The Grammys holds a notorious reputation as one of the most outrageous red carpets, remember “that” J-Lo dress from 2000, the barely a dress worn by Toni Braxton in 2001, 2011 saw the queen of outrageous fashion, Lady Gaga, arrive in an egg pod, 2015 saw the last major outrageousness with Rihanna’s princess-like-marshmallow dress and Madonna’s matador-inspired look. Let’s see if this year’s 61st annual Grammy Awards lived up to expectation and who (if anyone) was outrageous – in good and bad ways.
Usually a matter of slits, cut outs and body-oddy-oddy dresses as listed above, this year’s Grammy’s red carpet saw a more modest array of outfits with Gaga shunning the egg pod this time for a classy silver sequinned dress from Celine. Even Dua Lipa who is known to wear some pretty weird outfits (think 2018 Brit Awards pink fluffy mess of a dress or the multicoloured Versace jumpsuit) looked stunningly simple in a classic sequin gown with train.
It seemed then that modesty won the night. One stand out look was Miley Cyrus in a masculine black suit from Mugler, the oversized jacket allowing for a bit of chesty peek-a-boo and paired down with a pair of strappy heels. H.E.R., winner of R&B Album, while sequinned to the Gods wore it in a structured modest wide leg jumpsuit from Coach. Janelle Monae whilst seemingly overtly outrageous in her sky-high shouldered dress looked simply angelic with paired down jewellery and stillettos, with Jean Paul Gaultier hat adding sheek-ness to the look. Even Post Malone’s weird pink leather Cowboy outfit from Jerry Lee Atwood was a hit for me – what was shocking however was his moose knuckle situation.
Cardi B was a big hit of the night wearing vintage Mugler, looking the picture of glamour, but understated it was not (slightly more genie in the bottle if you ask me). But don’t forget that there are always those who push the boat out like Cardi, or rather this time the wall out, with a surprising amount of pro-Trump fashion making its way down the carpet from a ‘Build the Wall’ dress worn by Joy Villa to a ‘Keep America Great Jacket’ from Ricky Rebel. While these looks were outrageous in look as well as in their support of Trump they certainly weren’t fashionable looking like both had been handmade with bits and bobs from arts and craft shops and a glue gun.
However, some stars apparently didn’t get the memo for the understated or even the look nice dress code with Katy Perry falling victim to those meme hungry millennials and Hennessy Carolina’s very short orange ensemble leaving people to wonder whether she didn’t have time to put on her trousers. Splitting the debate was Kylie Jenner’s Balmain jumpsuit (to me it resembles a straightjacket).
Questions to ask of this year’s Grammy’s is was the presence of veterans such as Rihanna, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Taylor Swift, Kim and Kanye felt this year? Whatever your favourite it would seem that understated and modest won out this year’s 61st Grammy Awards. Maybe next year will see the return of the drama and outrageous looks we have come to know and love.