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Dear Sharon: I've been thinking about picking up some Western stuff since I've seen Madonna's new look. I live in a city, so I like the fact that her cowgirl style is more urban than hootenanny. But I don't want to be thought of as a weirdo fan copycat and I am not sure if that look is even over by now. - Desperately Seeking Style (Atlanta, GA)


Dear Desperately Seeking Style: Madonna does every trend so well that she ends up owning the look. It doesn't matter if a trend started on a runway, with the club kids, in a yoga class, or Saturday night at the Grand Old Oprey, once Madonna wears it, its origins are suddenly deep rooted to her hipper-than-thou closet. Let's face it, the woman has style, and impeccable timing.

Just when a trend seems to sprout from the underbelly of the hippest fringe cliques, Madame Madonna grabs that look and tweaks it in a way that she looks to die for and the edginess of the trend is now swallowed up in mainstream culture. That my diva wannabes, is marketing genius: Giving the public what they crave before they even know they want it.

The moral of the cowgirl trend or any other trend that Madonna picks up is will this be right on you? Madonna is smart enough to know not to repeat herself but that doesn't mean you cannot give it a whirl if you haven't crossed that fashion bridge before.

Spring 2001 also sets forth a fashion floodgate homage to Madonna and her Immaculate Collection of incarnations. The runways of Marc Jacobs and Anna Sui here at home, plus so many of the Italians devoted a major part of their collections to Madonna mania… Dolce & Gabanna even went literal with Madonna-printed t-shirts.

"It's very strange to see the style I wore in the Eighties being worn by incredibly glamorous women on the runway," Madonna told WWD The Magazine in its Second Issue. "When I look back at the way I dressed, I think I look part vagabond and part ragamuffin. I've spent the past ten years being slightly embarrassed by it, so it's confusing to see it being celebrated."

Most noticeable on Spring runways is her "Borderline" look-- the hip-slung full midcalf skirts, deconstructed t-shirts, a hoard of skinny black rubber bracelets, Sixties spike heels, and a humongous droopy hair scarf… "the famous bow on my head was a pair of tights I used to tie my hair back while I was growing it out," Madonna adds in WWD.

This funky, punky sophisticate was the downtown club look of the early Eighties and I can surely attest to a been there, done that too, and moved on way before the mall rats of America took squatters rights to it.

In case you want to be first on the block with an Eighties downtown club look revival, go for:
· The color black.
· Fishnet hose and lacy gloves
or fishnet gloves and lacy hose.
· A below-the-knee full skirt, the better to dance in.
· Midcalf boots... Cynthia Rowley does a fab 2001 goes 1981 pair.
· "Alotta" eyeliner.
· Patent leather something.
· Wide studded belt.
· Rhinestone jewelry.
· A punky attitude.

The question of whether her current cowgirl style being over is totally up to where you hang out and how you interpret the look… you can see it for Spring anywhere from Guess to Moschino Cheap & Chic to a "real" take at TheWest.com. The girl must still be loving it since it was reported that at the Guy Ritchie-Madonna wedding, the bride wore jeweled cowboy boots.

Taking the nuance of any trend and maneuvering it into your wardrobe in a way that seems unique is what personal style is all about.

If you want to yippeeayee yourself into funky diva oblivion consider these:

· A girly-colored cowboy hat with jeweled accessory. FYI: Madonna's pink "Music" hat with silver tiara went for $7,300.00 at the VH1 Save the Music Auction
· Studded or flared jeans that fit just right... Todd Oldham's do.
· Shiny western shirt… a classic.
· Large belt with a diamante buckle, like the Noir Crystal Lucky Star-- pun intended!
· A deconstructed t-shirt with a honey of a name, there's one from Wang, splashed across the front…oh, so Seventies.
· A totally glam face that would never do at a rodeo.
· Learn how to play the acoustic guitar .

Now that Oprah has her own namesake magazine and Rosie O'Donnell is set to partner with McCall's, could Madonna's next incarnation be Madonna Mama, a lifestyle magazine for parents who have not lost their edge? I hope so.

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