Shania Twain Revisits Her Most Iconic Music Videos—and the Wild Stories Behind Them

Shania Remembers The Corsets, Leopard Print And Hair Glue Behind Her Reign

Thee Queen of Country/Pop, Shania Twain, is looking back—and she remembers everything: the corsets, department-store dresses, hotel throw blankets, glued-in extensions, an earthquake and the horse that handed her a towel on cue.

For Allure, Shania revisits the music videos that transformed her from a country breakthrough into one of pop culture’s most recognizable visual forces. The clothes were never merely decoration. They helped her play with masculinity, femininity, fantasy, liberation and the confidence already built into her songs.

“Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” Mixed Madonna With Robert Palmer

Shania says the defining “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” look grew from several visual references at once. Madonna influenced the corset, gloves and glamour; Liza Minnelli inspired the commanding top hat; and Audrey Hepburn supplied some of the sleek elegance.

The video also reversed the gender setup of Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love.” Shania wore a sharp masculine coat over a fitted corset and miniskirt while the men in her band became the decorative eye candy. The lyric about men’s shirts and short skirts was suddenly standing there in human form.

For Shania, the styling reflected a personal shift. She was becoming comfortable with her body and wanted a silhouette that could carry feminine glamour and the strength of a man’s suit at the same time.

Before The Fashion Teams, Shania Styled Herself

Several early videos were built from Shania’s own closet and whatever she could find nearby. For “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?”, she supplied the denim vest and jeans herself, while a red velvet dress came from a department store. The video was directed by John Derek, with Bo Derek co-directing and photographing the shoot.

“Any Man of Mine” continued the do-it-yourself approach. Shania cut and tied her own T-shirt, wore a department-store dress and borrowed Bo Derek’s chaps. She was also still cutting her own hair. Her favorite co-star may have been Slick, the trained paint horse who genuinely passed her a towel through a window.

Hair Glue, Leopard Print And The Price Of An Iconic Look

The moonlit romance of “You’re Still the One” came with Shania’s first experience wearing hair extensions. They were glued directly onto her scalp, looked beautiful on camera and then took days to remove. The nightmare did not stop her from going even longer a few years later for “I’m Gonna Getcha Good!”

Then came “That Don’t Impress Me Much”: cropped red hair, a desert highway and leopard print from hood to luggage. Shania says the look began after she fell for a leopard coat while filming “Love Gets Me Every Time.” For the next video, she took the print everywhere.

Her verdict on the resulting fashion legacy is wonderfully modest: “I dominated leopard print in fashion.”

Some Of Her Biggest Looks Were Built From Whatever Was Nearby

For “Forever and for Always,” Shania was filming in a remote part of New Zealand without access to a stylist or proper shopping. Her solution was to reshape hotel throw blankets into the wardrobe. The soft, natural video became proof that fantasy does not always require a fashion rack.

“Ka-Ching!” delivered a much less peaceful set. An earthquake hit while the production was inside an old Mexico City building, sending chandeliers swinging and a staircase visibly moving. The shoot also landed on Shania’s birthday, when the director surprised her with a black Andalusian stallion to ride between takes.

She considers the ornate finished look her royal moment, while a sleek Cher-inspired outfit gave the video another dose of rock-star drama. By “Waking Up Dreaming,” Shania was joyfully combining Prince, Elton John and David Bowie into one colorful late-’70s fantasy.

The Visual Story Continues With Little Miss Twain

The retrospective closes with Shania looking forward. Her new chapter includes the single “Dirty Rosie” and the album Little Miss Twain, named for the introduction she heard when she first performed onstage as a child—back when she was still smaller than her guitar.

Decades later, the clothes, hair and videos may keep transforming, but the instinct remains the same: take the idea all the way, make it unmistakably Shania and never be afraid of a little stretch leopard print.

Watch Shania Twain Break Down Her Iconic Music Videos

Watch Shania revisit the fashion, creative influences and unexpected memories behind “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!,” “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” “You’re Still the One” and more.

Source: Allure.