Outlandish style rules the red carpet
Move over stuffy Oscars, colour and flair make a real statement at the Grammys, writes Melissa Singer.
It’s a shame the Grammys take place in the death throes of summer, when many of us are busy labelling school uniforms and mourning the fact that shorts are no longer acceptable office attire for another 11 months. It’s a shame because, as far as red carpets go, the Grammys tear shreds off their ruby plush rivals.
Case in point: Billy Porter’s hat. Where else would you see a celebrity don a piece of millinery that comes with its own motorised beaded curtain?
Or how about Lizzo, a woman who is championing body acceptance, refusing to shrink into the shadows in black/navy/violet and, instead, is leading the cavalry of white gowns in Versace, no less?
At the Oscars? Heck, no.
Despite their relative subservience to the Academy Awards (stuffy) or the Golden Globes (like the Oscars, with a few more bright colours), the Grammys have always given good fashion. Because, whether or not you like the individual looks, they meet the quintessential red carpet brief of being memorable and saying something about the times in which we live.
Speaking of Versace, it was fitting that Lizzo and Lil Nas X both wore the designer, who was also responsible for J Lo’s ‘‘shut down’’ dress of 2000.
But the Good as Hell singer didn’t stop at one look, changing into a shimmery black dress to perform the ceremony’s opening number before, as if by magic, stripping down to a multicoloured leotard to perform a flute solo.
Indeed, it was the night of the costume change, with Ariana Grande and Gwen Stefani joining the throng of stars who had multiple outfits.
Teenage star Billie Eilish has clearly found fans at Gucci: the brand dressed her in two monogrammed outfits that were capped off by her green logomania manicure, with extreme nails almost outshining handbags as the must-have accessory of the night.
Still, there are always cute bags, or at least ones that make a statement.
Joy Villa sported a bag bearing the elephant insignia of the Republican Party to match her ‘‘Trump 2020: Impeached & re-elected’’ dress, while Maggie Rogers championed wellness (and possibly the sober-curious movement) with a Chanel waterbottle-as-haute-accessory.
While fashion tributes to Kobe Bryant following the NBA star’s death were few – the news only breaking hours before the start of the ceremony – DJ Khaled arrived with a T-shirt paying tribute to the fallen basketball star, while Priyanka Chopra had Bryant’s number ‘‘24’’ on one of her nails.
Speaking of Chopra, many remarked that her navel-baring dress, by Australian expat designers Ralph & Russo, reminded them of J Lo’s palm-print frock of 20 years ago, albeit blended with the urban cowboy trend that dominated this year’s red carpet. Could you ever say that about the Oscars? Unlikely.