“Growing up I didn’t have a lot of access to fashion,” Rihanna said in her acceptance speech. “But as far as I could remember, fashion has always been my defense mechanism. Even as a child I remember thinking, “She can beat me, but she cannot beat my outfit.” [Laughter and cheers.] And to this day I mean, that is how I think about it. I can compensate for all my weaknesses with my fashion. And so really, you really can … I enjoy the most that you can tell so much about who someone is just by their style — the way they put fashion together.
And I think fashion has been an outlet for me to express myself, to speak up, to say who I am and to be very loud about it at times, and I just like to have fun with it. Fashion is just a world of thrills, it’s exciting, there’s no rules, there’s just … I mean, SHE has tons of rules [Pointing to Wintour] … Scratch that! Scratch that! There are RULES! But rules are meant to be broken. [Audience cheers and claps.] I enjoy the most that you can tell who someone is just by their style – the way they put fashion together. I think fashion has just been an outlet for me to express myself, to speak up and to be very loud about it sometimes.”
As for the naked dress, Rihanna joked about it on the red carpet, saying it was her red carpet/Crop Over look. Crop Over is the annual festival celebration in her native Bahamas were women wear colorful, scanty costumes.
Rihanna took to her Twitter yesterday to pay homage to entertainer Josephine Baker, whose show included nudity. Baker’s birthday was June 3.
