Madonna set her first fashion trend in 1984. She came out with lace ribbon in her hair to see through tank tops, to ruffled skirts to beaded necklaces, and then the popular "boy toy" engraved belt. These new trends all became clothing necessities, as girls across the nation tried to imitate Madonna's look from the Like A Virgin video. In November 1984 Madonna released it as title track of her second album, and it would soon become one of her best known songs ever. Like A Virgin was her first no. 1 hit, stealing the top spot in the United States for 6 weeks and eventually reaching Gold. This marked the beginning of the controversy around Madonna. Her performance at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards was controversial, where she was rolling on the floor in a wedding dress. On the Blond Ambition tour she almost got arrested for obscenity, because she was simulating sex during her performance. Madonna look-alike contests became popular in shopping malls and clubs nationwide. This was only the beginning of her provocative sexual style. Months later, she made her way to No.1 with Material Girl, in which she mimicked famous actress Marilyn Monroe, a tribute which she would repeat later. True Blue was released in 1986, which came with a new, more wholesome look. Despite the .
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innocent girl-next-door style, Madonna received much criticism for the song "Papa Don't Preach," whose lyrics promoted unwed mothers keeping their babies (celebrity castle). .
Madonna then took on the church and Christians worldwide with the release of her album Like a Prayer in 1989. Sporting a more natural brunette hairdo, the title track's video featured burning crosses and Madonna cavorting with a black Jesus. This led to its condemnation by The Vatican, who called the video sacrilegious and was powerful enough to ban it briefly in Italy. This video caused so much controversy that Pepsi, who had a multi-million dollar contract with Madonna at the time, dropped her and refused to sponsor her upcoming tour.