M.I.A., like Jem, is truly outrageous!

Controversial crooner (and cover girl) Mathangi Arulpragasam got fugged not once, but twice over at the always-entertaining Go Fug Yourself (thank you thank you, mbawife). Behold her first fugtacular outfit below, and her second, after the jump (click to enlarge both to their full glory…srsly).

She's a brown Gem.jpg

The first thing I thought of when I saw this (as if you hadn’t already guessed from my title) was “Jem! And the Holograms!“, or Jerrica, more accurately. They don’t make cartoons like they used to, do they boys and girls? When we played “Jem”, I always wanted to be “Aja”, but I was often stuck playing “Kimber”. The four of you who know what the hell I’m talking about need not comment, I can feel your sympathy over the intarweb. I’m sensitive like that.The second thing I thought of was, “this is not that bad for an M.I.A.-fit”. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen her look so glam. Wait, can one have shiny banana-yellow toenails and still be glam? (I told you to enlarge the pic!). I do like her makeup in this first shot, mostly because one of the greatest things about being a brown girl is being able to get away with wearing colors which would make our pastier sisters look like painted putas. Stop sneering, you’ve totally rocked green eyeliner, I saw you, last month. Wasn’t you? Eh, we all look alike.

Moving on to Miss Arulpragasam’s second sartorial statement:

basket case.jpg

I don’t know that I could improve upon GFY blogger Heather’s interpretation of the situation:

It’s like she’s the poster child for A Very Kidz Bop Easter, in which she plays the basket. [fug yeah]

I think this is pretty standard M.I.A.-fare, right down to the kicks. The first ensemble is a bit more interesting because I rarely see her in dress shoes. Or a dress. You see, I’m voting basket for the second look, so it doesn’t count as a frock– what the fug was she thinking?

55 thoughts on “M.I.A., like Jem, is truly outrageous!

  1. YOU’RE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    As for MIA, she is such a gorgeous person, why does she need such fugly clothes?

  2. And she has a globe purse in that first picture. That is so awesome! I want one.

  3. 4 ร‚ยท koppakabana said

    As for MIA, she is such a gorgeous person, why does she need such fugly clothes?

    Koppa-cake, see my comment below, about the first frock, that is. She is gorge, like Ithaca.

    7 ร‚ยท pailpeacock said

    whatever. she looks fab.

    Word. Her first look is growing on me like a fungus. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  4. She looks like Mermaid Barbie in the first pic. It’s the same shiny blue fabric. As for number 2, there are simply no words.

  5. Good stuff, Anna, nice to see you back blogging. I’m no expert, but I like that first outfit. It shows off skin in new and interesting ways, and as a boy, I’m down with that. The second outfit is pretty scary though.

    My general sense is that M.I.A.’s fashion is like her music. She’s quite ecletic, and what she comes up with is hard to compare with anything else out there. Every now and then the end product can be somewhat jarring — especially for people expecting something more conventional — but more often than not she rocks.

  6. Call me crazy…but she actually pulls off these looks! Because of who she is, she can wear such STRONG outfits and get away with.

  7. This is ridic. She looks like she always looks! Mildly fug, but mostly impressive. I ADORE the yellow toe nails (doing that tomorrow!!!) and globe purse.

    Are we not talking about how she claims she’s retiring?

  8. That second photo is just begging for a Fark-style photoshop contest to replace the mic with something else. She plays along nicely by looking upwards with a wild-eyed stare.

  9. M.I.A.’s got style. She’s retiring? She’s took enough change from this rap game?

  10. I love go fug yourself, but I have to disagree with them on the first photo, for M.I.A, that’s not so bad

  11. after seeing MIA in concert dressed like an elf (head to to green felt outfit, including a green elf cap), the top photo of her is actually quite pretty.

  12. the 2 photos look like before and after: she seems to badly need to pee in the first one, and seems much more relaxed in the second.

  13. Everyone and their mom and Jezebel loved her globe purse. And I’d have to agree..I want one – pronto.

  14. I wonder what outfit M.I.A will be wearing for her wedding. Does anybody know if this rumor of her marrying some Canadian guy is true?

