If Lady Gaga’s epic Super Bowl Halftime Show performance still has you reaching for a drink every time you think about her jumping off the side of that stadium, we’ve got some good news for you—and something to calm those nerves. Ms. Gaga is launching her own brand of wine.

In homage to the track “Grigio Girls,” a bonus song on 2016’s “Joanne” album, Gaga submitted the paperwork under the same name as the song. She is reportedly launching several wine products including wine coolers, cocktails, and punches, as well as wine—Pinot Grigio, we can assume.

Yes, of course she was born this way—wine, you could say, is in her blood. Lady Gaga’s parents are likely the source of her love for wine—they own an Italian restaurant in New York, replete with a healthy wine selection. This isn’t a new interest for the pop singer, she spent time in Sonoma County, Calif., back in 2012, even eyeing up vineyard real estate at the time.

“Gaga is really into her food and wine,” a source told the Sun. “When she isn’t on tour she is cooking and drinking the most expensive bottles she can get her hands on.”

The “Grigio Girls” song was homage to one of Gaga’s closest friend’s who is currently battling cancer.

“I wrote a song about how me and all of our girlfriends would get together and cry without her when she’s not around because we love her so much and we just want to be strong with her,” Gaga said last year.

Now if she really wanted to turn some heads, she’d teach us all the trick to keeping a good poker face.

Find Jill on Twitter and Instagram

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Lady Gaga is a creative entrepreneur and activist. Just recently, Gaga went public about being a rape victim.

In the video below, Gaga details the feelings she had after being raped. The discussion happened at a TimesTalks panel. Also on the panel: Frank Bruni (panel leader), Diane Warren, Kirby Dick, and Amy Ziering.

Related on EcoSalon

Dealing With Depression as a Celebrity: #NowWhat

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The post Lady Gaga Opens Up About Her Sexual Assault [Video] appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnI’m always surprised when people are shocked when they discover that successful, funny, generally pleasant people are often dealing with depression, anxiety, or another type of mental illness.

While it’s hard to grasp in general, we all should know by now that a person can seem to have it all and still suffer from a mental illness. After all, you can’t bribe, wish, or pay away the sads — you kind of just have to live with them and hope for the best.

When Robin Williams killed himself a little over a year ago, the Internet was filled with think pieces about depression and how it affects all types people. Most of these articles were well meaning, but total fluff. The general reader is well aware that if she is feeling depressed, she can go to a counselor, call the suicide hotline, or tell a friend. But the tricky truth about mental illness is this: If you are depressed, it’s practically impossible to do anything. Getting out of bed feels like sticking a needle through your tongue, and talking to anyone feels like the most cumbersome burden.

So, how can these illnesses be taken more seriously? Education is key. And no, I’m not referencing some mental health pamphlet that can be found in any American medical office. I’m taking about the type of education that comes from people who many Americans know and love.

Two such people who recently revealed their brutal and on-going battles dealing with depression are Sarah Silverman and Lady Gaga.

Bust recently reported that Silverman penned an incredibly heartfelt essay in Glamour about the, let’s face it, totally shitty ins and outs of being totally overwhelmed with sadness. According to the website, Silverman wrote the essay “in anticipation” of the comedian’s upcoming film, “I Smile Back.” The film is about a woman who self-medicates to feel “normal.”

In the Glamour piece, Silverman describes her first experience with depression as follows:

“I first experienced depression when I was 13. I was walking off a bus from a school camping trip. The trip had been miserable: I was, sadly, a bed wetter, and I had Pampers hidden in my sleeping bag—a gigantic and shameful secret to carry. My mom was there to pick me up, and she was taking pictures like a paparazzo. Seeing her made the stress of the last few days hit home, and something shifted inside me. It happened as fast as the sun going behind a cloud. You know how you can be fine one moment, and the next it’s, ‘Oh my God, I f—king have the flu!’? It was like that. Only this flu lasted for three years. My whole perspective changed.”

