Miley's Outfits at Odds With Her Disney Persona

Miley Cyrus ignored critics of her recent risque style choices and performed at Sunday night's MuchMusic Awards wearing less than some people might wear for a day at the beach.

The 17-year-old Disney star wore an itsy-bitsy black monokini as she gyrated through a performance of her hit song "Party in the U.S.A." (which featured a cameo by Justin Bieber), and was just as provocative in a performance of her current, aptly titled single, "Can't Be Tamed."

For that part of the show she wore a white, retro-undergarment-style piece that she paired with high-heeled black booties.

The outfits are the latest in a recent run of edgier looks from the singer, who wore abbreviated hot pants for a Spain concert earlier this month, and a midriff-baring top while in Paris.

Just last week, Cyrus defended her increasingly adult look after she faced criticism about her "Can't Be Tamed" video, which features her dancing provocatively in a cage and wearing a corset.

Miley performing at the Rock in Rio Madrid Festival earlier this month. Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images She explained the professional reason behind her fashion revolution from an innocent, girl-next-door look to a sexier, goth-like style.

She told the Associated Press: "What I'm trying to do is make a point with my record and look consistent, in the way my record sounds and the way I dress."

For Miley, it's all part of being a performer. "We are up there just dressing up; we are just having fun," she said to UsMagazine.com. "It's about the girls and guys who are living their dream playing dress up. But it seems her work persona isn't the only thing driving Miley's fashion choices.

"I work really hard to be fit and to know I can wear whatever makes me feel most comfortable, and I feel most comfortable dressing with a little less. And that's kind of how I've always been, it's just now I'm able to do that a little more freely," Miley said in the Associated Press interview.

"Also I've just grown up to be this way," she added. "This is not me five years ago. This is me now, presently."

Cyrus went with a relatively modest look last week when she performed with Bret Michaels as part of the "Good Morning America" summer concert series, appearing (despite the heat) in ripped black jeans and a black leather jacket. It wasn't something Hannah Montana might wear, but it was arguably more age appropriate than some of her recent skin-baring getups

As the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus (who plays her dad on the squeaky-clean show "Hannah Montana") as well as a de facto representative of Disney, controversy has dogged Cyrus every time she's seemed to step outside of her wholesome image.

In 2008, she apologized to fans and said she felt "embarrassed" after appearing on the cover of Vanity Fair wrapped only in a white sheet. She faced criticism for pole dancing at the Teen Choice Awards last summer, and again when a video was released in May of a then-16-year-old Cyrus dancing suggestively with an older producer at the wrap party for her film "The Last Song."

Cyrus's latest record, also titled "Can't Be Tamed," comes out today.

Source: omg.yahoo.com