The Australian superstar gets all dolled-up for his ‘One Of Your Girls’ music video, with Madonna, Lady Gaga, Britney, Beyoncé, Carrie Bradshaw and many more on the moodboard
Troye Sivan has been setting the bar pretty high recently. This summer, the Australian pop star dropped “Rush”, the first single of a new era, and with it came a fashion-filled, goofball-coded gem of a music video. Next up was “Got Me Started”, a track both sultry and mischievous, its charm boosted by the TikTok-referencing sample of Bag Raiders’ “Shooting Stars”. Today, Sivan has finally released his new record Something To Give Each Other – a dreamy slice of perfect pop – but it’s the music video for third single “One Of Your Girls” that’s stolen the show, and for good reason.
In the Gordon von Steiner-directed clip, the world watched as a winking boy-Troye undergoes a sudden metamorphosis into a cut-creased, fox-eyed temptress. If they were on Drag Race, they’d be called something like Troye Shevan, a baby queen with a “passion for fashion” and a particular penchant for the singing challenge. You’d worry about how she would fare in the Snatch Game, but she’d somehow do surprisingly well, until eventually placing third overall. After the show, she’d land a Dazed print editorial in her first six months of working (not a cover though), and get invited to The Fashion Awards. Work, queen!
Though we doubt Sivan has constructed his drag identity to that degree, we did clock a whole lot of hints as to who could have inspired the look. Below, we unpack each and every one for you, from the pop girls of yesteryear to the bronzed and beat businesswomen of Beverly Hills.
CARRIE BRADSHAW
As I transformed into a dolled-up, snatched-waist professor of cuntonomics, I couldn’t help but wonder, am I giving Carrie Bradshaw? No, we weren’t actually there, but that’s got to be the word-for-word thought process racing through Sivan’s mind on the set of the video. That one shot of him swaddled in snowy shearling with a wispy up ‘do is particularly Carrie-coded, complete with doe-eyed glare and YSL compact. And just like that, it looks like Troye is coming for SJP’s crown.
BRITNEY SPEARS
When his world-shaking “Rush” music video dropped, it was clear Sivan plucked inspo from Britney Spears’ “I’m A Slave 4 U” clip, with its sunset settings and sweat-slicked dancers. Now, for “One Of Your Girls”, the singer has once again rolled the dice of Spears references, this time landing on another Britney album track, “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman”. The low-slung denim and ruffled crop top that Britney wears in the video while staring wistfully across a canyon are given a 2023 update for Sivan’s clip. It’s a clever reference, as both tracks share lyrical sensibilities too: Britney is stuck between being a girl and woman, while Sivan longs to become one of the girls for his unrequited (and presumably straight) love interest.
CLAUDIA SCHIFFER
Sivan’s jeans and a nice top combo in that same part of the video also summon shades of a 90s Claudia Schiffer. The supermodel’s 1989 Guess campaign, shot by Ellen von Unworth, is what immediately springs to mind, with its artfully-coiffed mane and sultry, breathless quality.
DONATELLA VERSACE
If there’s anybody on earth who embodies the idea of sultry, 80s glamour, then that woman is Donatella Versace. The black and white shot of Sivan reclining on the floor – pumps laced to the heavens – is definitely taking cues from a young Donatella, especially her slightly more stripped back, simple style. The Versace matriarch’s style has been reinterpreted numerous times – by Penélope Cruz in American Crime Story, Maya Rudloph on SNL, and Lady Gaga in everyday life – but we think Sivan gives those girls a run for their money.
BEYONCÉ & LADY GAGA
Speaking of Lady Gaga, it looks like Mother Monster may have been on the moodboard too. The sequence in the video where Sivan straddles a chrome chair and then proceeds to fling himself onto the ground is a direct riff on Beyoncé and Lady Gaga’s “Video Phone”. Bey and Gaga also do a similar routine in their respective music video, both in virgin-white outfits not that different from Sivan’s. But the singer doesn’t stop there in mining the depths of pop history…
MADONNA
There’s a part in the video where Sivan treats fellow crooner Ross Lynch to a lap dance, kitted out in opaque tights and a black leotard-cum-minidress. He’s got the moves and looks of a Blonde Ambition-era Madonna, minus the platinum Marilyn bouffant of course. The Lynch lap dance also reminds us of another infamous Madge moment, where the singer crashed Drake’s headline Coachella set and the pair engaged in some chair-based activities of their own. Hopefully Sivan and Lynch’s video shoot had a happier ending!
THE PUSSYCAT DOLLS
Sivan’s whole Something To Give Each Other era has been very Y2K-coded, so it’s no surprise that he would reference a 00s girl group. In another section of the video, the singer is flanked by two dancers and they all execute a sexy little jig in unison. The black outfits and barre routine look as though they’re lifted from The Pussycat Dolls “Buttons” music video, with the Australian singer firmly establishing himself as the Nicole of the group. Sivan and von Steiner really are running through the pop girls of yesteryear at an alarming rate.
THE ENTIRE CAST OF SELLING SUNSET
Despite hailing from Perth, Australia, Sivan’s new look is giving pure Beverly Hills 90210. So much so that we think he could slide into the cast of Selling Sunset and no-one would bat an eyelid. His preened, plucked and perma-tanned drag persona would sit right alongside Chrishell and co in the Oppenheim Group office, and she might even steal a few scenes with that unclockable frontal. Lace where?
COURTNEY ACT
Chances are there were probably a bunch of Drag Race queens on Sivan’s moodboard, considering the huge influence that RuPaul’s TV show has had on the craft. We’re guessing Courtney Act was up there – both are cute, blonde Australians, who clearly have a shared penchant for barely-there outfits and an almost perfect poise. Honourable mention to Blair St. Clair and Adore Delano, who we think Sivan was also channelling in shades. But now we mention fellow Australians…
DELTA GOODREM
We thought this was going to be a slightly controversial take, but a quick glance on Twitter revealed literally everyone is saying the same thing: it’s giving Delta Goodrem. It’s true, Sivan is serving us huge helpings of the Australian pop diva, but I disagree that it’s a “cunty Delta Goodrem” – Goodrem has, in fact, always been “cunty” and it will do you people good to put some respect on Miss Delta’s name. Maybe she wasn’t actually on the moodboard, but there’s definitely a resemblance, and, because of it, Sivan has finally blossomed into the pop star he was always destined to be!
Troye Sivan’s new album Something To Give Each Other is out now.
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