Lady Gaga wore a baggy suit to the Women in Hollywood awards for the best reason

At the best and worst of times, fashion is our coat of arms; our cover, the layer we present to the world. A sartorial choice. One that is made, often for ourselves. A simple, elegant black dress can show the world you’ll take no more, a pair of new high-heels can help you tower over your enemies, or, in the case of singer and actress Lady Gaga, an oversised, very baggy suit can serve as her tool to “take the power back.”

The A Star is Born actress is infamous for making bold statements with her wardrobe – who could forget the ‘meat dress’? – but this time, she used her fashion choice to regain some of the power she felt had been taken from her.

Related: Why we’re going Gaga for A Star Is Born

Gaga spoke during Elle magazine’s Women in Hollywood Awards in Beverly Hills (where she also revealed some happy news; her engagement to her music agent Christian Carino), wearing an oversized Marc Jacobs suit to the event, which as she explained was a way for her “to take the power back.”

“As a sexual assault survivor by someone in the entertainment industry, as a woman who is still not brave enough to say his name, as a woman who lives with chronic pain, as a woman who was conditioned at a very young age to listen to what men told me to do, I decided today I wanted to take the power back,” she said in an emotive speech after she was presented with a Women in Hollywood award.”Today I wear the pants.”

“In this suit, I felt like me today.”

Explaining the powerful meaning behind her choice in more detail, she spoke of what it meant to be a woman in the world today; and one in Hollywood who wanted to be known as more than “an object to entertain the world.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Getty Images Entertainment (@gettyentertainment) on Oct 16, 2018 at 2:11pm PDT

 “I tried on dress after dress today getting ready for this event, one tight corset after another, one heel after another, a diamond, a feather, thousands of beaded fabrics and the most beautiful silks in the world. To be honest, I felt sick to my stomach,” she said.

Video: Lady Gaga gives an emotional speech after being honoured at ELLE’s 25th annual Women in Hollywood Gala (Part 1) pic.twitter.com/p5Is2G9Hmp

— Ryan | Lady Gaga ???? (@ryanleejohnson) October 16, 2018

“And I asked myself: what does it really mean to be a woman in Hollywood? We are not just objects to entertain the world. We are not simply images to bring smiles or grimaces to people’s faces. We are not members of a giant beauty pageant meant to be pit against one another for the pleasure of the public. We women in Hollywood, we are voices. We have deep thoughts and ideas and beliefs and values about the world and we have the power to speak and be heard and fight back when we are silenced.”

Her fashion – and no, doubt trend-setting choice of the over-sized suit – divided quite a few, but there’s no denying its impact – her impact and place in popular culture. As a woman of influence; she defies trends, rejects expected female aesthetics and unites those who feel they don’t have a place to fit in the world. That alone deserves our applause.

And if you’re not feeling the baggy suit as a wearable outfit at the very least, we have chosen our pick of 8 heritage suits that just might do the trick instead.