Rihanna: Fashion icon?

Rihanna is the only person we know who's sported a classic pixie cut, a fire-engine red curly do, a choppy mullet and a one-length bob with bangs all within a span of just three years.

If you think her haircuts are wild, her wardrobe is something else.

Known for her adventurous and daring sense of style, the 26-year-old Barbadian pop star is every fashion critic's dream.

It is just as well that the face of Balmain has been named this year's Council of Fashion Designers of America Fashion Icon, following in the footsteps of style gurus Kate Moss and Lady Gaga.

No one in recent times is more deserving.

But for every sartorial high, the chameleonic fashionista has seen several head-scratching lows as well.

We look at Rihanna at her best and worst.

1. Paris Fashion Week 2014

Outfit: lanvin

Don't be alarmed.

She wasn't clutching a huge furry creature to her chest at the Lanvin Fall/ Winter 2014-2015 women's ready-towear collection show.

Rihanna has also been spotted at other times during Paris Fashion Week in outfits that would have raised the hackles of Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

We are not too sure if this larger-thanlife choice is one that we, well, pre-fur.

2. Paris Fashion Week 2014

Outfit: Jean paul Gaultier

This ranks pretty high on the list of eyepopping get-ups that she wore to Paris Fashion Week recently.

A see-through top that bared all, an oversized fur shrug (again) and black lipstick?

This look, which she wore to the Jean Paul Gaultier Fall/Winter 2014- 2015 women's ready-to-wear collection show, is too severe for our liking.

Who does she think she is - a raunchier version of Emily the Strange?

3. American Music Awards 2013

Gown: Jean paul Gaultier

Most women would think twice before stepping out of their homes in doobie wraps, a hair technique for maintaining straight hairstyles.

Not Rihanna though. The rule-breaker scoffed at convention and turned up at the glitzy awards ceremony in that gleaming coif to accept her Icon award.

And surprise, surprise, the strange hairdo works for her.

Her ensemble - a shiny bra top and gorgeous see-through lace skirt - gets two thumbs up.

4. Grammy Awards 2013

Gown: Azzedine Alaia

Rihanna usually thinks nothing of baring skin, but in that rare instance that she does cover up, she is a picture of beauty, class and glamour.

In this floor-length bright red chiffon gown and a matching lip colour, she plays it safe but remains sexy.

5. Grammy Awards 2011

Gown: Jean paul Gaultier

Last we checked, tinsel belongs on a Christmas tree.

This "dress" - a term we use loosely here - made her look like a heavily frosted layer cake and barely covered her essential bits. Next, please!

This article was published on April 2 in The New Paper.

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