25 best music video looks of the year (so far)

“Bloom” – Troye Sivan

Troye Sivan is quickly carving out his own niche in the pop music community, and he’s doing it on his own terms. He’s been open with his sexuality ever since his teen years on YouTube, and he isn’t letting anything stop him from becoming a pop phenomenon. That’s part of the reason why he’s thriving right now, because he’s being shamelessly flamboyant, something we haven’t seen from any male artists in a while.

Throughout the video for his single “Bloom,” Troye blurs the lines of gender with his outfits, his makeup, and his dance moves. He wears red lipstick and a pink corset over a white button down shirt with flared dress pants and heels for much of the video. He also wears a huge blue feather hat and an extravagant mustard yellow coat (or maybe a dress? Who knows what it is…) in another scene.

The best look Troye pulls in this video is also the most daring: he wears a two-piece ball gown, as he twirls around a room of mirrors. The floral gown glides with him along to the music, and it’s a beautiful sight to see. Men should be encouraged to experiment with fashion just as much as women do, especially in the music world, and Troye is paving the way for other artists to do the same.

Even when he’s wearing a more traditionally male outfit — a wife beater and pants — he’s still in a full face of makeup with painted nails, surrounded by a forest of flowers. Mixing those traditionally feminine beauty products with the masculine clothing is why the video for “Bloom” is so great.

Troye is not only playing with gender norms, but he’s taking a very high fashion approach to the usual pop music video landscape, and for such a young, male artist, that’s almost unheard of. There aren’t enough openly gay male artists to begin with, and there aren’t enough taking the same kinds of risks that Troye is.