Lady Gaga's Best "House of Gucci" Looks

by Cláudio Alves

Despite the dynastic title, House of Gucci isn't a movie about fashion. Ridley Scott's no Bertrand Bonello when it comes to shooting beautiful designs, keeping his focus on the human intrigue happening around the clothes, reducing them to an attention-pulling ornament. But, of course, that doesn't mean the costumes aren't gorgeous or anything less than perfect. Reuniting with Scott, costume designer Janty Yates constructed an epic movie wardrobe made up of vintage Gucci, pieces from its lead actress's archival collection, countless custom fits, a cornucopia of deadly glamour. Amid the luxury, Lady Gaga stands out in the role of Patrizia Reggiani, shining like an Elizabeth Taylor diamond, dressed to kill. 

Because lists are fun and everyone loves a ranking, let's explore Lady Gaga's extensive wardrobe in House of Gucci by looking at her top 10 looks…

Throughout House of Gucci, Lady Gaga wore more than 50 different outfits. Overall, there's a progression from off-brand innocence to high-cost splurging designer fashion, oriented around a concept of constant performativity. There are still expensive pieces early on, like a checked Burberry trench or a YSL evening gown, but they're worn with (relatively) limited accessories and a sense of unpretentious sensuality. This changes as Patrizia's plans consolidate, adding an edge of performance to her appearance. From her marriage onward, the costumes are also costumes within the film's narrative. Clothes are a sort of active storytelling manifested through personal style.

Sometimes, this dynamic can be ironic, as when events beyond her control twist Patrizia's idea of control and chicness. When the authorities come a-knocking, and Maurizio flees to the Alps, Gaga wears a mock Chanel tweed suit with gold buttons like gold coins shimmering over her petite frame. In the face of financial disgrace, at a moment when her husband's slipping away from her, Patrizia embodies the very competition that's slowly eclipsing Gucci from the fashion world. On other occasions, there's clear intention behind her costumes, an attempt at projecting a specific image. We can see that in the cartoonish idea of a criminal in jeans and masculine leather, and the Alaïa black coat worn to symbolize the grief of (not so) unexpected widowhood.

All that being said, some looks didn't make it to the film, ending on the cutting room floor. One example is the turquoise sequined dress Gaga sported when dancing with Al Pacino in a recreation of Studio 54, bedecked in Bulgari bling and glitzy makeup to match. Maybe Sir Ridley's eventual director's cut will restore the scenes and their costumes. One can hope. Even so, all of these pieces were just honorable mentions. The actual top 10 starts now:

10) A Snow Leopard

Within the movie's reality, Patrizia Reggiani isn't afraid of fur or loud animal prints. Indeed, she wears both often, underlining her part as a voracious force out for the Gucci's family fortune and Maurizio's blood. This is never more evident than when the married couple arrives in New York, ready to start a new life. Unfortunately, the idyllic joy of the moment is marred by our knowledge of future events, a menace tainting the romantic fantasy. Befitting the complicated mood, Patrizia is dressed like a predator, a snow leopard ready to pounce.

9) Royal Purple

Cutting ties with the rest of the Guccis becomes an intrinsic part of Maurizio and Patrizia's plan to take control of the company. Destroying Jared Leto's Paolo is relatively easy, trusting his own hubris to do the hard work. When the betrayal is, at last, revealed, the familial confrontation is a melodramatic vision of pathetic masculinity succumbing to feminine might. Appropriately, after securing her position as the reigning Gucci queen, Patrizia appears to us and Paolo as an evil goddess in purple, a color long associated with nobility and royal exclusivity. For now, she's victorious and is, thus, dressed like a winner.

8) Monograms and Divorce 

Curiously enough, Gaga doesn't wear a lot of Gucci throughout the flick, keeping most archival pieces limited to bags, heels, and monogrammed belts. However, she does model a couple of 60s garments featuring the house logo repeated as a pattern. She's branding herself a Gucci for all the world to see, screaming it from the rooftops in sartorial form. A tricolored blouse paired with a stiff leather skirt is a tragic choice when one considers Patrizia is served her divorce papers while wearing it. She's screaming she's a Gucci, but nobody cares.

7) Lucky Red

After visiting her medium friend, Patrizia follows Pina's advice, wearing red for good luck. As she lurks around the Gucci store in hopes of catching Aldo's eye, she's a vision in scarlet, gold buttons, and blonde fur. Add some nifty sunglasses to that style recipe, and you have accomplished a delicious bouillabaisse of Old Hollywood glamour. In other words, Gaga looks like a movie star of yore in this getup, not only enchanting Al Pacino's Aldo but every spectator too. It's only logical this look was so strongly featured in the flick's promotion.

6) Ski Chic 

There's a striking contrast between the understated style of the scions of old money and the nouveau rich taste for ostentatious signifiers of wealth. Compared to Maurizio's past schoolmate and new mistress Paola, Patrizia is a fire engine of gaudy fashions piled on top of a jealous attitude. While Gaga looks splendid in a fitted red ski suit and a bejeweled black and white ensemble, there's an edge of desperation to the costume. Throughout the rest of the movie, no matter how opulent her sartorial choices may be, Patrizia always wears her clothes and not the other way around. In this instance, though, heavy gold chains and stifling furs overwhelm Maurizio's soon-to-be ex-wife – a sad reflection of spousal rejection.

5) "It's time to take out the trash." 

