the evolution of doja cat's say so ✨🕺🏽🪐

[Music] the evolution of doja cats say so 2020 will be remembered for a lot of things most of them negative but it will also be remembered as the year of doja cat and say-so the fifth track on doja cat's 2019 hot pink album ceso was not initially slated to be released as a single however after a successful tick-tock video in december 2019 where at yodeling haley danced along to the chorus of the song setting off a full-blown trend the original plants for the tune changed while dogecat had had a few previous hits like juicy and tia tamara the popularity of ceso was at a whole other level and there's no denying that it's largely thanks to its popularity on tick-tock the song continued picking up steam and by the middle of january 2020 it entered the billboard hot 100 list with doja cats labeled deciding to officially release the song as a single on january 28th and on february 27th they followed it up with a corresponding music video after collabing on a remix with nicki minaj the song jumped to number one and dojica proceeded to do dozens of live performances of the song throughout the year having had to perform it on numerous occasions doja took on different styles both visually and musically to try to keep it interesting today we'll be looking at a few different iterations of say so from the fashion at play to the musical influences and why this was crucial in making the song as successful as it is let's get into it say so it's important to note that this music video and the majority of the other performances we'll be talking about today were styled by brett allen nelson while doja has always expressed interest in fashion and has her own unique style there's no denying that as her stylist brett has helped her hone her image and evolve her look to the next level making her a certifiable fashion star both dosia and brett are drawn to theatrical outlandish looks and as a result when the two collaborate it always makes for interesting fashion choices in an interview with billboard brett said quote he's not the one to call if you want a simple jeans and t-shirt look another big factor that affects brett's vision and style philosophy is being inspired by and working with iconic photographer and director david lachappelle whose work is equal parts theatrical and surreal with a combination of art history and contemporary pop culture released on february 27th the seiso video which feels like saturday night fever meets boogie nights heavily references 70s pop culture throughout the video dojo wears various looks that take inspiration from fashion trends of that time period and even her makeup references popular celebs of the 60s and 70s like twiggy natalie wood diana ross and donna summer with bold eye shadow thick lashes and sharp graphic eyeliner her first outfit in the music video features a knitted cowl neck halter dress by the brand no seso and a pair of purple platforms the halter top was at the peak of its popularity during the late 1960s and early 1970s influenced by youth culture and a rise in movements for women's rights informality was in style and women began to shed the tight cumbersome undergarments that they had long been expected to wear the rainbow pattern can be seen not only as a nod to the lgbtq community but also as a reference to the hippie movement which commonly incorporated bold patterns and bright colors into its aesthetic the platform shoes which have seen a recent revival were wildly popular with teens in the 70s where they were seen as a rebellion against conservatism and tradition her next look a pink chainmail mini dress is from the brand poster girl and features an assortment of popular disco trends during this time period bright colors and reflective materials thrived as that was the best way to get noticed on the dance floor coinciding with the rise of sexual liberation women of the 1970s would often wear bare-backed dresses or dresses with lower necklines doge's hair in this look is classic 70s a flipped out feathered blowout that was popularized by actress farrah fawcett one of the era's top sex symbols after her role on charlie's angels catapulted her to fame doja also wears a pair of large star-shaped hoop earrings and while the shape itself wasn't all the rage in the 1970s hoop earrings in general were a common accessory for women of color and within the black community they became synonymous with female empowerment doja's next look is custom garo sparrow with the designer referring to the outfit as a quote disco barbie butterfly fantasy it appears to take the majority of its inspiration from cher's outfit at the 1974 oscars where the singer slash actress wore a bob mackie original on the red carpet the outfit was a matching floral two-piece set that featured a small halter top low-waisted skirt and large appliques in her hair doda's look is very similar especially in color but features butterfly motifs instead of flowers her next outfit is another shiny number a sheer blue rhinestone dress designed by christian cohen