When Lady Gaga -- sporting heels that resembled male genitalia – served as musical mentor on last night's "American Idol," contestants Lauren Alaina and Haley Reinhart were compelled to take the stage wearing something theatrical.

Fortunately, costume designer Soyon An didn't have any meat dresses, backless pants or an extra pair of those provocative Void Ofcourse label shoes in her fashion closet. (Read what "Idol" host Ryan Seacrest had to say about Gaga's heels on his KISS FM radio show.)

Still, the aspiring superstars took Gaga's advice to ratchet up the drama.

Conservative Alaina stepped up her sartorial game with the night's fashion high note: A strapless short-in-the-front Tony Bowls gown with an exposed animal print lined train. Although clearly the 16-year-old didn't fully heed Gaga's advice to "embrace the evil."

Reinhart went for lots of sparkle and one seriously sexy minidress.

An gave StyleList the fashion scoop on Alaina and Reinhart's "Top Four" night looks:


Alaina: Her stylist added towering black BeBe heels with a crystal buckle, Charlotte Lu diamond teardrop earrings, and a Laura Beaudry cocktail ring to the powerful look the country crooner wore to sing the Martina McBride anthem "Anyway." Judge Steven Tyler gave a shout-out to the ensemble, which An said she chose because the cut was flattering and the color made Alaina seem "bold and loud."

After a season in which Alaina resisted stepping out of her own cowboy boots for many of her performances, StyleList wondered how An got her young charge to commit to such a big look. "Lauren and I have established a trusting relationship. It's been a process of letting her see what she's capable of with her fashion choices. It's been baby steps, but that's how it should be."

For her second performance of Elvis Presley's "Trouble", the teen loved the gold, sparkling Alice + Olivia jacket and coordinating long top she wore over SoHo Girl tights accessorized with black, high-heeled Dolce Vita boots. A Kitson necklace and earrings, ring and bangle by SoHo Hearts finished the look.

Playing on the theme of "Trouble" in the Stoller and Lieber lyrics, An says, "I wanted to make her seem fashionably intimidating." Hear that, Gaga?


Reinhart: On a night when she was alternately panned and praised by the "Idol" judges, the bluesy singer stepped out in two distinctly different looks.

She wore a vintage, gold, bedazzled blouse over gold-flecked Robin's Jeans to sing Michael Jackson's "Earth Song." A collection of Bijou Tresor jewelry and Guess shoes completed the look. "I wanted Haley to be comfortable....She wanted to keep the look simple so the audience could really hear the song."

The one-shoulder black minidress she wore for her second performance of "I Have Nothing" was worthy of her standing ovation. The Terani dress (sourced from LendingLuxury.com) was slipped on Reinhart just five minutes before she performed. An decided Reinhart's previously chosen look --which featured a train--was too similar to Alaina's Tony Bowls gown. "Oh the drama. As different as the two (original) dresses were they were driving me nuts because they were similar too!" In the end the Terani dress, "was perfect all around. It was hot, opened her up and showed America and the judges what she's capable of."

Speaking of Lady Gaga, check out her fantastical style evolution.

And for more "American Idol" scoop, read last week's fashion recap.