Posted by Leslie Price on 11/08/2012 at 11:53 AM daily-dust, Style

The Popdust Files: carly rae jepsen, chris brown, gwen stefani, justin bieber, miley cyrus, photos, rihanna, Rita Ora

As far as patterns go, camouflage doesn’t have as innocent a history as, say, polka dots or houndstooth. It was originally worn by the military as a way to blend in to natural surroundings, aka to avoid getting shot at. Despite its serious connotations, camo was quickly adopted by the fashion industry and right now it’s particularly hot. Just about every trend-focused celeb has been seen sporting the pattern recently, from the Biebs to Our Girl Carly Rae Jepsen. Camo’s a toughened-up alternative to floral, with the same flexibility—meaning it goes with lots of colors and even mixes up nicely with other patterns like stripes or dots. Read on for eight pop-star-approved ways to rock the look.

1. ON A TEE

Justin Bieber jumped on the camo bandwagon early, donning a printed tee for the Teen Choice Awards red carpet in July. Topshop has a similar shirt for $44.

2. ON A JACKET

A month later, Rita Ora was papped leaving Nick Grimshaw’s BBC Radio show in London in a cool camo jacket. Marc by Marc Jacobs has a lookalike style—and if you don’t feel like spending more than $600 on a trend, Runwaydreamz has a less-pricey vintage version.

3. ON A THERMAL

Looking like she wished that no one had spotted her, Miley Cyrus snacked on Pinkberry in LA in mid-September in what appears to be a camo thermal. Zara makes a sweater along the same lines that, bonus, comes with studded shoulders.

4. ON A HAT

Chris Brown hid his eyes while leaving Rihanna’s hotel on October 2nd in New York City in a camo snap-back. Get the look with this version from Moncler, or head to any Army/Navy store for a cheaper option.

5. ON A BUSTIER

Also early last month, the always-on-trend Carly Rae Jepsen donned a printed bustier for a performance at the Staples Center in LA. This one, from Go Jane, is much sexier but would look cute paired with a full skirt.

6. ON PANTS

Rihanna’s pants, worn last month in L.A., are a hard style to track down. But there are plenty of camo jeans on the market, including this awesome pair by Textile Elizabeth and James or these truly affordable ones from Delia*s.

7. ON A HEAD-TO-TOE SWEATSUIT

Proceed with caution. Camo’s fine when mixed with solid pieces or other prints, but wearing it head-to-toe a la Gwen Stefani in London on Monday could easily appear crazy. If you really must, there’s a company dedicated to sweatsuit onesies called Onepiece and, as luck would have it, they make their product in camo.

8. ON A PUFFER COAT

Rihanna’s really into this trend. She wore camo again yesterday in NYC, bracing against a Nor’easter in an ankle-length camo puffer. Here’s an adorable, cropped version by Maison Scotch that also looks really cozy.