Madonna pays a few bob for new blonde look

Now, with a dramatic new platinum blonde bob, the 48-year-old singer has undergone yet another reinvention.

Short cut to fame

While the shade is reminiscent of her 1990s Material Girl heyday, the blunt-edge cut is different to anything she has ever previously had,

Costing a cool £750, it is, however, a little more pricey than the average cut n' blow-dry.

"Madonna wanted to do something spectacular to mark turning 48 last month," said a source close to the star. "There is no way she is going to grow old gracefully.

"The cut had been planned for quite a while and was by no means a spontaneous decision. Madonna knows she is in as good a shape as ever and facially barely looks a day older than she did when she first started out.

"As a result she wasn't in the least daunted by the prospect of returning to a hair colour that she first had nearly 15 years ago.

"It's not the most forgiving of shades, but Madonna looks great - and she is delighted with the end result."

The performer, who is on the final leg of her Confessions world tour, showed off her new look at the X-Static Process photography exhibition at the Louis Vuitton store in Tokyo yesterday.

Celebrity hairdresser Andy LeCompte is thought to be the man behind the edgy style.

The Beverly Hills-based crimper has been accompanying Madonna throughout her gruelling world tour, washing and styling her hair before each and every stage performance.

Wearing a black satin zip-up jacket and scarlett red lipstick, the mother-of-two teamed her platinum locks with a heavy lashing of dark eye make-up.

While it is not known just who, or what, the inspiration behind Madonna's latest haircut is, intriguingly it is remarkably similar to the bob recently revealed by Victoria Beckham.

Of course, ardent Madonna fans have grown accustomed to their idol's many changes of hairstyle.

Naturally auburn, she sported a zebra-like blonde and dark crop in 1984 when she released her first single Like A Virgin.

Five years later she returned to her roots once again for her controversial Like A Prayer video, in which she staged a mock crucifixion.

After that she was a bottle blonde for nearly ten years, with hues ranging from ice-white to bohemian-inspired strawberry tones.

For her Ray Of Light album, she dyed her tresses a vivid jet black colour, as she first began dabbling with the Kabbalah faith.

But in 2000, with the release of the album Music, she returned to long blonde curls.

Her most recent hairstyle has been a 1970's, Farrah Fawcett-esque feathered number.