This weekend, the 66th annual Grammy Awards will happen in Los Angeles, and music’s high acts – Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, SZA, Olivia Rodrigo and extra – are all set to carry out. In fact, we’re very a lot trying ahead to the star-studded crimson carpet. The Grammys have a historical past of delivering memorable type moments, like Dua Lipa remodeling into Donatella Versace circa 2022 and Cardi B rising from a couture Mugler clam shell again in 2019.
Trying again on Grammys carpets over the many years, we will’t assist however really feel nostalgic for the times when the style was actually wild. We imply the easier instances, particularly the ’90s and early aughts, when some celebrities didn’t even have stylists. There was a lot spontaneity and risk-taking, with celebrities conjuring up out-of-the-box inspiration and working with it – irrespective of how outlandish. Massive-budget model offers and sponsorships have been basically nonexistent. If a star noticed one thing they preferred, they simply wore it and hope for one of the best.
Take Jennifer Lopez and her viral plunging Versace robe in 2000 – a costume so good that it actually gave beginning to Google Pictures. It’s a second in trend historical past that’s nonetheless talked about at present, although Lopez wasn’t the primary individual to put on the design. In her Vogue video revisiting the look’s origin story, Lopez remembers that “Donatella had worn [the dress], one of many Spice Women [Geri Halliwell] had worn it, and Sandra Bullock had worn it in one other color.” But Lopez nonetheless felt the look was it; she was certain she might make it her personal, and she or he did. Right this moment’s crop of It-girls would by no means step on the crimson carpet in an outfit already worn by a fellow performer; they’d sooner skip the Grammys altogether.
One other factor that made the Grammys of yesteryear so enjoyable to look at? A complete disregard for traits. In 1996, for instance, Mary J Blige sported a head-to-toe leopard ensemble by Dolce & Gabbana. “I used to be making an attempt to do one thing new and totally different,” Blige advised Vogue of the daring look. In 2002, Lil’ Kim donned a crimson leather-based (and bejewelled) Chanel moto go well with – full with a Chanel biker helmet to match. These have been hardly ploys to land on best-dressed lists – stars have been simply having enjoyable.
None of that is to say that the latest Grammys haven’t been a thrill to look at. Woman Gaga confirmed up in a Hussein Chalayan vessel in 2011, and I’m nonetheless obsessive about Harry Kinds’s pink Gucci feather boa from 2021. However as an entire, latest Grammys trend has been rather more contrived, and fewer about disrupting the norm. Take into account this our plea to deliver again some Grammys trend chaos this weekend. Doja Cat, Lana Del Rey and Billie Eilish – we’re taking a look at you.