Grammys Awards red carpet hall of fame and shame
The red carpet at the Grammy Awards has long had a reputation for serving up some of the most memorable ensembles of the awards-show season. On the eve of the music industry’s biggest night, we’ve compiled a few nominees for what you might call the Grammy Red Carpet Hall of Fame.
If the 2015 Grammys had a standout fashion moment, it would be Rihanna’s arrival in a swirl of hot pink tulle that was Giambattista Valli’s Empire waist bubble gown. On the downside, this was the same year Madonna turned out in a butt-baring burlesque matador outfit by Givenchy.
Beyoncé probably deserves her own Hall of Fame category for Grammy looks, turning heads in a form-fitting, sheer white floral lace gown by Michael Costello in 2014 and in a graphic black-and-white Op Art inspired crepe jumpsuit by Osman Yousefzada in 2013.
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Beyonce probably deserves her own hall of fame category for head-turning Grammy looks like this sheer, white floral lace gown by Michael Costello that she wore at the 2014 awards.
Pharrell Williams’ outfit at the 2014 Grammys might not have exactly been high fashion — jeans and a red Adidas track jacket layered over a T-shirt — but the outsized Vivienne Westwood Mountain hat he chose to complete the look launched a social media frenzy and catapulted the hat to instant icon status.
How do you follow that? If you’re Pharrell you arrive at the 2015 Grammys in an Adidas short suit made using 3M light-reflective materials that turned the light gray fabric a blindingly bright white when photographed with a flash.
Katy Perry struck just the right note at the 2014 Grammys in a full-length Valentino Couture gown with black musical note embroidery (the score to Verdi’s “La Traviata”).
Katy Perry has struck all the right notes on the Grammy red carpet for several years running, including the form-fitting, cleavage-baring, mint-green Gucci dress from 2013; the sheer, full-length Valentino Couture gown with black musical note embroidery (the score to Verdi’s “La Traviata”) from 2014, and the long-sleeved, short sheath dress covered in icicle-like crystal fringe by Zuhair Murad in 2015.
Nicki Minaj’s blood-red custom Atelier Versace silk dress and hooded cape ensemble at the 2012 Grammys stuck with us not just because of the Little Red Riding Hood meets Flying Nun vibe, but also because she accessorized the look with a guy dressed like the pope.
Nicki Minaj’s blood-red custom Atelier Versace silk dress and hooded cape ensemble at the 2012 Grammys stuck with us not just because of the Little Red Riding Hood meets Flying Nun vibe but also because she accessorized the look with a guy dressed like the pope.
Lady Gaga has served up no shortage of memorable red carpet looks (meat dress, anyone?), but the Giorgio Armani Privé dress she wore on the 2010 Grammys red carpet — strands of pink, glittery wire that seemed suspended in orbit around planet Gaga and accessorized with a massive silver spike orb — struck the perfect balance between elegant high style and out-there interplanetary weirdness.
If there’s one dress that would definitely make it into our fictitious Grammy Red Carpet Hall of Fame on the first vote, it would be the green tropical leaf print Versace dress worn by Jennifer Lopez in 2000. Arguably the most famous dress in Grammy history, this sheer, gravity-defying number had a neckline that plunged well past the belly button, cinched just above her pelvis with a sparkly brooch, and required the strategic deployment of double-sided fashion tape to keep it street legal.
The dress became so revered — “South Park’s” Trey Parker wore his own version at that year’s Academy Awards — a copy of it now resides in the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles.
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