Silverman goes on to describe how she went through various therapists and different types of medication. While Silverman now is able to control her depression with a low dose of Zoloft and therapy, she knows that “it” isn’t gone. She says she gets through the tough times by remembering the following:

“I wouldn’t wish depression on anyone. But if you ever experience it, or are experiencing it right now, just know that on the other side, the little joys in life will be that much sweeter. The tough times, the days when you’re just a ball on the floor—they’ll pass. You’re playing the long game, and life is totally worth it.”

Lady Gaga also recently revealed she deals with depression. In a Billboard interview, Gaga said she still suffers through anxiety and depression everyday. She talks about her experiences to help her fans, especially the kids, realize that these intense feelings are normal and it’s the world we live in that’s messed up.

So, while the uncomfortable truths about depression, anxiety, and the pressures of the modern world are hard for most people to stomach, these unofficial “mental illness facts” need to continue to be shouted from the rooftops by people who are compassionate and lucky enough to have a well-broadcasted soapbox. If more Lady Gagas and Sarah Silvermans begin to openly talk about their messed up but totally normal feelings, people could begin to treat these sicknesses seriously, and with kindness.

Related on EcoSalon

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Meditation Benefits are Considered ‘Mainstream’ Healthcare Now

Image of Sarah Silverman from Shutterstock

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What we wear defines us…and may save our lives, or at least, charge our phones.

Clothes serve a function. They protect us from the elements, keep us clean and warm, and oh yes, as far as Anna Wintour is concerned, the most critical reason: they keep us looking fabulous, which has become a near necessity of the modern world. We identify with what we wear as much as the world identifies us by our garments, particularly urban fashion. But what about clothing that say, charges your iPhone or detects cancer? What does that say about who we are? Meet wearable technology.

Technology has long been a part of clothing—from the creation of synthetic fabrics, to everyone’s favorite: Velcro—science is no stranger to style. Our foray into the futuristic gadget-driven hi-tech era is now seeing innovation become a driving force in fashion. You can get lost in the Pinterest boards for wearable tech, which I most certainly did. Somewhere between Tron and Lady Gaga, you have wearable technology. Here’s a glimpse…

Clothing

image: treehugger

1. Flutter Dress: Wearable technology isn’t just about getting online faster. The Flutter dress is designed for the hearing impaired. Created by Halley Profita, Nicholas Farrow, and Professor Nikolaus Correll at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Treehugger says the Flutter dress, “gives vibrotactile feedback in the direction of a loud sound or alarm to help those with hearing loss respond more intuitively to their external environment. The team also says that development of this wearable technology would also cut down on e-waste created by discarded hearing devices.”

image: first warning systems

2. Breast Cancer Detecting Bra: With a 90 percent success rate, it’s definitely a miracle bra. A Reno, Nevada medical technology company has created a bra that detects temperature changes in breast tissue, which can help discover tumors years before some mammograms.

image: ecouterre

3. Air Quality Detecting Dress: How about a dress that can tell you how clean the air is? This designer works with dyes that respond to subtle changes in the environment which will change the color of the dress.

image: ecouterre

4. LED Dress: Here’s a double whammy: Emily Steel’s “Little Slide Dress” is recycled from old film scraps and lit with LEDs that highlight the film images.

image: ecouterre

5. Thermoelectric Galoshes: Charge your iPhone with these galoshes while working or relaxing.

Accessories

‘
image: pebble

6. The Pebble: It’s a smart watch you synch with your wireless devices to see text messages, email alerts, phone calls. Oh yeah, it tells time, too.

image: google

7. Google glasses: Wearable computers that can record videos and take photos. Not available yet but Google plans to have them out this year.

image: everpurse

8. Everpurse: Don’t fumble around for your car or desk charger—just drop your iPhone into your Everpurse and it charges it for you.

image: designbuzz

9. Portable Washer: All your wearable technology will need a good warshin’ while you trek it around the globe and this little portable washboard is pretty darn nifty.

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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A weekly look at sex and culture, by the numbers.

There are certain things we will always want: eternal youth, the upper hand with our ex, and—if you happen to be Lady Gaga this week—everyone to stop obsessing over bodily perfection. Even though we may never get these things, this week’s Sex By Numbers is about our quest to put things right, or at the very least, prove ourselves right.