In terms of fashion shows, Yates' team recreated Tom Ford's first Gucci collection and imagined an over-the-top array of bad taste for Paolo's failed attempt at becoming a powerhouse designer. They also had to reproduce a 1984 Versace show in all its glittering splendor, for a scene in which Patrizia and Maurizio observe the competition, realizing how far behind the Gucci brand has become. In contrast to her husband's sober and somber stylings, the would-be killer is bedecked in glittery metallics that mirror what's on the runway. Now that she's a Gucci, she wants more. She wants the prestige of couture Versace has conquered. She wants to be the one with the Midas touch capable of turning things around for her husband's company. No wonder her hands are covered in (fool's) gold.

4) The Wedding Gown

While some outfits were replicated from photographs, others circumvented historicism in lieu of Hollywood dramatism. For example, the wedding gown Yates designed for Gaga is almost a diametrical antithesis to Reggiani's real-life 1973 dress. Instead of clean lines and unadorned white, Gaga appears in a low-cut, sweetheart neckline confection of silk, lace, and yards of tulle. There's a bombshell quality to the silhouette, but that's mitigated by dollish details, like the skirt's bell shape. Reportedly, Yates' team created both this stylized interpretation and a historically accurate version of Reggiani's wedding fashion. In the end, the choice came down to Scott and Gaga, who, in a continuation of their other artistic approach to the movie, preferred fiction to fact, glam myth to drab reality.

3) Bridal Lace 

While Gaga wanted her on-screen style to emulate her own mother's 80s wardrobe, Scott had another reference in mind. Gina Lollobrigida thus became a point of inspiration for Yates, who based this lace strapless number with a matching jacket on a picture of La Lolla in the 1950s. It's worn on the newlywed's trip to Lake Como for Aldo's birthday party, and Patrizia's introduction to the family after none of them attended the wedding. Through its virginal laciness, the outfit echoes the wedding gown. It's a way for Patrizia to remind the Guccis of their snub and present herself as the new bride of the clan – passive-aggressive costume design at its finest.

2) A Princess in Red Satin

For the first meeting of Maurizio and Patrizia, at a debutante party in 1970, Yates dressed Gaga in a costume recreation. This piece was inspired by a late-70s Yves Saint Laurent piece that Reggiani wore to another unrelated part. Though the real thing was rendered in bubblegum pink, a color story Yates shifted to fire engine red and black gloves, pulling off a Satine-esque vision of romantic fashion. The bows add a sense of whimsy, a corruptible innocence that preludes the darkness to come. All that, and it fits Gaga like a glove.

1) Pink Polka Dots

According to interviews, Ridley Scott didn't want to go the Dynasty route with big shoulder pads all the time and asked Janty Yates to avoid the über 80s aesthetic of soap opera excess. However, some scenes demand such styles, as is the case when Patrizia sneaks into Paolo's atelier and convinces him to go ahead with his collection. The outfit works so well because its gaudiness reflects Paolo, highlighting how much the woman is putting on an act to convince her husband's cousin. The black and pink vision was sourced from the legendary house Tirelli Costumi. Originally a Yves Saint Laurent creation, Yates adapted it for the demands of dramaturgy after Gaga chose it from a selection of rentable pieces. If the multimedia star business doesn't work out, she might have a future as a costume designer.

What's your favorite Lady Gaga costume from House of Gucci?

Comments

[Mr Ripley79]

"According to interviews, Ridley Scott didn't want to go the Dynasty route with big shoulder pads all the time"

Shoulder pads were the 80's/

[Michael R]

Claudio: great write up as usual. Question: what was your take on Gaga's performance? She blew me away. I thought she was mesmerizing.

[Cláudio Alves]

Mr Ripley79 -- Sure, but there are ways to not showcase them so much while still constructing a historically accurate wardrobe. I have a lot of pieces of women's fashion from that time (sourced from family members, and other acquaintances, some bought on the flea market) with no shoulderpads. I understand Scott's reticence, as it made the moments of exuberance all the more noticeable.

Michael R -- The accent is absurd and a detriment to the performance. However, as an avowed Nicole Kidman fan, I've never been too nit-picky about great accent work beyond matters of internal consistency within the movie. Unless it's really bad or out of place. I can see people getting caught up in it when it comes to Gaga, but I generally liked her take on Patrizia, how it evolved. Generally speaking, I think she's better in the film's first act when allowed to indulge in romantic antics than when asked to articulate the mercuriality that takes someone to murder. However, she's got star-charisma for days and that counts for a lot. In the movie, she's compared to Elizabeth Taylor and that makes a lot of sense on a meta-level. Like Taylor's early adult performances, there's a certain technical imprecision that's compensated by pure watchability and a good sense for melodrama.

[brookesboy]

Michael R.--it's a spectacular performance. She really is an actress now. The work is so different from what she did in A Star Is Born--another incredible piece of work. She managed to carry the movie while emotionally balancing a truly outrageous character. She centers the entire epic. She deserves the Oscar nom.

[MJC]

The movie felt like an over bloated music video. I couldn't stand the music choices. I really didn't like Gaga's acting. I was giving her some leeway until the scene in Switzerland when Maurizio decided to send her back to Milan. After that, it became a melodramatic mess.

I did enjoy the wardrobe choices on Gaga (the others, not so much). My favourite was the white lace for Aldo's birthday.

I liked (?) the polka dots... but I felt the look was used in too many scenes/for too long.