Though unusually staid, fashion-wise, the Grammys had a few memorable moments. CeeLo Green showed up Sunday in Los Angeles as a metallic gold something with a strange headpiece and tunic to match. And Lady Gaga,…
Though unusually staid, fashion-wise, the Grammys had a few memorable moments.
CeeLo Green showed up Sunday in Los Angeles as a metallic gold something with a strange headpiece and tunic to match. And Lady Gaga, fresh from the Super Bowl, donned tiny black leather shorts and top, looking fierce in her thigh-high boots.
Other than that, we had some dresses. As these things often go, some were liked, some not so much.
Rihanna pulled off another voluminous look, this one a custom tangerine Armani Prive crop top with crystals and a voluminous black skirt of silk organza. The bottom half evoked her pink cupcakey Giambattista Valli ball gown for the Grammys two years ago.
“Rihanna has such a history of stealing the show with her flawless style at the Grammys,” said Kyle Anderson, the market and accessories director for Marie Claire magazine. “The top was perfect, designed around her tattoos. She is confident and knows what looks good on her as well as what will steal the spotlight.”
Adele wore Givenchy Haute Couture by Ricardo Tisci — twice. First in two tones of military green in a checkerboard weave with a long-sleeve top underneath on the red carpet and again to perform in a black velvet stone-encrusted top and matching pants.
“Why would she wear that green,” asked “Fashion Police” alum and style expert George Kotsiopoulos. “She was very covered up. I didn’t hate it but it was just an ugly color.”
Anderson disagreed.
“Adele looked stunning,” he said. “To me green looks great as a contrasting shade on the red carpet.”
And then there was Beyonce. As an early performer on the CBS telecast, she didn’t walk the carpet, but she slayed as a gold-crowned goddess onstage and again from the audience in sexy red sequins. Her 5-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy, cheered mom’s stage show from dad Jay Z’s lap wearing a white ruffle Prince-like shirt, circa “Purple Rain,” under a bubble gum pink suit.
But overall, Julee Wilson, fashion and beauty director for Essence magazine and its website, was underwhelmed on the fashion front.
“It was really boring,” she said of the carpet. “There was so much blah.”
She had her favorites, though, including Adele. Her not-so-much moment was Katy Perry in a Tom Ford look with a skirt of pink feathers and metallic sequin mock turtleneck long-sleeve top.
“I think Katy Perry looked awful,” Wilson said.
As for Adele, “She does a really good job of dressing her curves in a way that doesn’t look like she’s trying to hide them,” she said.
Anderson begged to differ on Perry.
“She looked phenomenal with her blond waves. Taking risks and keeping things fresh is what the Grammys are all about when it comes to fashion and beauty,” he said.
Kotsiopoulos, too, was less than enthused by this year’s show of Grammy fashion.
“There was no ‘oh my god’ moment,” he said.
Eric Wilson, the fashion news director for InStyle magazine, saw some trends.
“I loved the wave of futuristic metallic fabrics worn by Katy Perry and Solange Knowles,” said Wilson, the latter in a gold Gucci one-shoulder with fan ruffles.
“But I had some trouble with all the crazy cleavage contraptions, which were probably a good idea on paper, but not on the body. Between Lady Gaga in that bolero top, Halsey’s X-rated tracksuit and Rihanna’s orange bra from Armani Prive, those dresses were working overtime just to keep themselves up, and they all looked really uncomfortable. And in the interest of not sounding sexist, I’ll also veto Desiigner’s shirtless tux,” Wilson added.
Count Wilson in as a fan of Perry’s Ford look.
“It hit all the right notes. The combination of a skirt of feathers and a shiny top created a polished effect, but the overall look stayed well within Katy’s pop princess comfort zone,” he said.
Colors were all over the place. Wilson liked the light lavender Ralph & Russo halter confection worn by Jennifer Lopez and Celine Dion’s emerald green Zuhair Murad couture dress.
On the Adele scale, he was somewhere in between.
“The dress was a little over the top, but she made it look like a form of armor,” Wilson said, “which is probably a smarter statement for these times.”
Need a break? Play a quick game of solitaire or Sudoku. Or take one of our fun quizzes!
Going out to an expensive dinner isn’t your only option for February’s celebration of love. And these decadent recipes aren’t just for desserts.