15: Age that Lady Gaga revealed she was when she began struggling with an eating disorder. Gaga made the confession on her website after the media’s harsh comments about her weight compelled her to start a positive “body revolution.”

642: Contrary to the conventional wisdom that sexual prudence is what leads to relationships, a study examining the habits of 642 adults found no indication that “hookups” aren’t just as likely to turn into relationships as more conservative affairs. But we already knew that.

12 Million: Reported price tag of Monica Lewinsky’s memoir, which was recently picked up by an unnamed publisher. Looks like the world’s most notorious intern is still trying to settle the score.

3 Euros: That age-old moment of female irritation— where you have to remind a male companion that “Actually, my face is up here”—apparently has some evolutionary underpinning. After watching video reels of breasts, men in a European study opted to be given 3 euros immediately—rather than a larger sum of money later —due to a decreased ability to delay gratification.

38%: A study found that 38% of surveyed women admitted that the best sex of their lives was with their previous partner. Not that they’d ever let him know that.

$185,000: In the midst of the sordid female escort scandal involving Backpage.com and the Village Voice, Microsoft has been given a $185,000 grant to help improve intelligence and prevent the “advertising and selling of human trafficking victims.”

682%: A legion of scientists claim that the coveted fountain of youth is finally available in the form of a compound called SeroVital, which has been shown in trials to increase endogenous Human Growth Hormone levels by a mean of 682%.

Image: Zombie Lawyer

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Sizzle with that fizzle in ways you never knew.

Is it just me, or is Coca-Cola always hanging around – either leftover from a party, in the back of the fridge, in the corner of the garage, or just chilling in the pantry waiting for another barbecue and Aunt Sue who prefers it over any other drink. But now, maybe all that extra Coke is a good thing, because there’s more to the fizzy drink than you could ever imagine. In fact, even if you don’t drink it, it’s actually quite the handyman.

One of the ingredients in Coke is sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, which is an alkaline substance that can help take care of your body and clean your belongings. Here are 20 new ways to look at the drink.

Rust Buster

Soak rusted material in Coke overnight and scrub in the morning. The rust will weaken and come off more easily, fading t0 a shine.

Window Cleaner

Wipe down windows with Coke to remove grease and dirt without overusing chemical and toxin-ridden household cleaners.

Bolt Loosener

Because Coke is so useful in dissolving rust, it can help to loosen bolts that have rusted into a position that makes it nearly impossible to remove.

Meat Caramelizer

Marinade chicken or beef in Coke along with spices and other condiments. The Coke will give the meat a browned appearance, and when cooked, the sugar from the Coke will caramelize and offer the dish an added depth in taste.

Windshield Defroster

Awaken to a cold Winter’s morning with a layer of ice on your windshield? Save yourself the extra morning-time muscle and pour a bottle of Coke over the windshield. Wait a few minutes and then witness how much more easily the ice comes off when scraped.

Skunk Odor Killer

If you are ever in the unfortunate position of having been sprayed by a skunk, hop into the shower with a bottle of Coke and pour the soda over the sprayed area. The Coke helps to eliminate the odor.

Hiccups Ridder

Gargle a mouthful of Coke in the back of your throat, and word on the street is that your hiccups will disappear.

Hair Curler

Gaga was onto something when she used Coca-Cola cans as curlers. Massaging the beverage into your hair can also help to curl it. While it dries, crunch your hair with your hands to help facilitate the process.

Pain Reducer

Stung by a bee? Bitten by a mosquito? Attacked by a jelly fish? Nothing Coke can’t relieve. Dab affected area with the beverage to relieve the burn.

Hair Gum Remover

There can never be enough ways to remove gum from the hair, because let’s face it – it’s often the difference between a pixie cut and long luscious locks, so there’s no playing around. Pour Coke over the area tangled in gum, let it sit for a few minutes, and then begin to pull out.

Pot Cleaner

The bottom of household pots often become blackened. Pour Coke into your pots, letting it sit for a bit, and then washing the pots as normal with special attention to the discolored areas. The Coke will remove the grime and release the shine!

Toilet Cleaner

For the rusty and moldy nooks and crannies, add a can of Coke into the mix to help hasten the cleaning process. No one wants to spend more than the minimum cleaning the toilet, so consider Coke your new best cleaning mate.

