{"id":30312,"date":"2015-09-03T00:42:33","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T04:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=30312"},"modified":"2015-09-04T23:51:47","modified_gmt":"2015-09-05T03:51:47","slug":"another-miley-vmas-controversy-discount-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/another-miley-vmas-controversy-discount-universe\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Miley VMAs Controversy: Discount Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/my-best-dressed-at-the-2015-mtv-vmas-is\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nicki Minaj<\/a> isn&#8217;t the only one with a beef after Miley Cyrus&#8217;s MTV Video Music Awards hosting gig. <\/p>\n<p>When Miley ended Sunday&#8217;s show with a performance of her new song, &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mtv.com\/news\/2259881\/miley-cyrus-dooo-it\/\" target=\"_blank\">Dooo It!<\/a>,&#8221; I got all excited about the costumes.<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:408px;\">\n<div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:145.588235% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/486037890?et=m0oIY1ZATL5RE-godLic5g&#038;viewMoreLink=on&#038;sig=dDwbAAT2fa07N7UogDSVy0DKpygeo3UwE6THwHvxW_4=&#038;caption=true\" width=\"408\" height=\"594\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin:0;\">\n<div style=\"padding:0;margin:0 0 0 10px;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/486037890\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\">View image<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\">gettyimages.com<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>I was positive the big eyes and sequins were the distinctive work of Australia&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/shop.discountuniverse.com.au\/\" target=\"_blank\">Discount Universe<\/a>. That would make sense, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au\/life\/fashion\/2014\/02\/28\/australian-designers-discount-universe-hit-the-jackpot\/1393552362\" target=\"_blank\">considering Miley has worn Discount Universe before<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_30325\" style=\"width: 332px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/shop.discountuniverse.com.au\/category\/shop-by-category-tops\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30325\" src=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/discount.jpg\" alt=\"A bralet by Di$count Universe. Click to shop.\" width=\"322\" height=\"493\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/discount.jpg 322w, https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/discount-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/discount-300x459.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 322px) 100vw, 322px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-30325\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A bralet by Di$count Universe. Click to shop.<\/p><\/div><br \/>\nI tweeted about it, hoping to confirm.<br \/>\n<center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Are these Discount Universe costumes? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MTVVMAs?src=hash\">#MTVVMAs<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/VMAs2015?src=hash\">#VMAs2015<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MileyVMAs?src=hash\">#MileyVMAs<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MileyCyrus?src=hash\">#MileyCyrus<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 WendyBrandes (@WendyBrandes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WendyBrandes\/status\/638192043978817536\">August 31, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n<p>I wasn&#8217;t the only one ready to congratulate Discount Universe designers Nadia Napreychikov and Cami James. But congratulations weren&#8217;t warranted, as announced by Discount Universe on its Instagram. <\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version=\"4\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\">\n<div style=\"padding:8px;\">\n<div style=\" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;\">\n<div style=\" background:url(data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf\/\/42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB\/lQPb79drWOyJVa\/DAvg9B\/rLB4cC+Nqgdz\/TvBbBnr6GBReqn\/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I\/fZou\/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/p\/7DCVqhDtvW\/\" style=\" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;\" target=\"_top\">At least we have YOU!!! \u2764\ufe0f\u2764\ufe0f\u2764\ufe0f<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\">A photo posted by DI$COUNT UNIVER$E (@discountuniverse) on <time style=\" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;\" datetime=\"2015-08-31T12:17:26+00:00\">Aug 31, 2015 at 5:17am PDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async defer src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Turns out that the &#8220;Dooo It!&#8221; costumes were created by Miley&#8217;s stylist, Simone Harouche, and designer Brad &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bcalla.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">BCalla<\/a>&#8221; Callahan. <a href=\"https:\/\/ca.style.yahoo.com\/post\/128047537855\/miley-cyrus-costume-designer-accused-of-plagiarism\" target=\"_blank\">In an interview published on Yahoo!<\/a>, Harouche went <em>off<\/em>, citing other influences &#8212; including Salvador Dali &#8212; and saying, &#8220;It\u2019s very sad that people need to use Miley\u2019s amazing performance as an opportunity to create press for themselves, when they had nothing to do with the creative process.&#8221; Um, WTF? Actually, Simone, <em>you<\/em> created the press by making costumes that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/music\/2015\/sep\/01\/miley-cyrus-accused-copycat-designs-vmas\" target=\"_blank\">the many people familiar with Discount Universe <\/a>recognized as DU&#8217;s style, so that we all started reaching out to the Discount Universe designers. They had to say something in response!