Miley Cyrus Shares the Inspiration Behind Her Best Outfits
Miley Cyrus Reminisces on Her "Extremely Controversial" VMAs Bodysuit 10 Years Later
Miley Cyrus knows how to get people talking without saying a single word. In a 18 May video for British Vogue, the cover star dove into some of her most talked-about looks, including the teddy-bear bodysuit she wore to the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. "This teddy-bear costume, which was extremely controversial and made a lot of people angry . . .," she began, trailing off to emphasise the absurdity of the situation. "This was inspired by a Todd James sculpture that I had fallen in love with. The bear reminded me of myself for some reason. I thought it was beautiful."
Cyrus said James agreed to build her a custom bear sculpture for her VMAs performance, adding even more significance to the outfit. Because the bear was so large, she could hide inside and emerge from it for her grand entrance. "It was a rebirth," she explained, officially clarifying the inspiration behind the legendary one-piece.
Aside from her VMAs bodysuit, Cyrus also spoke about some other standout costumes, like the ethereal look she wore in the 2019 "Don't Call Me Angel" music video with Ariana Grande and Lana Del Rey. "These angel wings — which have been in my unit for a couple years — oddly, they went missing, and about a week later, Lil Nas X did a music video in which he is wearing wings very similar to these," she said. Coincidence?
Cyrus's style has evolved a lot over the years, which she partially attributed to her early days as a Disney Channel star. "I didn't have as much control because I was playing a character, so it wasn't always about my own feeling," she said. Some of her more polarising looks cropped up as she started to differentiate herself as an individual, separating her personal aesthetic from that of her character. "As I started to understand that the magic of Hannah [Montana] was actually the magic of me, I started infusing my own style into Hannah's style," she said. See more of her fashion revelations above.
