Katy Perry Champions the Return of the Whale Tail in a Lace-Up Skirt and Thong
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The whale tail, a very controversial trend from the early 2000s, found an ally in Katy Perry last night, who championed its return at the Billboard Women in Music awards.
The singer arrived at the event in a bright red look that contrasted the blue carpet. The fiery outfit by Ellie Misner was made up of a strapless corset top with a peplum detail, plus a low-rise skirt which began as a pencil skirt and then flared into a layered, voluminous train with gray fabric underneath.
In the back, both the corset and the skirt had the same lace-up detail with red ribbons and silver studs—a detail that created open cutouts revealing Perry’s skin and black G string straps underneath. The “I Kissed a Girl” singer went for it, and instead of trying to conceal her thong, pulled it up even higher, above her skirt, like a whale tail, making it the centerpiece of the bold look.
Perry finished the outfit with black vintage Vivienne Westwood platforms, a white pearl necklace, and pearl earrings. She opted for a red lip to match her top and skirt set, and long black nails to match her thong and shoes.
The pop star has never shied away from making loud statements with her fashion (remember when she dressed up like a burger for the 2019 Met Gala after-party?), and last night, she followed in the footsteps of fearless whale tail ambassadors who came before her: Christina Aguilera, Victoria Beckham, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears. All of these stars, in the peak of their Y2K fame, showed off their G strings with low-rise jeans, miniskirts, cutoff shorts, and slinky party dresses—sometimes even paired with lower back tattoos—putting the whale tail trend on the map. Though the trend seemed to remain dormant for an entire generation, it has made its comeback with a vengeance.
In the past two years, the exposed thong trend has made a clear return, with It girls like Hailey Bieber, Dua Lipa, and Emily Ratajkowski having repped the look on nights out. And high fashion has legitimized the trend, with brands including Miu Miu, Jacquemus, Ludovic de Saint Sernin, Ottolinger, and Natasha Zinko making underwear-as-outerwear a central part of their recent runway shows.
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