in collaboration with the powerpuff girls no that wasn't a joke the dress is form-fitting and body bearing exuding the sexual energy of the era along with highlighting the strength of femininity besides doja looking absolutely stunning in the ensemble it also references two other female icons the first diana ross who wore a variety of sequined and bejeweled dresses over the course of her career the second marilyn monroe who wore a skin-tight crystal covered dress to sing happy birthday to jfk on may 19 1962. her fifth and final look is a near parody of the disco aesthetic studio 54 would be very proud doja is wearing a nude brian hearns jumpsuit with a custom xena bane belt with her name on it the rhinestone design features an assortment of celestial motifs from stars to planets and is a clever reference to the space craze of the late 50s and 60s as well as possibly foreshadowing planet her jumpsuits were a mainstay of 70s fashion and were largely influenced by the workwear as everywhere trend as well as a move towards women's fashion becoming more comfortable doge's jumpsuit which could be a reference to a variety of disco queens from the 70s actually reminds me of elvis's iconic look revealing how a one-piece jumpsuit can be worn by any gender and we'd be remiss to not talk about her beautiful afro-esque hairdo which had become a political statement in the black community as a way of rebelling against racist and eurocentric standards of beauty the retro disco-inspired aesthetic utilized in the video would foreshadow not just the many 70s looks dosia would wear in live performances of the song but also the return of 70s trends in fashion in general it's nice to see how instead of shying away from the song's roots as a popular tik-tok song doja embraced it inviting various creators to make a cameo in the music video as well as incorporating the dance into her official choreography the tonight show starring jimmy fallon the song's first live tv performance and sadly the only one pre-covered the creative direction stage design and costume design were all done by brett dojo wore a custom christian cohen swarovski pink jumpsuit with fur trim and a large floor-length oyemwen pink tulle jacket a reminder that she also wore christian cohen in the say-so music video her backup dancers wore matching garo sparrow pink vinyl skirt sets with feather trim doja has stated on multiple occasions that pink is her absolute favorite color so it comes as no surprise when she shows up wearing it the entire look is like barbie meets my little pony and it's utterly fabulous the first time i watched the performance i thought it was already a great look with the jacket on then it dropped and so did my jaw the jumpsuit hugs doge's curves perfectly while the feathered trim is reminiscent of a similar sheer look that cher wore to the 1974 met gala of course designed by bob mackie and i love that her backup dancers also get a bit of an outfit change with their skirts being switched out for a pair of one-legged flared pants the staging of the three women is somewhat reminiscent of the supremes which we can infer is purposeful due to the 70s inspiration we've seen thus far considering it was the first live performance of the song it's a fairly straightforward rendition but it's immediately apparent how much potential it has mtv push once again her backup dancers were custom garo sparrow this time a red miniskirt and halter top that i interpret as mod meets y2k xenon who doja is wearing a red wig that perfectly matches the cherry print on her poster girl dress the dress itself looks great on her but following that killer jimmy fallon performance i find it kind of lacking and especially now when i retroactively compare it to the similarly fruit themed yet far superior the rika motoshi strawberry dress i kind of wish that instead of the cherry dress we'd gotten to see doja in a red vinyl gown it'd be more of what we'd already seen but i still think that would be more interesting vivo lyft this early performance is almost a parody of doja cat's publicly perceived persona however there's more to this kitty cat look than meets the eye doja is wearing a custom garo sparrow corset with matching ears while her collar and belt are made by zainab bane the latter brand specializes in post-fetish leather and is immensely popular with celebrities being worn by ariana grande and chloe and halle working in collaboration with brett garo sparrow's cat corset actually takes inspiration from playboy bunnies not to be confused with playboy playmates the women who make appearances in the magazine's pictorials for those unaware a playboy bunny was the moniker for an official cocktail waitress who worked at the playboy club the girls would wear bunny suits on the job which was essentially glorified lingerie the costume itself was modeled after playboy magazine's rabbit logo and was also the first commercial uniform to be registered by the united states patent and trademark office journalist gloria steinem once went undercover as a playboy bunny