Coldplay Raise Eyebrows With Sgt. Pepper's Military Look -- So What's Behind
The Costumes?
By: MTV.com
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Band inspired to wear outfits by the painting featured on Viva la Vida's cover.By Gil Kaufman, with additional reporting by James Montgomery Coldplay Photo: Capitol
They've been called everything from "nouveau French revolutionary" to "ragbag military uniforms." We're talking, of course, about the at-once-dingy-and-colorful European
marching-band getups that Coldplay have been sporting in promo photos and appearances in support of their upcoming album, Viva la Vida. It's part Michael Jackson
paramilitary look, mixed with a dash of the color from the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's album cover and a hint of U2's penchant for donning uniforms that last an entire album/tour
cycle. The outfits have raised eyebrows and prompted questions about what inspired the unusual sartorial selection. (Read more about the band's new look in the
Newsroom blog.) What do you think of Coldplay's rebellious wardrobe?Comment below, or upload your response video at fnmtv.com. We'll put the best comments and
videos on TV! The new image debuted in the "Violet Hill" video, and so far, the band has been wearing the expensively disheveled-looking rainbow rags during promotional
performances like at the MTV Movie Awards. At first glance, the broad blue, red and yellow stripes almost appear to be a mutation of the colorful bits of blue and red gaffer
tape singer Chris Martin sported on two fingers of his left hand during the band's last tour. Those, we found out, were bits of flair meant to draw attention to the Make Trade
Fair "equals" sign Martin sported on the top of his hand during that campaign. According to some interviews Martin has given so far, he is not a victim of color creep, but
rather a huge fan of French Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix. The artist helped inspire the Symbolist movement in the late 19th century, and his famous French
Revolution-celebrating painting, "Liberty Leading the People," adorns Viva la V