Tiffany pats Miley Cyrus on the head

The world is trying to cope with Miley Cyrus's new dressing-up-box sexuality. Can such a sudden shift of emphasis work for an artist - and I use that word ironically - actually work?

Good news, Miley: The voice of experience says yes.

The bad news is that the voice of experience here is Tiffany:

The 38-year-old told Us Weekly: "Miley Cyrus is on a great track. I know that there are a lot of people that say, well, when you are so young you shouldn't be sexy.

"I think that in today's world you kind of have to be [sexy] - to be competitive in the market. I think that she is doing it appropriately. And it's always a fine line there."

Tiffany added: "But I'm a huge fan of hers. I think she's gonna have a long career, praise to Cyrus's mum and dad, too. Her parents are guiding her right, and it really matters what base you have around you. Very much so."

It might be a little more convincing if Tiffany's career hadn't stalled when she was 16 and she wound up doing Playboy in 2002. Under the strapline "Teen Queen Tiffany", which was wrong both factually in two ways and morally in at least one. But still, I'm sure her praise will be great news for Team Cyrus.