Like Lady Gaga, popstar Katy Perry is as revered for her joyous, often frankly bonkers stagewear as she is for her catchy tunes. A one-woman Disney medley, Katy has become famous for appearing on stage variously as a Kawaii Harajuku dolly, Cleopatra, The Queen of Hearts and pretty much every other guise in between.
Until now, her kitsch and kute inspiration has been a mystery. But now Buzzfeed think they’ve uncovered her muse – American comic giant Archie Comic’s 50s movie star character, Katy Keene. And we’re not just talking inspiration; we’re talking entire looks taken wholesale from their cartoon origins and turned into dozens of perfectly rendered IRL stage costumes. Right down to her undulating jet black 20s curls and Jessica Rabbit-esque cinched in leotards, the resemblance is pretty uncanny. They’ve even both had blue hair.
But who is Katy Keene? Well, like Katy Perry, she was a starlet of her times, who favoured lots of costumes and appeared regularly in ‘100 Sexiest Women in Comics’ lists (for real) but was ‘no bimbo’. Katy P’s been criticised (er, why?) for ripping off Katy K’s look, but we actually think the comic character sounds like a very lovely role model and worthy of emulating.
Plus, the pictures are very spectacular. We only wish we could find a mermaid outfit like that at our local Parties R Us branch.
Ariel should be scared, very scared.
Majestic peacockery – although KP does look a bit more nervier than KK.
Something naughty about this one. KK is riding something decidedly phallic, while KP has fireworks essentially shooting out of her nipples. We like.
It’s like My Little Pony met Barbie and then they all drowned in cake batter, before they were baked into individual cupcakes and then frosted. Delicious.
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Pictures: Getty, Rex
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.