in the 60s and publicized the exploitative working conditions of the bunnies as well as the harassment they endured on the job while the playboy brand as a whole is pretty gross the iconic image of the playboy bunny has endured with the look making appearances in numerous movies and continuous references in japanese manga and anime doja's look takes the playboy bunny imagery and makes it her own there's something mysterious about the concept of like a crazy cat lady i took that symbol and applied it to my character doja cat and my career in this video we see doja go completely crazy for cats with the set design taking inspiration from a fuzzy cat tree and doja dressing like the craziest cat of all cheshire executive producer micah bickham said quote we wanted to use textures and materials that felt domestic in a way that connected with this feline identity that doja hadn't really explored up until now you can see these themes like a giant pool of milk in streets or the cat condo structure in seiso even our use of carpet which to me is such a beautiful and underused material really elevates the domestication of each song we ultimately wanted to create environments that an audience could understand but still had a level of obscurity to them end quote and they definitely succeeded as there is something both familiar and yet strange about the entire performance something we could say about dojicat in general nbc's the voice the first in a string of at-home performances of say-so we see doja in a simple set with silver tinsel giant disco balls and lots of bubbles the pink sequined pajama set is equal parts glamour and comfort evoking the image of a fantastical slumber party we wish quarantine looked this good the back of the shirt also says sugar daddies solve all problems and it's honestly hilarious and is something i could see doja actually wearing for a socially distanced performance that had to be constructed at home it isn't bad and compared to some of the others we're about to see it's actually interesting bbc radio one another simple performance this outfit is actually from doja's personal closet and wasn't styled by brett and as we continue on in this video i think you'll be able to tell when he is and isn't involved in dozia's looks a fairly casual and very 2020 outfit the two-piece set features a louis vuitton inspired monogram that says sex in both 2019 and 2020 we saw the rise of faux designer monograms with billy eilish wearing extreme versions repeatedly and the character of maddie wearing something very similar in an episode of euphoria i've talked about the rise and fall of monogram prince before so check out my y2k video if you want to learn more about that but all you need to know for right now is that dapperdan is a genius who we owe this entire trend to the late late show with james corden a basic performance in the midst of quarantine doja performs the song again in her bedroom amongst a comfy mass of pillows and bright neon lights although it's pretty difficult to tell because of the setup doja is wearing a corset by marina hermann setter and a fluffy feathered headpiece from pierce atkinson it's again nothing to write home about but there's no denying that there is something about the simple performance that is comforting and endearing although you can definitely see that doja is getting a bit tired of performing the same song over and over again mtv vmas one of the first big award shows that had to re-evaluate its format post kovid doja's performance of say-so had to keep the new guidelines in mind to guarantee a safe environment for everyone involved as a result the team that performed on stage with her wore costumes that incorporated masks and other protective gear they're simple white outfits that are meant to look like astronauts fitting the otherworldly theme of their set design actually makes me think of sexy hazmat suits the idea for the spaced theme performance was a collaborative effort between doja and brett with brett saying in an interview with vogue quote doj and i both wanted to do something sexy original and iconic the vmas is a show where you can push all the limits she told me she wanted to be a rainbow alien and i ran with that idea end quote reaching out to asher levine whose futuristic designs have been worn by everyone from lady gaga to taylor swift to little nos x the two began planning dojo's look five weeks in advance the custom catsuit is alien meets mermaid and takes the aesthetic of ceso away from the past to the future the mesh suit features handcrafted sculpted scales that are placed in strategic positions and also lights up the nether region is designed in a flamboyant way to evoke female strength and i definitely think they succeeded in that the look as a whole is not only fantastical and camp as hell but it also reveals how far dogia and her team are willing to go to make their vision come to life brett mentioned in that same vogue interview that quote when i first started working with doja she had never worked with a stylist before so