Did it confuse you ? He did look like a different person at certain points.

I personally think it made him more interesting but I've seen some people complain that they'd rather him not look so different every era.

4 reference

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^ @nayroo2002 Thanks for posting that reference, I remember this... When I first started to get into Prince's music, I recall being a little surprised at how many different looks he had. However, I quickly began to think it was pretty cool that he had so many looks. It made it so certain looks were tied with a particular album/tour/movie, which brings even more distinction between time periods.

[Edited 1/6/23 10:08am]

Prince was into marketing and he didn't like "stale".
EVERY album had a new look. He'd paint the house. Paint the car. New hair. New clothes.
He enjoyed it, obviously -- and so did we.

"Don't you love surprises?"

paisleyparkgirl said:

Did it confuse you ? He did look like a different person at certain points.

I personally think it made him more interesting but I've seen some people complain that they'd rather him not look so different every era.

Confused? Hell no! That was one of the things that I loved about him. As a teen, I waited each year with obsessive anticipation to see what completely new style, in terms of both music and appearance, Prince would come out with yet.

He changed his entire sound for each ablum, Cchanging his image (clothes style, hair, colors, etc.) just drove that point home. He was a musical and aesthetic chameleon. In other words, for me, his changing style drove home the point that he was constantly changing his sound.

This was particularly true in the '80s, though his style and sound did evolve in the '90s and 2000s as well (I just don't think the changes were as abrupt in most cases).

This is one of the reasons Prince fans talk of "eras". YOu can identify Prince not just by the production quality of the music, by literally by his hair-do and outfits.

laytonian said:

Prince was into marketing and he didn't like "stale".
EVERY album had a new look. He'd paint the house. Paint the car. New hair. New clothes.
He enjoyed it, obviously -- and so did we.

"Don't you love surprises?"

it was part of the fun of it all. also, the new colour cloud guitar and later the different symbol guitars.

And yet Madonna was known as the Queen of Reinvention.

Now I agree Madonna was a master at over-arching themes that were very focused and all emcompassing. Many have even claimed that she needed those gimmicks and she said herself that she veered away from discussing it too deeply because people misunderstood the difficulties of constant reinvention.

My point is to me Prince was overlooked in this regard, started it before Madonna (I'm talking about the 80's specifically here) yet didn't get as much credit for reinvention (most likely because she was more commercial).

eye wonder if coming up with same ole same ole bruce affected how prince reinvention was recieved .. errbody clamoring for the puple rain look era long since over while bowie n madonna get praised for each new look .. its like the public wanted prince to be bruce and just stay the same .. bowie prolly stradled his pop rock mesh better in the public eye .. bowie was never really pop .. p was full musician and had every right to do whatever he wanted but in some ways it would be like if pixies or cure came out with a drastically different look every album .. just doesn't feel right .. and some of the p looks were real clunkers .. that didn't help .. now madonnas talentless ass is finally getting her just deserts .. tryin to look like lil john wit dat grill .. or the cat lady with that facelift or whatever she did to her face .. nobody like that .. at least p toned ti down towards the end .. imagine the rave look w assless pants at 60 .. yikes

LoveGalore said:

Why would it be confusing?

my brother who's not a fan is confused. He'll see a Prince picture and ask me if it's Prince because he doesn't recognize him with certain looks.

TrevorAyer said:

eye wonder if coming up with same ole same ole bruce affected how prince reinvention was recieved .. errbody clamoring for the puple rain look era long since over while bowie n madonna get praised for each new look .. its like the public wanted prince to be bruce and just stay the same .. bowie prolly stradled his pop rock mesh better in the public eye .. bowie was never really pop .. p was full musician and had every right to do whatever he wanted but in some ways it would be like if pixies or cure came out with a drastically different look every album .. just doesn't feel right .. and some of the p looks were real clunkers .. that didn't help .. now madonnas talentless ass is finally getting her just deserts .. tryin to look like lil john wit dat grill .. or the cat lady with that facelift or whatever she did to her face .. nobody like that .. at least p toned ti down towards the end .. imagine the rave look w assless pants at 60 .. yikes

I personally feel like his Slave era look didn't do him any favors with the scary makeup. His Graffiti Bridge or Diamonds and Pearls look would have been better suited for a video like "The most Beautiful Girl in the World".

To me Prince's looks were effective up to 1989-90, with the Lovesexy era being his last defining period. The 90's overall just wasn't the same for him, and to me it's totally undestandable because to me legacy artists are defined by the decade they were most current in. For the Beatles it was the 60's, for Stevie the 70's and for Prince the 80's.

I'll give credit to Madonna because she went on so long I started questioning how many skins she had left to shed. Her last defining period for me was the Confessions era in 2005, many years past her glory days.

paisleyparkgirl said:

LoveGalore said:

Why would it be confusing?

Exactly.

Must be a slow news night.

TrivialPursuit said:

LoveGalore said:

Why would it be confusing?

Exactly.

Must be a slow news night.

It is actually lol.

TrivialPursuit said:

LoveGalore said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Exactly.

Must be a slow news night.

My god, he.... He has a goatee now. And the chiffon is draped down the LEFT shoulder this time. What is going on??? Prince?????

I have Apple product, but I still laugh at people who went insane when the earbuds jack on an iPod went from the bottom to the top. "WOW. Mind blown!"

Look Greg, you need something else blown, and it ain't your mind.

That's part of what made the epic journey with him so much fun. He consistently kept it interestingly evolving. Was every look a winner? Noooooo but he significantly stayed far better than average.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

That's part of what made the epic journey with him so much fun. He consistently kept it interestingly evolving. Was every look a winner? Noooooo but he significantly stayed far better than average.

Yeah, but it was never confusing. As if he showed up and we thought, "who's this asshole?"

TrivialPursuit said:

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

That's part of what made the epic journey with him so much fun. He consistently kept it interestingly evolving. Was every look a winner? Noooooo but he significantly stayed far better than average.

Yeah, but it was never confusing. As if he showed up and we thought, "who's this asshole?"

for me i enjoyed the changes in his image/hair/clothing etc up until 1996. i wasnt a huge fan of the look he had in 93/94/95 all that much but i liked that he still changed it. and the masks were very cool in this period.

but starting from emancipation, he started to look more conservatively dressed to me. those outfits on the jam of the year tour were pretty dull IMO.

the blue rave era jumpsuit was cool. and i guess it was nice to see him suited up as he got older. but it wasnt that interesting. maybe he wanted to appear more 'normal' as he got older and less 'weird' but he could have still done something more interesting i think. or maybe i just didnt see it or wasnt paying attention, idk.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

for me i enjoyed the changes in his image/hair/clothing etc up until 1996. i wasnt a huge fan of the look he had in 93/94/95 all that much but i liked that he still changed it. and the masks were very cool in this period.

but starting from emancipation, he started to look more conservatively dressed to me. those outfits on the jam of the year tour were pretty dull IMO.

the blue rave era jumpsuit was cool. and i guess it was nice to see him suited up as he got older. but it wasnt that interesting. maybe he wanted to appear more 'normal' as he got older and less 'weird' but he could have still done something more interesting i think. or maybe i just didnt see it or wasnt paying attention, idk.

From 2010's he was back to having a futuristic Jimmy hendrix looks which I liked.

idk if id quite describe it like that, but it was ok.

Any links for the song 'Changing His Looks'?