Katy Perry Sunflower Dress Causes Controversy

Katy Perry is known and loved for her over-the-top and slightly outlandish fashion sense, but her latest ensemble is causing a bit of controversy for an unexpected reason. Katy Perry wore a sunflower dress to perform in Taipei as part of her Prism tour. Sounds pretty tame for the pop star who's worn a cupcake bra, right? Guess again.

Although Perry was probably just trying to be perky and upbeat like usual, her sunflower dress and sunflower stage set may have been taken the wrong way given that last month was the anniversary of the Sunflower Student Movement in Taiwan. The movement was in protest of a trade agreement that many Tiawanese feared would give mainland China too much economic control. Protestors carried sunflowers as a sign of hope. So, Perry’s sunflower ensemble made some feel as though she was demonstrating support for the Taiwanese. Of course, this would gain her favor in Taiwan, but not so much on the mainland, perhaps.

Posts online showed both support and distain for the alleged political statement Perry made. According to E News, one blogger on the microblogging site Sina Weibo wrote, “I suppose she has no chance to come to the mainland anymore, though she might not care.” Although another person had a very good point in her defense: “It's impossible for China to ban an American superstar,” writes “robotcl” on PTT, according to Epoch Times.

“God bless Katy Perry. She's now Taiwan's most famous advocate without even knowing it,” one fan in support of the outfit wrote.

Knowing Katy Perry, this was probably just her doing what she does best — being cheerful and slightly outrageous — rather than trying to take a stand.

Check out the sunflower dress for yourself:

Political statement or typical Katy? We might not ever really know for sure, but whatever it was, I doubt the singer was trying to offend. Bustle has reached out to Perry for comment and will update if she responds.