It has to be asked: would Lady Gaga have been as big a hit if she took the stage in shorts and a tanktop instead of blood-drenched stuffed Kermits? Would 'Poker Face' even graze the Billboard Top 100 if she didn’t have the balls to walk around in tampon-baring tangas? Fortunately, neither the music industry nor the fashion industry has to find out.

Appearance counts a lot towards an artist’s success. Rally as you might behind the ideology that only the talent should sell the song, it will still be quite difficult to dispute that Kelly Clarkson, the Brunette in Corsets, totally trumps the record sales of Kelly Clarkson, the Dirty Blonde in even Dirtier Baggy Jeans. They are called Pop Icons after all, and the term itself demands that they titillate not only the eardrums but also cause fans to salivate with starstruck lust as well.

Rihanna

Take the female music artist Rihanna. Even during the Dark Ages of Chris Brown, her couture still managed to hog some of the limelight. Who could turn their eyes away from a pantless Rihanna rocking Fashion Week? And who could have known the puffy, pretty, pastel creations of Monique Lhuillier could growl so loudly once cinched with a tiger belt? She might have been knocked down but she’ll always be a knockout.

Lady Gaga

Too new to be an icon? Perhaps, but Lady Gaga is inarguably the hugest fashion statement to walk the VMA stage in the past few years. If Rihanna sans pants is news, for female fashion icon Lady Gaga, it’s just another day at the convenience store. Tangas are making a huge comeback thanks to her, and leotards that were once confined to dance boutiques are now displayed in Topshop. With Gaga’s unwavering reign, the time when eight-year-olds start slashing their Tickle Me Elmos and wearing them as tube tops is upon us.

Madonna

Lady Gaga, as powerful as she is, bows down to the queen – Madonna.
Madonna is undoubtedly both music and fashion’s top muse. With more
reincarnations than a whole Hindu village under her belt, she has emained
solidly on top of the food chain – commanding the attention of powerbrands such as H & M, Louis Vuitton, and Versace. In fact, in her twenty-six years in the music industry, he’s still the yardstick by which all wannabe female music artists and trying-to-be female fashion icons are measured.

These three women are just the tip of the fashion-driven iceberg that is Music. We haven’t even gone for Debbie Harry and her influence on Gwen Stefani and Hollywood’s Sienna Miller. Or even Janis Joplin and her style-follower Joss Stone. The list is long and reads like a Henri Bendel catalog. Admit it, a hit is measured not only by how well a song is sung but also in how well it’s garbed. Such are the rules of the fashion and music charts.

Rating: 3/5

- Bia Fernandez