5 Things We Learned About Beyonce's Tour Wardrobe From Tina Knowles' 'Grazia Daily' Interview

Beyonce getting ready to hit the stage
for her The Mrs. Carter Show World
Tour.
Photo: Courtesy of Beyonce's Tumblr
Beyonce and her mom, Tina Knowles ,
have a relationship (specifically in
regards to style) that I have never
and likely will never enjoy. Don't get
me wrong, my mom and I are like
besties. Practically Gilmore Girls
status. But when I was much, much
younger, my mom would try to push
clothes on me at the mall, and every
time I would, regrettably, shut her
down. "Wanna try these flares?" I'm
actually more into tapered denim, but
thanks. "What about this Calvin Klein
blouse?" Nah, mom. You know I love
ill-fitting ribbed t-shirts with
embroidered appliques.
(ADAKDFJLAGK WHY??) Bey and Miss
Tina, on the other hand, are the
fortunate players in a symbiotic
mother-daughter style relationship.
To the point where Mrs. Carter will
let (honestly, she probably REQUESTS)
Mama Knowles consult heavily on her
custom designer tour wardrobe. UK
publication Grazia Daily recently got a
chance to chat with Tina about her
daughter's world tour togs, and the
ensuing interview was every bit as
informative as we'd hope. Check out
the 5 things we learned from their
chat below!

1.) Beyonce and her EXTENSIVE
styling team was inspired by
monarch fashions: "Regal and royal
was the theme of the wardrobe. We
took a cue from the O2's commercial
which had a queen theme. [...] For
the very first scene, Ralph & Russo
created these amazing stage outfits
because we wanted something over
the top and queen-like but modern.
They nailed it with the white outfit."

2.) Bey's stylists explicitly hunt for
new design talent: "It's been great
to work with some amazing
designers. Beyonce's worked with
almost every brand and we try to
discover new designers, too. Ty
Hunter and Raquel Smith are
Beyonce's stylists and they're always
in search for new designers to bring
in. [...] [David Koma's] designs are
really innovative and we wanted
something different so we used his
skirts."

3.) The new Kenzo outfit for
"Grown Woman" might be Miss
Tina's favorite: "I love the Kenzo
outfit. It's African inspired and I like
the movement of it, it's really cool
with the choreography."

4.) Alterations are made to
Beyonce's designer duds to
optimize for quick changes:
"Beyonce makes nine costume
changes so you're going to have little
things that go wrong. You just have
to think really quickly because you
literally have 30 or 40 seconds to
change so she's become a master at
it. [...] The designer pieces are
beautiful but the team here put in
zippers and hidden openings. There
are little secrets we can do and
there's lots of double-sided tape!"

5.) The Mrs. Carter Show wardrobe
might STILL be subject to change
(!!! Girl, you're keeping us on our
TOES!): "We practice the quick
changes as much as possible but
often the outfits aren't totally settled
until the day of the concert. And it's
an ongoing process. Beyonce studies
her performances on film and makes
changes for two to three weeks
during the tour so things can change
at any time."