Madonna revisits iconic cone bra while showing off wardrobe archive: ‘Trip down memory lane’

Singer first debuted the cone bra during her 1990 Blonde Ambition Tour

Madonna has taken a walk down memory lane by showing off her extensive wardrobe archive, complete with some of her most iconic fashion moments.

The 64-year-old pop star recently visited the “air-conditioned storage space” where she keeps all of the costumes and memorable clothing items she’s worn throughout her career. In an Instagram post on Monday, the “Like a Virgin” singer reflected on her fashion choices over the years, and shared an emotional message about how far she’s come.

“A trip to my archives is always a nostalgic trip down memory lane!” Madonna began the heartfelt post, which included a picture of the singer wearing a white mesh shirt underneath a crushed velvet cone bra – most likely from her collection of iconic cone bras designed by Jean Paul Gaultier.

Madonna then showed a picture of a gold corset cone bra top, possibly from her 1990 Blonde Ambition Tour, still tucked away in its box. In the third picture, Madonna held up a similar corset top, followed by a black cut-out blazer. Also included in her wardrobe archive was a bejeweled purple corset and black leather short trousers with pink stitching.

While perusing her immense wardrobe archive, Madonna expressed how “lucky” she was to have worn so many “incredible” clothes and designers over the years.

“If I think about my journey through music over the last four decades – how could I not think about all the incredible clothes I got to wear and all the amazing designers I was lucky enough to work with,” she continued.

The “Material Girl” singer then shared an anecdote with her fans about her mother, Madonna Louise Ciccone, and how she could never afford a coat during the winter. “When I was a little girl I remember my mother was always cold. Partly because she was sick but also because she never had a coat,” Madonna said. “She always spent what little money we had on our coats and I remember standing outside waiting for the school bus with my mother shivering in the cold in the middle of winter!!”

“Years later when I became successful my mother’s sister said to me, ‘Now you can buy all the coats your mother couldn’t buy for herself!’” she recalled. “The journey from the memory of my shivering mother in winter to me shivering in the over air-conditioned storage space where all my costumes are stored is quite remarkable!”

The Evita star went on to explain the “gratitude” she now feels every time she puts on a coat. “I am overwhelmed with gratitude,” she said. “Every time I put on an incredible coat I think of my mother.”

“I hope she likes my taste in costumes, but most of all I hope she’s warm!”

In the comments section, both friends and fans of Madonna expressed their shock at her extensive wardrobe archive, and celebrated some of the singer’s most memorable fashion moments.

“She built that,” commented fellow singer Erykah Badu.

“If I could only go in that archive for 10 mins my dreams would become a reality,” wrote Rita Ora.

Meanwhile, Madonna’s frequent collaborator Jean Paul Gaultier left a fire emoji and a red heart emoji in the comments. The “Vogue” singer first debuted the Jean Paul Gaultier cone bra during her Blonde Ambition Tour in 1990. Madonna had asked the French fashion designer to do the costumes for the tour, including the light pink conical bra with corseted bodice and belted waist.

“When Madonna first called me in 1989, it was two days before my ready-to-wear show, and I thought my assistant was joking,” said Gaultier in a 2001 interview with the New York Times. “I was a big fan. She knew what she wanted – a pinstripe suit, the feminine corsetry. Madonna likes my clothes because they combine the masculine and the feminine.”

Since then, she has revisited the style a number of times: at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival premiere of Madonna: Truth or Dare, during her 2012 MDNA tour, and while performing at the 2018 Met Gala.

Now, it seems that Madonna will revive the cone bra for her upcoming Celebration tour, which kicks off in July 2023. According to theUS Sun, a source claimed Madonna will take inspiration from her stage looks of years past for the costumes in her Celebration tour.

“Madonna will be reflecting on her entire career in the tour and that won’t just be the music — it will be the clothes too,” the source said. “She wants to wear updated versions of her most recognisable outfits and the cone bra is at the top of the list. She has been a trailblazer with her fashion and is getting a lot of her designer friends involved in helping her.”