Clothing Stain Remover

Pour Coke right on top of a stain and let it soak. The stain will slightly discolor, but after you throw the apparel into the wash, it will come out clean.

Lawn Improvement

Flat Coca-Cola is an effective gardening tool. Simply add one can per week to a compost bin to give microorganisms a boost. They will feed on the Coke, improving their strength and health.

Stomach Soother

Balance the pH levels in the stomach. Coke will temporarily relieve indigestion, heartburn, and other stomach-related pain.

Bugs and Wasps Deterrent

Distract outdoor bugs and wasps from the party by isolating a few topless cups of Coke away from the main event. The bugs are attracted to the Coke’s sweet aroma.

Bug Killer

Even though bugs are drawn to Coke, once they venture into the liquid, they meet their demise. If you want to get rid of an ant hill destroying your patio or rid roaches from cabinets and nooks in the attic or basement, spray bugs with Coke.

Hair Dye Fader

Wash your hair with Coke to help fade a dye that may have been layered on too thick or dark for your liking.

Paper Ager

If you want to give documents a more authentic look, soak them in coke for 10 minutes, remove them carefully, and allow them to dry. The papers’ browned look will fool anyone into thinking their antiquated.

Explosion Maker

Mentos + Coke = Explosion. See for yourself. And play safely, kids.

Image: Coca-Cola Art, Gary Huston, Power Plant Op, Sam Chills, Isolino

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

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New fashion book inspires and elicits fashion industry conversation.

Logo-emblazoned tote bags and clothing and Vogue magazines more than half-filled with designer ads beg to question: Does indie design still exist? With New On The Catwalk, a coffee table compilation of fresh faced designers, readers get to explore what fashion’s future looks like. Daab Books says: “The fashion newcomers are introduced with an informative portrait and a selection of images that feature the hallmarks of their creations, bringing out the stars of tomorrow and their collections onto the open runway of fame now.”

Forty designers spanning the globe fill the book’s 400-glossy pages.  Each have produced more than two collections—one gauge for “making it.” While this number by no means accounts for the volume of independent designers sending their creations down the runway and into shops each year, it’s a shimmer of hope that indie design still has a prominent place on and off the runway.

Can creativity, however, accompany success? According to Patrice Farameh, editor of New On The Catwalk and notably a publisher, not a fashion insider, “Yes,” with a few caveats.

“Financing [the first collection] is so tough and so important for a new designer. And designers like Vivienne Westwood [by all accounts far from the indie point in her career] have to constantly ask, ‘How can I survive, keep my independence and adhere to what the buyers want?.’”

Farameh is convinced that the true art of fashion still exists. “Just look at Lady Gaga. One thing the recession has done is it’s made people very selective, and they care more about quality. People are looking for something different. I think you have a better chance now [as a designer] of standing out and making it.”

Success, free from price tags for the sake of this conversation, requires a few essentials. Simon Collins, Dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons The New School
for Design in New York City, believes a designer must unequivocally have, “Hard work ethic, absolutely incredible skills and a genuine vision.”  The last bit, he says “is something we can’t teach you. You’ve either got vision or you don’t. Our role at Parsons is to help people find their vision and articulate it.”

Indie Inspiration

Up-and-comer Long-Nam Tô, whose collection Tô Long-Nam, under his Vietnamese last-name-first nomenclature, is featured in the book.  Tô’s equally conventional and unconventional career in fashion is felt in his lines’ vision: “A man’s style for a woman.” After graduating with a Masters Degree in Fashion Design from the Academy of Fine Arts Berlin, an education he describes as “great for free time and not great for learning design,” Tô aspired to have his own line yet recognized a need for experience. Rather than apprentice for other designers as goes tradition, Tô worked as a stylist in Paris assisting the likes of Victoria Bartlett. Within a few short years, he began designing his eponymous collection. To foot the bill of his creations, he still works as a design consultant by day, a common story for many emerging designers.

“When I design, I don’t think about anyone [buyer’s needs, customer’s opinions], I just think about what is important to me. You have to if you want to stay true to your vision,” says Tô.  Not to mention, he adds, “As a young designer, success is relative, and buyers’ feedback on what you should and shouldn’t create really becomes part of a natural evolution that works so long as you keep your identity.”

