Lady Gaga unleashed a surprise Valentino fall/winter 2021 Haute Couture look on the streets of New York City last night, just because. The singer was photographed leaving the first night of
rehearsals for her upcoming show with Tony Bennett at Radio City Music Hall. She stepped out in a purple Valentino cape dress, citron leather gloves, and a giant ostrich feather hat designed by Philip Treacy for the fashion house. She accessorized the outfit with Marc Jacobs sunglasses.
Gaga spoke to Oprah for ELLE in November 2019 about how she isn’t trying to outdo herself or “freak the hell out of people” sartorially anymore. She didn’t anticipate her big meat dress moment, for example, to be as salacious as it was.
“Well, the meat dress, quite frankly, I didn’t think it was going to be as shocking to everyone as it was. But that’s just me,” she started. “I have a sort of eccentric brain, so for me, I was like, Of course this makes sense. I’m showing up to make a statement about ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.’ I went to the event with soldiers who were discharged from the army because they were out, or they were found out, and to me, if you’re willing to give up your life for your country, does it matter what your sexual orientation is or what your gender identity is? For me, it was like, ‘Flesh is flesh,’ so that was the intention of the meat dress. For me, that wasn’t shocking; it was shocking to the world. And I have to say, it was quite recently—after doing A Star Is Born, and working with Bradley Cooper, and my experience even with winning an Oscar—I sort of just went to myself, ‘You have a much greater mission on this earth than to freak the hell out of people. Your mission is to give people a form of love through your art that lifts them up.’”