every new job i try to blow her mind she and i get each other so well we bicker like brother and sister but i know her sometimes better than she knows herself she's down to have fun take risks and she trusts me which in my industry is the best thing a creative could ask for end quote it's also worth noting that this is when doja first teased her upcoming album planet her where she took on the persona of a news presenter in an homage to old school mtv in said intro she's wearing archive vivian westwood bbma performance for this performance doja created a mashup of say so like that and juicy with a jazzy musical theater inspired arrangement everything from her costuming to the set design takes inspiration from the musical chicago and more specifically the 2002 film brett who was once again in charge of creative direction and styling said in an instagram post quote i'm so proud of doja especially when she brings all my musical theater dreams to life end quote and his love for the source material is immediately obvious doja's 1920s inspired flapper dress is custom george hobeika and is specifically designed to resemble the ensemble roxy heart wears in chicago during her roxy performance the musical number that doja is specifically referencing unlike the performance in chicago doja's backup dancers are women instead of men although they're still wearing tuxedos kinda the entire performance is incredibly stylized with doge's choreography incorporating 1920s dance moves like the charleston along with the original tick-tock dance it's also interesting to note that in chicago the roxy performance is a fantasy where the character is imagining a world where she's become a successful performer and where everyone loves her considering how popular doja had become by this point with a lot of her mainstream attention coming from this song we can also see it as representative of how far her career has come it isn't an imaginary musical number it's her actual life now besides the 1920s styling being a welcome change from the 1970s aesthetic we've come to expect from ceso this performance was an early example of the range and creativity dosia would showcase during the rest of her hot pink era mtv emas for this performance doja continues to reference and incorporate film and pop culture with this performance taking inspiration from the 2002 horror movie the ring dosia enters the stage through a static filled tv just like the movie's antagonist samara and wears a similar dress as she does in the movie the custom white gown is ayonesha who helped the team with the quote sexy rock and roll grunge look they were going for the dress along with doja's hair styling is made to look wet solidifying the ode to the ring and also follows a string of other celebrity wet looks like kim kardashian's 2019 met gala look by terry mcglare or the white dipetsa address digi hadid wore for her pregnancy announcement earlier in 2020. the dress also shares similarities to john gagliano's spring summer 1986 fallen angels collection and alexander mcqueen's spring summer 1998 untitled collection if we compare doja's looks to gigi's you can understand just how important styling is although both women are wearing white wet dresses gigi comes across as angelic and ethereal while doges is more punk rock and edgier as the result of dark makeup and garters her sexier 90s inspired outfit sets the tone for this performance which has taken on a more heavy metal alternative rock vibe as opposed to its original 70s disco inspiration keeping that in mind you could also say that the performance is an ode to other rock bands most notably evanescence who utilized similar visuals in their music videos and although this performance was incredibly different from others and was a joy to watch fans on the internet began mentioning how the song had become overrated and boring as a result of excessive performances doja cat responded to the frustration with a funny tweet after the performance quote i'm tired of say so too y'all i heart radio jingle ball for the 2020 jingle ball doja performed a mashup of santa baby and say so dressed up as a sexy mrs claus she began her performance in a custom pink velvet ensemble with a fluff trim by trashy lingerie when the song segways to say so she changes into an outfit that is a reference to an angel christmas tree topper the look is quite cute although it gives less christmas angel vibes and more reese witherspoon and little nicky but it's definitely not as impressive as the all-out angel look she wore during the hot pink sessions youtube streamies at this point we can tell that doja is getting tired of say-so and unlike her last few creative performances this is a fairly obvious and straightforward rendition of the song she follows the 70s theme and her outfit is an obvious reference to cher's look in the late 60s the custom skin colored for love heart dress has fringe detailing and is encrusted with crystals and while overall nothing special it is interesting to note how different this entire look is from her bbma