Tô Long-Nam

Others, like Cushnie et Ochs have taken a more classic journey. Created by Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs, both graduates of Parsons The New School for Design, the duo racked up internships with Proenza Schouler, Marc Jacobs, Oscar De La Renta and Chado Ralph Rucci. Currently among the top ten finalists for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, you could say they’ve made it. Ochs, as a designer, looks at fashion design like an MBA. To her, “it’s 90 percent running a business. We really don’t start designing until everyone else goes home. We’ve also learned it’s all about the team. Without them, we can never create anything.”

Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs

Beyond the Runway

As cutting edge and boundary-pushing as these up and comers are purportedly free to be, the conversation around sustainability hasn’t quite run abuzz. When I ask Farameh about the sustainable practices of the young designers in her book, she notes, “I see it in fabrics and inks—a care about what they are producing.” However, when probed for examples, no designers came to mind, leading me to believe this isn’t the most topical conversation among young designers today. Tô, however, hushes with excitement, “We’re beginning to use new fabrics in our 2012 collection.  The textile manufacturers are able to reduce their water consumption by up to 40 percent. I can’t say more. It’s not ready to be released, but soon!”

Tô Long-Nam

Fashion Forward

If fashion’s future lies, as Farameh and Collins would lead us to believe, in the hands of the young creatives, sustainable design practices ought to be a given—built into the core of all design classes rather than as an add-on elective, and inspiring a new way to look at design and the life of a garment. As Farameh says, “It [fashion design] is more experimental than ever before; your fashion taste is good taste so long as you are confident.”

And, we hope, aware of the consequences of all your choices.

Image: Reviews

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10 looks deserving a quick demise.

Some looks are timeless: The pencil skirt, the tailored black jacket, the cardigan sweater, Ryan Gosling on our arm, but others deserve to die a quick and painless death during some dark night. Here are ten looks we’ve collectively agreed are in serious need of retirement.

Forehead Headbands
Wannabe disco princess or incoming migraine headache? We’re still not sure.

Ironic Frontier Headgear
Odds are that if it was worn on a wagon trail, it doesn’t want to be taken for an iced cappuccino at your local coffee shop. This also goes for the Ironic Sunbonnet sitting outside a French restaurant on Hillhurst eating a chocolate croissant. (Recently spotted, I swear.)

High-Waisted Pants
Casual separates have their place. It’s not a mere inch or two below your bra line.

The Bumpet
The evolutionary purpose of the bumpet is as yet unclear. Is it supposed to convey a larger head and therefore intelligence? Is it meant to scare off aggressive bears by making the wearer appear larger than she is? Or is it just something that best deserves a slot in nighttime infomercials? You be the judge.

Pantless McGee
Pantless is now seen cruising through airports and smoking outside of nightclubs. Previous to Lady Gaga, it was what happened when you did too many shots of Bacardi 151 and found it too tiring to undress completely for bed.

Daisy Dukes
Daisy Dukes have one rightful place under the sun – on Catherine Bach strutting across our screens on TV Land network re-runs of  The Dukes of Hazzard. For the rest of us, it’s time to retire our cutting shears.

Power Suits
We get it; some women want to be taken seriously in the work place. But this does not mean having to walk through a doorway sideways while evoking Frankenstein’s monster. Embrace feminine lines, powerful women of the world! If men expect us to look like linebackers, they can get over it.

Meat Dress

RIP, thinly-sliced prosciutto, RIP.

Oversized Eyeglasses
Hipster glasses, meet teen idol stardom. Just that should make you stop.

Fur
We’re just going to go with PETA on this one.

Image: walkering, mr_t_in_dc, / sukwendo

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A weekly roundup of EcoSalon’s top stories.

Places & Spaces: Canvas Hotel is a visual vacation, never mind a cyclist’s dream hideaway. Based in Southern Norway, the adventure starts the moment you arrive.

