Gold Dress
This jewled gold origami-fold dress and shoes are from Alexander McQueen’s Spring 2010 collection. It sets her apart from the other characters as the gold connotes status and power, supported by her position in the frame. This contrasts to how she is shown to be the victim later in the video. The glasses were Gaga's own creation, intended to symbolise tough female spirit. She went on to say to MTV that she designed them for "some of the toughest chicks and some of [her] girlfriends [who] used to keep razor blades in the side of their mouths." She later wears an extension of this outfit with a skirt and 'alien' shoes.
Black Monster Unitard
Another piece by Alexander McQueen, the black outfit presents Gaga's vision of her 'monster' persona; this is her as the 'Fame Monster,' admiring her glory and popularityin the mirror. The scene it is in may remind some of The Who's Tommy rock musical in which a deaf, dumb and blind boy becomes responsive only when looking in a mirror. The dark sunglasses Gaga wears could illustrate her also as blind, though she keeps her face hidden during a lot of the music video.
White Monster Unitard
These costumes present the characters as new born monsters; they cannot see or hear due to the masks obscuring their faces. The heavy use of white also shows them to be innocent - just as children are seen to be. Each one comes out of a white coffin-like pod, symbolising birth. It is also significant that the dancers (including Gaga) start off wearing white, but later change into red. The colours are possibly used to connote the transition of Lady Gaga from innocent and a new name in the tough musc industy to one of the biggest stars in pop and consequntly very bold and influential.
Big Eyes
The exaggerated eyes here serve to infantilise Gaga and show her as doll-like, both of which make her seem vulnerable and weak. She wanted them to present her as innocent before she is forced to drink vodka (MTV's soft version of drugs) and entertain the men. The plastic dress she is wearing is the same one she models in her live performances, sometimes with a white nun headpiece. Again this connotes her to be pure, though is also the closest Gaga can get to being nude as possible. Her untidy short peach hair works with the large pupils to give her a feral look; implying the music industry is enough to make anyone crack.
Jewel Underwear
Gaga has been dressed in precious stones and gems to emphasise her status in the charts against other artists and, in terms of narrative, further appeal to the men at the auction. This reflects how women are expected to look beautiful and little else. The models are manipulating Gaga to accept her fate and become passive like them, essentially wiping her of any personality with the intentions of making her a clone. Perhaps this is the reason for her outrageous fashion sense; she refuses to be anything other than unique, no matter how much record labels and society tries to construct her into what their ideology.
Half a Polar Bear
In an unexpected plot twist, Gaga now has the power having set the bed on fire - an unmissable innuendo. Again, this can be read as Gaga using her body as a weapon against sexually driven men; they mentally undress her and she plays up to it, but won't pretend to be passive for long. Her half coat also presents her as more powerful now as fur is associated with higher class fashion and wealth, connoting her new and improved status. It is significant, then, that she is shown to be powerful when alone, encouraging female independence and subverting gender roles that typically show men to be the dominant sex.
Corpse & Fireworks Bra
An intertextual nod to Madonna's cone bra, Gaga here wears a bra that emits fire. Pretty cool, huh. Just like her gun bra in Alejandro and the scene above, I argue this presents her body as Gaga's empowerment and defence against the male gaze and media's sexualisation. The video's use of fire seems to reiterate the saying, "if you play with fire you'll get burnt," and Gaga acts as a similarly 'hot' hazard. Her position on the bed is open, as though passive-aggressively inviting anyone else to objectify her with the fate of ending up smoked like her ex next to her.
The golden chin plate here signifies dominance and male strength. Every man in the audience wears a mask which represents their hidden nature and desires. Each man represents a different record company, and they are bidding to sign her. The man here is supposedly the wealthiest as his armour is gold, yet he has nothing by the end, showing material wealth to be of no real value. Gaga works her way up to him, seducing him with her talent and body. Even though this shows her to be passive and equates her to sex, the promiscuity is all part of her act of revenge, making her powerful as though the men are trapped by their sexual desires and her allure.
Male Armour
