Sabrina Carpenter covers the new issue of Vogue, not a surprise. She’s had a massive year, and just won two Grammys, has leaned in hard to a certain look – and Vogue is all about looks. This look, however, is familiar but also fresh. Sabrina is the pinup for the TikTok age, but she’s also a pop princess in the mold of Madonna, 30 years later. 

 

So the cover shoot makes total sense. Photographed by Steven Meisel, who has shot Madonna extensively over the decades, the Madonna influence is unmistakable: Blonde Ambition had a baby…

 

But this is not just limited to the aesthetic. The legacy of Madonna is also present in Sabrina’s performance – in her interview with Vogue, she talks about how horny her tour is, where part of the performance every night involves cycling through different sex positions from city to city. Once upon a time, even though the kids may not be aware, police in the “fascist state of Toronto” (LOL FOREVER) threatened to arrest Madonna for simulating self pleasure during “Like a Virgin”. 

 

I will love this scene until the day I die. Because it’s not just the drama with the police, who gives a f-ck about the police, it’s Madonna. The purest Madonna, perhaps the singular most defining moment of who Madonna was at that time. The way her face lights up when she’s told about the situation? How she CANNOT WAIT to tell the dancers about it. Like it’s the best gossip she’s ever heard – because, of course, the best gossip in Madonna’s mind is always ABOUT Madonna. 

 

In the end, the police were there to serve the part of Madonna that’s an eternal sh-t disturber, they were fuel for the ultimate provocateur – because Madonna will never turn down a challenge to her pussy. 

 

I was a teenager in that era, and raised on Madonna’s brand of titillation. Now a new generation of teens and young adults is being raised on Sabrina’s titillation: less aggressive but perhaps cheekier?   

It’s in the lyrics, really. Sabrina’s wordplay is a big part of her lustiness. She’s suggestive, but hilarious. I’ve never considered Madonna’s lyricism to be the strongest part of her toolbox but Sabrina’s way with language is definitely one of her superpowers. Which also suits the moment as social media has given so many of her catchphrases and song lyrics a much bigger life that completes the package of her sexual performance, giving it so much dimension and personality. This is a pinup girl who talks back to you. 

And that’s why I appreciate, so much, how committed she is to her image. To the point where we rarely see her in regular clothes. Not on the street, not on the cover of Vogue. This is celebrity cementing, one of the best examples of it. Even if she’s tired of those curls and the corsets and the lingerie and whatever, she understands that in a critical moment like this in her career, it deepens the effect she’s had on the industry, on the audience – especially when attention spans are short, when trends are fleeting, when social media is so quick to move onto the next, you want to make an indelible impression. And if Vogue gives you the opportunity, you take it. 

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Also attached - Sabrina out in New York last night.