ’n’ roll python-skin bustier with a fiery, thigh-slit skirt, and the train was edged with hot-rod, flamed decoration – the doubleduty combo being another surprising Givenchy innovation, as he pioneered mix-and-match couture separates. Queen B’s co-ordinating power boots and gloves added a luxe touch to the deconstructed punk vibes. Her doublegrommeted belt felt reminiscent of punk’s rebellious glory days. And the matching thigh-high boots lifted the whole getup to another level.

this page: Beyoncé's 2013 Met Gala boots. opposite: Beyoncé arrives at the Met Gala in NYC, 2011.

It's a Knockout

Bey’s debut solo track, ‘Crazy in Love’, came out in 2003 and the accompanying video was a fashion-fest of fluoro Versace, money-green Gucci dresses and decadent Roberto Cavalli furs. However, it was the J-Crew denim shorts, sparkly Prada singlet and ruby-red Stuart Weitzman stiletto slippers that went down in history as Queen B’s classic look. Since then, she has regularly worn similar hotpants onstage and offstage. In May 2023, for the single’s 20th anniversary, stylist Ty Hunter, who was responsible for the original look, told Vogue: ‘Everything we did prior to that was so big and so glamorous, so we wanted to strip it down into something that the kids could emulate. That was important to Beyoncé.’

Short shorts weren’t always referred to exclusively as hotpants. In a March 1971 issue of Jet magazine, fashion legend Audrey Smaltz discussed what they should be called, referencing that month’s boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier: ‘Knockout-Shorts is a name born of the Black experience. It’s a tribute to Black fighters who are

this page top: Audrey Smaltz at The Black Alumni of Pratt Annual Celebration of the Creative Spirit Scholarship Benefit Gala, 2018. this page bottom: Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier slug it out in the ring, 1971.

opposite: Queen B dances onstage at Coachella, 2018.

BEYONCÉ and the clothes she wears

I have paid my dues and followed every rule for decades, so now I can break the rules that need to be broken.

Beyoncé, Harper’s Bazaar, 2021

Beyoncé is a force of nature. Her iconic songs, viral dance moves and daring acts of defiance are always delivered in sensational style. Strutting and sashaying in her signature thigh-high boots, Queen B is more than just a glamour-puss extraordinaire. She’s a leader and an inspiration – and her fashion connoisseurship is legendary. Beyoncé and the Clothes She Wears charts her fashion journey, from Destiny’s Child to the present day, in glorious visual detail, with commentary from bestselling author Terry Newman.