  15. Her figure is manly, still, with appropriate clothing she could look feminine. Face is so-so. Average looking desi girl.

  16. Welcome back Anna – Sepia wasn’t the same without you!!

    I like #1 too. Typical MIA fare. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  17. I’m dying of laughter… Anna… check this out http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v74/157/49/109201/n109201_32108049_2073.jpg that’s my Halloween costume from 2 years ago…. yup… i was Jem! ๐Ÿ˜› I opted not to relegate myself to being Kimber or Aja. ๐Ÿ˜›

    as for MIA’s clothes.. i actually LOVE her clothes and style. I like that she’s alterna, non-conformist, and isn’t putting herself in a box.

    and if anyone has gone out to her latest tour… i have never seen such an amazing concert! how many ppl do you know that can crowd surf and sing at the same time?

  18. She’s so damn gorgeous I’ve never quite understood the utterly fugly clothes. I figured I was just getting older and she was simply being the rebellious rocker but I’ve never seen her in a single outfit I’ve liked. Perhaps that’s part of her appeal, the clothes. I don’t get it because she has the potential to look supafly!

    Here are some other “interesting” choices:

    Choice 1, Choice 2, Choice 3 & Choice 4.

    Errr ummmmm….why why why?

  19. Errr ummmmm….why why why?

    Because she makes more $$ going for a “prol” audience than a higher-class one!

  20. Arulprasagam – what a lovely name. In Tamil it means someone who has a halo. Literally – Arul == Grace. Pragasm = Light

    Oh and she looks delectable in the first pic.

  21. ANNA – because of you I just spent an hour watching Jem clips on YouTube and the past half hour looking for dresses on ebay so I can put together an outfit and be Jem for Halloween. I’m still looking for the right one.

    Now I just need a party to go to (Sona… hint hint… cough Have a Halloween party cough)

  22. Love the fug girls, but their tastes are sometimes…um…50s prom dress, anyone?

    love the top pic, sparkly aqua takes me back..remember that other 80s heroine, She-Ra? I believe her costume had a good deal of that. It was the only reason why I wanted the doll. Should I have just admitted that?

  23. 16 ร‚ยท scorps1027 said

    Call me crazy…but she actually pulls off these looks! Because of who she is, she can wear such STRONG outfits and get away with.

    agree, All about attitude, watch her live and all will understand!

  24. She reminds me of Kelis. They both have a penchant for strange outfits.

    MIA looks cute though.

  25. love the top pic, sparkly aqua takes me back..remember that other 80s heroine, She-Ra? I believe her costume had a good deal of that.

    Noooo! She-Ra’s outfit is white with gold trim. Maybe you are thinking of her friend Glimmer, who is shiny sparkly purple, or Peekablue?

    ANNA, so glad you’re back. Now the theme song to Jem and the Holograms is stuck in my head, though ๐Ÿ™‚

  26. Besides being mad cute, MIA is the nicest “star” I’ve met. She willingly got out of her tour bus when I gave her a desi yell, took pictures with me and my friend with HER Polaroid..and gave us the pictures to keep! And….the icing on the cake was when she let me give her a peck on her cheek and returned the favor ofcourse ๐Ÿ™‚ I LOWE her.

  27. Another H-ween party is definitely in the works…Fuerza. Ironically, I was MIA for H-ween last year. It gave me an excuse to wear gold tights and green sneakers.

  28. As with the Bjork swan dress, it’s kind of dumb for people to judge MIA’s fashion. It’s fairly obvious that she’s not simply colorblind, but that she’s purposefully wearing ridiculous things.

  29. Are you guys kidding me? she looks great and that 2nd dress is dope. the context, if it helps, is a benefit show played with graphs and charts of global economic statistics on a projector in the background.

    Even out of context though, it’s a good look.

  30. Camille, yes She-Ra had a white and gold outfit, but the doll had – wings, or something, highlights, something – with sparkly bits like that. I could swear but the memory’s beginning to go..