performance although both dresses have very similar features like fringe and mesh nothing else to say about this one but we've gotta give them a break since they've been doing their best to come up with new concepts for the song all year long dick clark's new year's rock and eve in an homage to the music dance tv show soul train doja cat has her own kitty train which honestly makes me kind of sad that she didn't wear a cat outfit but i digress the mesh outfit has large silver sequins sewn into a clever bodysuit silhouette along with a large silver tinsel-esque skirt with the silver wig and eye makeup it's all very matchy matchy and not my favorite look overall instead of coming off as glamorous it looks like something you could diy with random items from party city considering the majority of her looks during the seiso era have been sparkly and skin tight i almost wish they'd had her wear a fabulous floor-length gown in an ode to donna summer or diana ross sure this outfit is fun but has little impact in the grand scheme of things also i find it really funny that in an interview doja said she was excited for the new year and to do new things she is so done with say so i'm really excited to just have a reason to start over and do new things and blackpink's the show while not technically a doji cat performance it is a performance of say so so it counts during korean group blackpink's digital concert the show lisa covered say-so begging the question is doja already a big enough figure in the music industry that she's influencing others in the performance lisa wears a gold sequined showgirl costume that kind of reminds me of the outfits marilyn monroe and jane russell wore in gentlemen prefer blondes but combined with nicole kidman's outfit in moulin rouge overall i don't love it keeping in mind blackpink's usually out of the box costuming this feels fairly forgettable although i do love lisa's additional rap verses as well as the dance break that helps her show off her strengths the grammys at the grammys where doja unfortunately didn't win a single award she performed say-so for likely the last time officially marking the end of her hot pink era this is like the funeral of say-so i feel like you know i'm i'm in my all-black for her final performance of the hit song she wore a custom all-black jean-paul gautier corset and vex latex cat suit while there is an ode to fetish wear this outfit most obviously references janet jackson's feedback music video where she dances in an all-black catsuit with a high ponytail on a foreign planet similarly doja introduced her performance by welcoming everyone to planet her where she is accompanied by background dancers dressed as astronauts with cute led cat ears on a stage with a futuristic setting in an interview with v magazine doja stated quote i feel like when i watch people like beyonce or janet doing what needs to be done i genuinely smile and look at it like this is perfect i can tell when something is treated with care i appreciate the work they put into their craft so who would i be to not do the exact same or almost as good i'm not trying to compare myself to them but i'm just saying that i want to give people something interesting something they can lock their eyes onto and take with them in the future end quote with the new arrangement taking the song from disco territory to techno and her corset looking vaguely xenomorph-esque we can see how much dojicat and ceso have evolved since the beginning of 2020. she's not just a minor stylish celebrity anymore she's a full-blown high fashion star with a bright future over the course of 2020 and 2021 we've been able to watch doja cat grow as an artist not only when it comes to her personal style but when it comes to performing as well despite being relatively new to the industry she's proven that she not only has the talent to excel at her craft and become a long lasting presence in the industry but that she also has the creativity to keep her fan base invested and interested hot pink was a hell of an era that brought us amazing songs like streets cyber sex juicy and of course say so but that was just the beginning and i can't wait to see what the upcoming planet her project has in store for us which of doja cat's say-so performances was your favorite i hope you enjoyed this video don't forget to like and subscribe and i'll talk to you soon bye you

Channel: ModernGurlz

Views: 403,900

Rating: 4.9712701 out of 5

Keywords: style, modern gurlz, 90s fashion, fashion, movie review, movie commentary, moderngurlz, review, Film analysis, film theory, movie analysis, movie trivia, film trivia, analysis, explanations, video essay, filmmaking, cinematography, movie reviews, entertainment reviews, endings explained, deeper meanings, symbolism, television, entertainment, deep meaning, explainer videos, movie answers, say so, doja cat, music theory, 70s fashion, disco fashion, style analysis, fashion analysis

Id: rP-8CppO7vE

Length: 24min 44sec (1484 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 17 2021