Lady Gaga versus the World

"I’ve always been Gaga," she said in an interview with Rolling Stone. "It’s just that all the years of schooling and being in a Catholic environment and living in a place where we were kind of told what was the right way to be, I suppressed all those eccentricities about myself so I could fit in. Once I was free, I was able to be myself. I pulled [Gaga] out of me, and I found that all of the things about myself that I so desperately tried to suppress for so many years were the very things that all my art and music friends thought were so lovely about me, so I embraced them." 

“I don’t view myself as outrageous – that’s not the intention. Its to be more and more original.” - Lady Gaga to Allure

However, not everyone seems to agree with her. Since she first came on the scene a number of artists and models claimed that GaGa had ripped off their look.  Here are a few the controversies see what you think.

Kerli vs. Lady Gaga 

Kerli Kõiv [ˈkerli ˈkɤ.iv] born February 7, 1987, better known as Kerli, is an Estonian recording artist.  She frequently cites Björk as a major influence and one of her favorite musicians and Sigur Rós as her favorite band. Among her other influences are Anouk, Joni Mitchell and Janis Joplin.

She was signed to Island Def Jam Music Group in 2006 by LA Reid and in 2008, she released her debut album, Love Is Dead which charted at 126 on the Billboard 200 in July 2008 and at 2 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart the following month. The album contained the singles "Love Is Dead", "Walking on Air" and "Creepshow", with "Walking on Air" being the most notable. It charted at number seventy-five on the European Hot 100 and was featured twice on the United States television dance competition So You Think You Can Dance.

According to Neon Limelight, Kerli called out Lady Gaga for stealing her locks and her looks. She later apologized, but justified the tirade due to her friendship with Gaga’s team and is disheartened that “every time I do something different and I post a picture up on Myspace, she’s also looking the same way within two week’s time.”

 

Roisin Murphy vs. Lady Gaga

Irish singer-songwriter and music producer, known for her electronica style. Murphy first came to note as part of the electronic music duo Moloko. Her partner in the band was then-boyfriend Mark Brydon. After the two ended their romantic relationship, Murphy released her debut solo album Ruby Blue, written and produced with Matthew Herbert, in 2005. Her second solo album Overpowered was released in 2007. On 10 January 2008, Overpowered received a nomination for the Choice Music Prize in the Republic of Ireland; the award is given each year to an Irish artist who has proved to produce a critically acclaimed album. Her version of “Slave to Love” by Bryan Ferry is featured in the 2008 Gucci commercial starring actor James Franco.

 

New York based Village Voice columnist Michael Musto has said that Lady Gaga is the new Roisin Murphy. Musto also argues that Roisin is the new Kylie. Someone who couldn't agree less with Musto is music blogger Arjan. Click here to read more! 

But former Moloko frontwoman Murphy firmly believes that she's responsible for Gaga's looks and has labelled her a 'style thief'! In an interview with 'Daily Mail', Roisin let rip:"She's copied my style. I met her about a year ago before she got really big and I had no clue that this was all going to happen. She wasn't wearing shoulder pads at the time, and I was. Lady Gaga is just a poor imitation of me. She has copied my style, she took my shoulder pads and all that. Mind you she doesn't wear the bottom half!"

Miss Mosh vs. Lady Gaga

Masha Federova, better known by her online name of Mosh or Miss Mosh, is a fetish, alternative, and nude model. She chose Mosh as her nickname after "Masha" was taken on the modeling network site modelmayhem, where she made her debut.  She was born in the Soviet Union and moved to the United States at a young age. During her early teenage years she became fascinated with images of fetish-wear, bondage, and pin-up. Years later she joined in on the fun and now enjoy being surrounded by the world of fetish. She now resides in Los Angeles, CA and run her own website, themoshroom.com

Mosh wrote in her deviant art journal "  I look like Lady Gaga? I'm so f*cking tired of this. I know I wear a lot of latex, and have lavender hair... I'm disgusted and outraged to know that my image is being blatantly ripped off by a mainstream pop "artist", and the true creator of putting it all together won't get a dime or a credit. I would have at least a respect for her if she was a true unique artist, sadly, she couldn't even do that. She needed to take something from someone who had much less exposure than her."

"You may be mainstream but you will never be an original".

 

Lady Gaga  vs. Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera was accused of stealing Lady GaGa's look in early 2009. The multiplatinum-selling singer performed at the MTV Video Music Awards in September wearing platinum blonde hair extensions, a black catsuit, and a mask, leading many critics to claim she was swagger jacking Lady GaGa’s signature.

Lady Gaga said "I’ve really burned graphic images of my visuals onto the irises of my fans.”They saw a huge, Grammy-winning star who’s been around for years and they recognized Lady GaGa. That to me is quite an accomplishment.”

Then in mid 2010 the Daily Mail [London] reported:

Eighteen months ago, Christina Aguilera dismissed suggestions she was copying Lady GaGa, icily declaring: 'I don’t know if it is a man or a woman.'

But as the 29-year-old prepares to release her first studio album four years, it looks like Aguilera may be feeling the pressure to mount a stunning comeback.

In a clip of the singer's new video for her comeback single Not Myself Tonight, Aguilera opts for a PVC bra and pencil skirt - identical to an outfit worn by GaGa in London last August.

To be honest after searching numerous blogs and galleries other than Lady Gaga versus Christina Aguilera I don't see the fashion heists that GaGa has been accused of committing. With the exception of the platinum  hair with the blunt bangs and fetish fashions most of the comparisons require a stretch of one's imagination. Let's face it platinum hair, blunt bangs, latex have all been around for sometime.  I don't necessarily subscribe to the old adage that there isn't anything new under the sun; however I do believe that it is difficult to be original, not impossible, just difficult.

Instead of being vicious like a lot of fans have been relentlessly attacking the alleged offender, everyone should step back and remember that "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" [attributed to Charles Caleb Colton, 1780-1832].