CHAPPELL ROAN:
MIDWEST PRINCESS OR MEDIEVAL ICON?
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| Roan at the 2024 VMAs (Bazaar) |
Roan was nominated for her first VMAs in 2024, receiving a nomination for Best Trending Video, Push Performance of the Year, and Song of Summer, along with a win in the Best New Artist category (1). Her attendance at the event culminated in her performance of her hit song "Good Luck, Babe!" The song, aimed toward a love interest forcing herself into a heteronormative life, certainly doesn't scream "Medieval." However, Roan and her designers utilized medievalism to reference key parts of the Middle Ages in a way that makes the performance stick with viewers.
The Costumes
Roan sported three major medieval-inspired outfits at the VMAs. The first, as seen above, consisted of a dark, sheer dress with accessories that allude to chain mail, as seen in her cuffs and nails, and religious imagery, as seen in the cross on her necklace. Her costume also displayed a green cloak to frame the dress and a sword by her side. While far more revealing and modernized than typical medieval clothing, the velvety, rich appearance of the cloak contrasted with the dark, brooding look of the dress and accessories covers a wide range of medieval life, from nobility to knighthood.
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| Roan's acceptance outfit (Bazaar) |
Upon acceptance of her award for Best New Artist, Roan was seen wearing a new head-to-toe outfit of chain mail with a small cross at her side. This outfit, once again, combines aspects of both medieval royalty and knighthood while playing with gender in the process. The traditionally masculine chain mail has become an outlet for the feminine outline of Roan's dress, turning a factor of fighting and warfare into a statement of beauty.
Her third costume of the night, a shiny suit of armor, was for her stage performance at the event. The armor is more rugged than the sheer dress in which Roan started, and it serves as a finale to her expression of both medievalism and gender at the event. The frills and figure of her previous outfits are traded for a tough armor suit, which pairs well with the message of her performance.
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| Roan's performance costume (W Magazine) |
The Performance
Leading up to her performance, Roan simply told her stylist Genesis Webb that she wanted to do "knight" (2). Building on that, the performance of "Good Luck, Babe!" opens with an armor-clad Roan shooting a flaming crossbow arrow at a castle. The fiery castle serves as a background to her performance as Roan commands dancing knights around her. While some struggle to see the correlation between the song and the performance, many see inspiration taken from the medieval history of Joan of Arc. Patron saint Joan of Arc is best known for her leadership in war while assuming the appearance and traits common for men at the time (3). With the background we have about Roan's exploration with medievalism, war, and gender throughout her costumes, its no surprise that her ultimate performance is inspired by the tale of a great fighter with ambiguous gender expression from the Middle Ages.
Her full VMAs performance can be seen below:
Works Cited
1) Dailey, Hannah. "Chappell Roan Dedicates Best New Artist Win to 'Queer Kids in the Midwest' at VMAs: 'I See You'." Billboard, 11 Sept. 2024, www.billboard.com/music/awards/chappell-roan-best-new-artist-vmas-2024-1235773479/.
2) Ribeiro, Julian. "Creative Director Genesis Webb Takes Us Inside Chappell Roan's VMA Takeover." Interview Magazine, 14 Sept. 2024, www.interviewmagazine.com/fashion/creative-director-genesis-webb-takes-us-inside-chappell-roans-vma-takeover.
3) Williamson, Allen. "Joan of Arc Biography." Joan of Arc Archive, archive.joan-of-arc.org/joanofarc_short_biography.html.
I think this blog is an interesting take! when I was reading it I could not help but think of Lady Gaga's 2009 VMA performance that had a similar vibe. I loved learning about this new musician
ReplyDeleteI love this performance. I love these costumes. I love that you took a medieval turn on this iconic moment. Amazing job!
ReplyDeleteHey Michaela! You already know that I love your choice for this blog project lol. I think you've done a great job of breaking down each outfit Chappell wore that night and explaining how it relates back to our topic of medievalism. I hadn't thought too deeply about it when I first saw Chappell's outfits and performance, but I think your connection to Joan of Arc and challenging gender roles makes a lot of sense in relation to the song Good Luck Babe!, and I appreciate that you included a video of the full performance. Great job with this!
ReplyDeleteSo many people commented on this, but I couldn't help it. I watched this performance and have seen so many videos on it, so I was very intrigued when I saw that you chose it as your topic. I love how you picked this out and were able to make so may connections. The Joan of Arc analysis was really interesting.I also like the mention of the often masculine chain mail costume! I loved your blog!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea what I was getting into when I opened this but I was pleasantly surprised! The performance was incredibly good and the elements of the Middle Ages were incredibly easy to see.
ReplyDeleteChappell Roan is awesome! I loved her VMAs performance so much and I love that you broke down the elements of medievalism represented by it, in addition to her costumes. Your writing is also very rich when describing the details of her performance/costumes. Good job!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Michaela! I really like that you connected Chapel Roan's costumes to medievalism and knights. While the armor outfit she wears is obviously medieval, the rest hold subtle notes of armaments and medievalism. I think it is interesting that her using elements of medieval armaments shows that clothing is armor for everyone.
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