<\/p>\n<p>Discount Universe made that point after Harrouche&#8217;s comments, <a href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/p\/7E-6DBjtsu\/?taken-by=discountuniverse\" target=\"_blank\">again posting on Instagram<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;We aren&#8217;t ready to release an official statement but felt that this kind of thinking is way too dangerous to leave unaddressed. Prior to posting ANYTHING on social media we were inundated with interview requests and tags CONGRATULATING US for designing the finale looks of the VMA awards. To actually suggest that we ASKED for it is atrocious. No one ASKS to get hurt&#8230;&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>By the way, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au\/life\/fashion\/2014\/02\/28\/australian-designers-discount-universe-hit-the-jackpot\/1393552362\" target=\"_blank\">according to this 2014 story<\/a>, it was Harouche who bought Miley&#8217;s first Discount Universe piece from the DU website.<\/p>\n<p>Discount Universe was represented &#8212; for real &#8212; at the VMAs by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.refinery29.com\/baddie-winkle#.l66y1b:4711\" target=\"_blank\">87-year-old Instagram star Baddie Winkle<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:409px;\">\n<div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:145.232274% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/485979212?et=saKKyiZgTTdA0v33geOw5A&#038;viewMoreLink=on&#038;sig=GR-rdhxwb-WitHzpNvVZMSKiZvVMUR5O4sySZ2i4MNs=&#038;caption=true\" width=\"409\" height=\"594\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin:0;\">\n<div style=\"padding:0;margin:0 0 0 10px;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/485979212\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\">View image<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\">gettyimages.com<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>With that dress, Baddie would have fit right in on stage with Miley and her posse, no? Baddie was also wearing Discount Universe <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ew.com\/article\/2015\/08\/30\/miley-cyrus-baddie-winkle-photos-show-hilarious-encounter-vmas\" target=\"_blank\">when she met Miley before the show<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Baddie&#8217;s Cyclops dress is available on Discount Universe&#8217;s website <a href=\"http:\/\/shop.discountuniverse.com.au\/product\/adklsfj\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. Her pre-show Dreams sweater is <a href=\"http:\/\/shop.discountuniverse.com.au\/product\/dream-sweater-pre-order\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. And, in <a href=\"http:\/\/shop.discountuniverse.com.au\/category\/new-arrivals\" target=\"_blank\">the New Arrivals section<\/a>, there are SUPER-CUTE sequined gym socks in a variety of colors (the site notes that these are fragile items so don&#8217;t actually wear them to the gym).<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_30332\" style=\"width: 508px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/shop.discountuniverse.com.au\/product\/gold-and-black-bball-player-hand-sequinned-socks\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30332\" src=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/DI_COUNT1461.jpg\" alt=\"Click to purchase.\" width=\"498\" height=\"747\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30332\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/DI_COUNT1461.jpg 498w, https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/DI_COUNT1461-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/DI_COUNT1461-300x450.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 498px) 100vw, 498px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-30332\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Click to purchase.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Those are like a cooler version of the sequined ankle warmers I wore for Halloween in 2013. Just the other day, I was thinking that I need to wear those again! <\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_30333\" style=\"width: 508px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2013\/11\/what-wendy-wore-halloween-eve-disco-costume\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30333\" src=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/disco3resize.jpg\" alt=\"Click for original post.\" width=\"498\" height=\"790\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/disco3resize.jpg 498w, https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/disco3resize-189x300.jpg 189w, https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/disco3resize-300x476.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 498px) 100vw, 498px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-30333\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Click for original post.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It&#8217;s all about sequined socks this fall &#8230; trust me!<\/p>\n<p> <\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nicki Minaj isn&#8217;t the only one with a beef after Miley Cyrus&#8217;s MTV Video Music Awards hosting gig. When Miley ended Sunday&#8217;s show with a performance of her new song, &#8220;Dooo It!,&#8221; I got all excited about the costumes. View image | gettyimages.com I was positive the big eyes and sequins were the distinctive work&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/another-miley-vmas-controversy-discount-universe\/\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[387,10,544,24,639,700,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-awards-shows","category-celebrities","category-fashion-repeats-itself","category-great-minds-think-alike","category-miley-cyrus-2","category-mtv-vmas","category-rip-offs","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30312"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30358,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30312\/revisions\/30358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}