Lady Gaga on EcoSalon? In Shade Grown Hollywood: The Conscious Mind Of Lady Gaga, writer Kathie Butler says “Lady Gaga is on the way to becoming an icon of post-feminist sexuality. But is she a confident cultural attaché to our own fantastical fantasies? Or she is more of a mouthpiece of modern times, a voice raging against homophobia and discrimination?” We explore Lady Gaga, aka Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta’s level of consciousness.

With Japan still reeling in the wake of an 8.9 magnitude earthquake that sent a 30-foot wall of ocean water onto the Fukushima-Daiichi plant on the coast of Japan, we find ourselves asking if there are more viable options than nuclear as we watch radiation leaking from core reactors. In The Nuclear Option, writer Stephanie Rogers reviews the pros and cons.

In her weekly Green Plate, writer Vanessa Barrington’s column Is Urban Farming The Next Green Cottage Industry? asks if urban farming is a viable career for our younger generation and a dependable source of food for city dwellers.

This week, our editor’s column The Insider’s Guide To Life: Bite Me dives into female bullying, giving important tools to empower one to bite back. Ost writes: “Who on earth are these people? Tina Fey called them Mean Girls, and they are everywhere, no matter how grown up we get. Naively, I had approached my very first bully with the plucky optimism of a community fundraiser. Soon, she needed me and my reliable niceness, and when you get to that point it’s a short trip to toast. I was but the earnest wheat germ, she, the flaring toaster.”

EcoSalon was just nominated for Best Style Twitter Feed! Like us enough to cast a vote? Then go here!

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ColumnWhere celebrity becomes conscious.

Make no mistake, Lady Gaga is in on the joke. But what’s so funny? Fame, she says, moments before twirling a dildo between her fingers, and jumping down a hatch – only to emerge moments later in a Marie Antoinette wig and an evening gown made of live kittens chewing on intertwining threads of beef jerky. Lady Gaga is a never-ending performance artist whose determination to express her own kinetic view of culture has spanned a global empire. She might even be the first successful meta-celebrity. Certainly, the world is listening. But should we be?

Like most people on the planet, I’m not an internationally famous celebrity who can strike corporate promotional deals while getting millions of people to groove to my tunes. But I wonder if the experience of fame would feel something like speeding through space towards a black hole. Or at the very least, it would feel like driving towards downtown Los Angeles right after rush hour, racing through space at terrifying speeds while looking for the singularity aka the exit to the 105. Fame via Charlie Sheen can seem like a force beyond control to those watching on the other side of the event horizon. (And somewhere, a scientist is slapping her forehead at my abuse of physics). But Lady Gaga, aka Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta of New York City, is clearly in control of her own spacecraft.

Lady Gaga is on the way to becoming an icon of post-feminist sexuality. But is she a confident cultural attaché to our own fantastical fantasies? Or she is more of a mouthpiece of modern times, a voice raging against homophobia and discrimination? Mostly, she’s a modern day Mad Hatter jumping through the rabbit hole of mass culture. Gaga’s got the keys to the kingdom and she’s asking us to follow her into a creative dynasty of tolerance. Or, she might be provoking a nightmare of dystopian culture – take your pick.

Part pop star, part performance artist, Lady Gaga examines celebrity with a consciousness we’re not really used to or expecting from a pop star. And this is why it works. She gets us to pay attention first through her music, with songs skewering a celebrity-obsessed society (See: Paparazzi). She’s known for appearing pant-less in public or wearing crustaceans on her head and feet. She never seems to break character – even walking through an airport, she’s in costume. As the current cover girl was recently described by Vogue, “Suddenly the curtains part and Lady Gaga makes her entrance, mincing into the room holding a porcelain teacup and saucer in one hand and a wineglass for me in the other. (Like fainting on command or dropping a glove, the long-lost art of making an entrance, which Gaga seems to have single-handedly revived, is a remarkably effective way to shift the conversation).”

She’s a Glam Rocker playing it straight.

