IN seven years Rihanna
has transformed from a clean-cut girl next door into the sexiest star in
pop.
This week the 24-year-old chart-topper unveiled her most recent look, after
chopping all her hair off to leave her with a brand new boyish barnet.
It's just the latest transformation for the fashion chameleon who's had more
haircuts than hits and loves to shock.
The Rihanna who burst onto the scene in 2005 with debut single Pon de Replay
is now barely recognisable.
Fresh-faced ... Rihanna was clean cut when she burst into the scene in 2005
The Barbadian beauty looked like butter wouldn't melt when she first appeared
before cameras, aged just 17, to promote the song and her debut album Music
of the Sun, wearing jeans, a waistcoat and her curly hair as nature
intended.
It wasn't long before she discovered flesh sells and by the time her second
album A Girl Like Me was released the following year - she was already
sporting an edgier choppy haircut and deep plunging neckline.
Girl next door ... shs started to test the water with more daring outfits when her second album launched in 2006
The older she got, the more comfortable she felt showing off her fabulous
figure.
The prolific pop princess was already on her third album, Don't Stop the
Music, by 2007.
And she promoted the disc with a daring bob hairdo and a series of skimpy and
sexy outfits.
Rumour has it early in her career Rihanna's record label banned her from
cutting her long curly locks - unless she wore long extensions.
Bobby dazzler ... By 2007 Ri had ramped up the sex factor
If it's true, the music moguls relaxed their grip on the the star as she
matured as an artist - and her fashion adventures succeeded in landing her
even more fans.
Just months after her shocking beating at the hands of boyfriend Chris Brown
at the 2009 Grammys, Rihanna stole the show at the Met Costume Gala in New
York with her latest daring get-up.
Ri's the man ... she rocked an androgynous look at the 2009 Met Gala
The singer strode the red carpet wearing an androgynous tuxedo, her short
black hair streaked with blonde dye.
It started a style revolution for Rihanna, whose sexuality and fashion
creativity went into overdrive.
Later that year she squeezed her curves into a saucy skintight all-in-one
bandage dress to perform Wait Your Turn at the 2009 American Music Awards in
Los Angeles.
Curves the word ... the same year she treated us to a first glimpse of her fab figure
The following year she went a step further at a concert in Glasgow - posing
astride a phallic pink cannon, while wearing Mickey Mouse ears.
Sex sells ... Rihanna's not afraid to stare sex in the face
And in June 2010, she emulated the original pop queen Madonna onstage in
Madrid, sporting one of her raunchiest costumes to date - a conical black
bra, tiny shorts and fishnet stockings.
She topped it off with a shorter than ever hairstyle, dyed bright red.
Bra-vellous ... she can even out-sex Madonna
Fishnets and flesh were to become a popular theme for the sexy star, who was
growing more and more confident with her curves.
So confident she was kicked off a video shoot in Northern Ireland in 2011
after a farmer complained she was frolicking topless.
Flesh and fishnets ... Rihanna insists her image is an "act"
She also caused a furore when she released her single S&M in 2011.
In the accompanying video Rihanna wore a dress with the words "whore"
and "slut" emblazoned on it.
The promo was banned in 11 countries.
When she performed S&M with Britney Spears at the Billboard Awards - the
singers both dressed in bondage gear and caused gasps from the crowd when
they smooched onstage.
S&M ... Britney and Rihanna kiss
Getty
Rihanna's sex factor was, by now, at full pelt - and she dazzled fans in
London in October last year, writhing onstage as she belted out her hits,
wearing tiny emblazoned shorts and bra.
The same year she stripped down to her underwear to pose for fashion giant
Armani.
Underwear model ... in 2011 she posed in lingerie for Armani
Giorgio Armani
And she's kept up her enthusiasm for fashion transformations into 2012.
She showed she can still do glam at the Grammy's in February, wearing a sleek
and sexy black dress, slashed down to the navel.
Her hair was long, curly and blonde with her black roots exposed.
She then stripped down to a Cleopatra-themed gold bikini for a benefit gig in
New York in May - her hair straight this time.
But the longer locks didn't stay long. This month she walked the red carpet at
the MTV VMAs in LA with a schooboy-style short do.
All glammed up ... Rihanna at the 2012 Grammys
Elleuk.com editor Carrie Tyler insists Rihanna is the most fascinating
fashionista in pop.
Men love to lust over her - and women want to look like her.
Tyler said: "Everytime we write about Rihanna - her nails, clothes,
make-up or hair - our traffic goes through
the roof. She is a figurehead for
gutsy, confident fashion choices.
"Women are fascinated by her because she takes the risks that her fans
would like to take themselves. She's got a beautiful, curvy figure but it's
her confidence that appeals as much as her body."
Cleopatra ... in a gold bra at a benefit gig in New York
Rihanna, meanwhile, insists the overt sexuality is all an act.
When her S&M video was criticised, she told reporters: "That's not
me. That's a part I play. You know, like it's a piece of art, with all these
toys and textures to play with."
Whether it's an act or not, it works, as We Love Pop Editor Malcolm Mackenzie
explains: "There is such an energy about Rihanna. She looks like a
young woman who is living her life and doing things her way. Whether or not
it is all part of a marketing campaign, the point is that it doesn't come
across like that."
Boy interrupted ... Rihanna debuts her new boyish do at the MTV VMAs
