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The night before Chappell Roan performed on Saturday Night Live, the ‘Pink Pony Club’ singer posted a screenshot of her Facebook status from April 2011 to Instagram. She’d written: “I am determined to be on SNL.” Fourteen years later, the star achieved her dream and pulled a very symbolic look to celebrate the moment.
The Missouri-born pop star wears her hair in Marie Antoinette-esque cascading auburn curls and dons vaudevillian white face paint. A champion of queer-culture-inspired looks, her wardrobe references everything from Swan Lake to drag queen and art-house director John Waters’ muse Divine.
Pointedly symbolic looks are par for the course with Roan. Earlier this year, fans were concerned when she appeared with lipstick on her teeth at NPR’s Tiny Desk. Her makeup artist, Sterling Tull, later clarified in an interview with Dazed Beauty that this was an intentional message of solidarity to her fans. ‘Every girl, boy or they/them who has put on lipstick has at some point gotten lipstick on their teeth… It was one of her most vulnerable moments, a catapulting career event. She’s doing this big, amazing thing. But there’s a little lipstick on her teeth to really bring her back to earth.”
Roan has also said she wears white face paint as a response to her experiences growing up queer in Missouri. She told her audience during a performance in Manchester: “People in my hometown call gay people clowns. That’s why I actually wear my white face. Like b*itch I’ll show you a clown.”
Roan has had a tough few months. Roan announced she was ‘pulling back’ on her career in August citing the harassment and abuse she’s experienced from fans.
She openly discussed the impact her 12-month rollercoaster ride to the A-list has had on her mental health, but she hasn’t received much sympathy
Show cancellations to prioritise her health (the singer experiences bipolar II disorder) have been met with eye rolls. In late October, Roan chastised a photographer for being rude to her and was called an attention seeker and finally she’s being condemned for refusing to publically endorse Kamala Harris. Given she’s been critical of the Biden-Harris administration’s failure to properly protect LGBTQI+ people it’s an unsurprising move.
In this context, her wardrobe during her appearance on SNL, during which she debuted a new song from her upcoming album, felt like a symbolic ‘Good Luck’ to her haters.
The Story Behind Chappell Roan’s Saturday Night Live Look
Designer Gunnar Deatherage crafted a Parisienne Jazz-age-inspired costume for the evening that took over 500 hours to make.
The bottle-green and teal look involved a leotard with fringes, dragonfly wings and over 1000 chartreuse crystals.
“There were these gorgeous photos of dancers from the Casino De Paris from 1915 that almost felt like painting,” Deatherage told InStyle US.
The look was brimming with references and symbolism. Deatherage incorporated the joy, artistry, and ribald sexuality of these dancers with the freedom and whimsy of dragonflies and the regal military splendour of the Napoleonic era. From dragon wings to delicate leotards and military strength, it represented all sides of Roan’s current public persona. Strong, creative and breaking free. It was a perfect look for debuting the first track from her second album, CR2.
And it wasn’t the only playful STFU to haters.
All about subversion Roan donned a girlish, red-herring look for a performance that was all about woman-on-woman pleasure.
Roan debuted her sapphic country track, The Giver, while wearing a femme coquette-core two-piece with cowboy boots.
Roan debuted her sapphic country track ‘The Giver’ while wearing a coquette-core two-piece and cowboy boots. While the look might have been flirty and femme, she spent her time on stage teasing lacklustre male lovers from the stage and boasting about her own prowess. ‘All you country boys saying you know how to treat a woman right? Well, only a woman knows how to treat a woman right!’
Roan’s appearance on SNL showed that she won’t be retreating from public life. Her wardrobe was a fittingly victorious statement.
Between her surreal dragonfly-come-dancer costume and her tongue-in-cheek coquetry, Roan’s costumes on Saturday Night Live sent a message that far from hiding from fame, the star is forging her career on her own terms.
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The post Chappell Roan’s SNL Look Was A Symbolic Rebuttle To Her Haters appeared first on ELLE.