In doing so, Lady Gaga possesses an enviable credibility for her causes. Forbes recently named her as one of the world’s most powerful celebrities. An extremely vocal proponent of gay rights, she recently announced that she was ending her partnership with Target due to their political donations to MN Forward, a group that supported the anti-gay candidate Tom Emmer in a failed run for governor in Minnesota last year. Gaga previously spoke of the agreement with Billboard Magazine, telling them “Part of my deal with Target is that they have to start affiliating themselves with LGBT charity groups and begin to reform and make amends for the mistakes they’ve made in the past…our relationship is hinged upon their reform in the company to support the gay community and to redeem the mistakes they’ve made supporting those groups.”

But Target failed to live up to this expectation, so Lady Gaga responded by severing their ties. As E! Online reports, “Target has refused to promise that it would never donate to a political candidate or group believed to be anti-gay.” Obviously, a giant retail chain would not bend its will for a celebrity endorsement deal. But Lady Gaga has certainly shined a giant spotlight on Target’s business practices, and you have to wonder if this parting of ways was part of her business plan all along.

Lady Gaga’s not the first performance artist or shock-rocker to push a cause. She knows this. Derivative of David Bowie, daughter of Madonna, Gaga herself told Vogue that she “could go on and on about all of the people I have been compared to – from Madonna to Grace Jones to Debbie Harry to Elton John to Marilyn Manson to Yoko Ono.” But unlike her predecessors, Gaga has use of a multi-media empire than can reach a global audience with an intimacy never before possible. She’s a product of her time based on a history of those trying to make a point through performance.

There’s one foremother she appears to be mostly closely emulating, perhaps without even knowing it. Meet the Baroness von Freytag-Loringhoven, who in the 1920s was dubbed a “living legend of Greenwich Village.” Born Else Hildegard Ploetz in 1874 near the Baltic Sea, the Baroness became an icon of the New York Dada crowd of the early twentieth century. Dadaism, which peaked mostly in Europe from 1916 to 1922, was partially embodied by European artists living in New York City who used visual arts, theater, poetry and more to send a message of anarchy and an anti-war party line. The movement arrived on the heels of World War I, which was widely seen by the Dadaists as the result of bourgeois interests and colonialism. Dadaists like the Baroness were known to ridicule the aspects of culture they deemed meaningless while rejecting the laws of conventional taste and beauty.

The Baroness von Freytag-Loringhoven, Dec. 1915, International News Photography,
in “The Art of Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven” (Courtesy of Naumann Fine Art)

The Baroness was one of the preeminent Dadaists in New York City. As Amelia Jones describes her in “Irrational Modernism: A Neurasthenic History of New York Dada,” she was a “poet, artist, and performative disruption to bourgeois as well as avant-garde assumptions…who paraded her vocal and bodily difference openly in the streets and artistic salons of World War I-era New York.”

And here’s how The Baroness herself describes an ensemble she wore to the French Embassy in Germany. In her own words, “I went to the consulate with a large-wide sugarcoated birthday cake upon my head with fifty flaming candles lit – I felt just so spunky and afluent [sic]! In my ear I wore sugar plumes or matchboxes – I forget wich [sic]. Also I had put on several stamps as beauty spots on my emerald-painted cheeks and my eyelashes were made of gilded porcupine quills – rustling coquettishly – at the consul – with several ropes of dried figs dangling around my neck to give him a suck once and again – to entrance him.”

Any of this sound familiar?

Like the Baroness, Lady Gaga wears the outrageous as easily as if she picked it up at her local Target. Would the Baroness have ever struck a deal in the first place with the ultimate superstore of the masses? Probably not. But then, Lady Gaga speaks the language of mass, modern culture. In a sense, she’s an anti-anarchist promoting a skewed aesthetic that nonetheless speaks to millions. Perhaps it is because she’s employing one of the most accessible means on the planet – pop music – to convey her own message of tolerance. At the moment, this is a message of gay tolerance. What it will be in the future remains to be seen, but undeniably, we’re all listening, and she knows it. All we have to do is sit back and wonder just how gaga will Gaga go.

This is the second installment in Katherine Butler’s column, Shade Grown Hollywood, where celebrity becomes conscious. “Shade grown” refers literally to shade grown coffee, a farming method that “incorporates principles of natural ecology to promote natural ecological relationships.” Shade grown is our sustainable twist on Hollywood.

Images: loritingey, 36292117@N00, Baroness von Freytag-Loringhoven, shankbone

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