Singer Is Down With La Dolce Vita

MILAN — Mary J. Blige, America’s queen of hip-hop soul, made her debut here Sunday night, belting out four songs from her new CD, “Mary.”

“The crowd was jamming with me,” Blige said backstage after the show during a party thrown by Universal Studios, Vibe magazine and club Magazzini Generali. Blige was taking a breather from her 30-minute set on an elevated stage before 1,000 screaming fans--hip Italian kids who sang along to every word of her inspiring, upbeat love songs.

Blige also was a fashion hit with the audience, with many standing on tables and chairs for a better view of the newly shorn songstress. (Just two days earlier, while in New York, she had cut her hair short and dyed it red.)

“Yes, I’m in Dolce & Gabbana. Thank you D&G;,” she announced to the crowd, in reference to her orange-tinted eyeglasses, yellow tube top with tight black stretch pants, red snakeskin boots and fuzzy yellow jacket. She had visited the D&G; showroom earlier in the day to pick out her outfit and was ringside at the D&G; show earlier Sunday.

Here’s the 411 on Blige’s designer dud obsession. She loves everything by her friends Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, along with DKNY, Vera Wang and Versace.

Backstage, Blige said her style preference “is all about comfort. Whatever I feel good in, that’s what I wear. I’d feel comfortable just wearing a sheet if that’s what I wanted to wear.”

Michael Quintanilla can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]