Twitter is going appropriately jamón for these photos of Rihanna STEPPING OUT in last night’s New York City downpour wearing a crucial sequin gown by Discount Universe which reads: “YOU WILL NEVER OWN ME/I WILL NEVER FEAR YOU.” As statement dressing goes, confrontational bon mots in blood-red all-caps can never be beat; although clothing cannot be inherently feminist by definition—fuck yo granny panties—this dress’s Holzer-esque punk rock disdain emits serious vapors of post-riot grrrl intent. (Discount Universe is designed by Nadia Napreychikov and Cami James, two tuff Australian millennials whose mission statement includes “the subversion of, the fucking with the fashion framework” and that it is “steeped in humour and irony, cliché and imitation.”)
Beyond the clothes, it is very much worth mentioning that Rihzus was wearing this ensemble to storied Midtown gay club Escuelita, where she was attending the Birthday Ball of legendary vogue commentator Jack Mizrahi, the best in the game. You may recall she attended her first vogue ball in November, in which I died the last time; as the actual culture becomes more visible beyond a tacit, gestural Madonna song, we’ll no doubt see other pop stars interacting more visibly with the underground ball scene. To that end, here’s J.Lo’s somewhat befuddling but nevertheless addictive track “Tens,” featuring vocals from Jack Mizrahi himself and complete with a fake “ha” (ha!).
