Fishnets R Us: Does Madonna, the fashion barometer, need a mercury refill? Even with the considerable talents of Christian Lacroix, Stella McCartney, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana at her service, the pop star appears to be setting no trends with the costumes in her current tour.

Judging from photos of her music-multimedia “Re-Invention” show, which comes to San Jose tonight for a three-performance run, it’s a fashion bust.

True, the whole point of the tour is about revisiting the singer’s iconic songs, which are inextricably entwined with what she wore when she performed them, like the then-wonderfully outrageous conical bra made by Jean Paul Gaultier for her “Blonde Ambition” tour in 1990.

But even if the designers were asked to reinterpret some of the star’s most famous looks from the past (kilts, bustiers, military), it appears that they didn’t raise the bar very high.

We’re wearing fishnets to the office now, aren’t we? A gold bustier is hardly a shocker, and a long, full kilt worn with a white muscle T makes even this perennially fashion-forward star look dowdy. The high lace-up boots don’t seem that provocative, even if they were designed by Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent.

One inventive, irreverent touch stands out, though: her sparkly tefillin- like armband (based on the leather prayer straps worn by observant Jews), signifying Madonna‘s interest in all things Hebraic, especially kabbalah and the mystical tradition. (In one segment of the show, she wears a “Kabbalists Do It Better” T-shirt. Hey, that’s as much a cliche as “Baby on Board.”) Madonna‘s remarkably toned body should change the mind of those still on the fence about Pilates, but only five costume changes per show may be a letdown to devotees.

Source: Sylvia Rubin/sfgate.com