It’s music’s prom night, also known as the Grammys, where the biggest pop stars of the moment put on their best attention-grabbing looks. The Grammys are the most conservative and traditional of the music awards red carpets, but it’s still a wild time most years. Surprisingly, a lot of the nominees and attendees went for elegance this time around. Sadly, some of them missed the mark. Let’s go!
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Boygenius in Thom Browne
The superband and Best Alternative Music Album winners had our favorite coordinated group look of the night. These slightly awkward (by design) Thom Browne suits couldn’t have been a better choice for the superstar trio of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, giving them that alternative band cred while adding a touch of whimsy (those pink carnations!) and fun to their style.
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Victoria Monét in Versace
The “Hollywood” singer and multiple nominee (and winner!) stunned in this bronze custom Versace gown. The fit is superb and the color looks amazing on her. But it was daughter Hazel Monet Gaines’s (a co-nominee with her mom and the youngest Grammy nominee in history) matching dress that took the look from hot to charming. How can you not love a chic Mommy and Me moment on the red carpet?
Dua Lipa in Courreges
The “Dance the Night” singer hit that red carpet looking like a living disco ball, which simply couldn’t be more appropriate for her. While the gown does tend to look a little heavy, she’s the perfect wearer to make it come off sexy and effortless. The Tiffany jewelry pieces are pure stunners, but they’d probably be better served paired with an outfit that doesn’t fight them so much for attention.
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Fantasia Barrino-Taylor in Cong Tri
The star of The Color Purple came to perform and also to slay. We might normally consider her striped gown and matching striped gloves to be just a bit much for the red carpet, but the styling here is superb. The makeup is gorgeous, the jewelry is drop-dead fabulous (that lip clip? simply amazing), the hair is chic, and that taupe-and-black color combination lends the whole look a real sense of old-school elegance. She may not have snagged an Oscar nomination this year, but she’s announcing herself as a prestige star.
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Miley Cyrus in Maison Margiela
The “Flowers” singer (and multiple nominee) sported the TikTok-trendy mob wife hair and makeup but paired it with a “dress” (using the term very loosely) for which it’s probably not the best choice. Still, we can’t deny that we love this look. It’s the Grammys! Be bold! Make odd choices! The construction of the dress is intricately beautiful and feels like something a screen goddess of the silent film era would wear, but we’re afraid those goofy shoes look awful with it.
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Coco Jones in Celia Kritharioti
The Best New Artist nominee and “ICU” singer looked amazing in this shimmering beaded gown in a beautiful shade of eau de nil. This is the time and place to go for sexy glamour, so that wide plunging neckline and accompanying body jewelry give the gown a modern, hot feel to it, although it looks like she had to avoid taking any deep breaths. The cocktail ring is a fantastic way to finish the look off.
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Kylie Minogue in Dolce & Gabbana
The “Padam Padam singer” and Best Pop Dance Recording winner stuck to the song’s branding by wearing the signature red that made the video such a viral hit last summer. Unfortunately, Dolce & Gabbana put together a wildly overdesigned mess of a gown that takes a terrible picture. We love a little corseting action, but this design is in dire need of some editing. That craft-project-looking bust is sad. You deserved better, diva.
Heidi Klum
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She is the absolute queen of the slightly tacky but devastatingly sexy “I still got it” dress, but we’re afraid not even this supermodel can make the awkward design of that skirt look hot. If a designer tries to talk you into hanging your skirt off your neck, you should probably slap them. If they try to make you pull off enough nude illusion fabric to choke a figure skater, you should probably stop talking to them.
Kat Graham in Stephane Rolland Couture
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Girl, what? Look, we won’t fault any star for taking this time to grab the spotlight and get their picture taken, but you look like an envelope that’s trying to come off sexy. It’s just not working. Should’ve put this one back on the rack.
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Taylor Swift in Schiaparelli Couture
The queen of the moment arrived in high classic style. We’ll leave it up to others to parse the significance of wearing white to the Grammys, but we appreciated it for lending the look a clean simplicity, even with the slit to the hip, the opera gloves, and the five pounds of diamonds dripping off her. It’s Old Hollywood, but it also feels like a classic diva move—taking a relatively simple design and making it look like it was invented just for you. This might be one of her best red carpet looks of all time, in our moderately humble opinion.
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Billie Eilish
The “What Was I Made For?” singer stuck to the brand–both hers and Mattel’s–by sporting this vintage Barbie jacket reworked by Chrome Hearts. Barbiecore was never really her thing, but like most of her red carpet fashion, she finds a way to sort of bend the world of fashion to her will, to take the trends and give them a spin that feels unique and true to her. It’s a cute look, and we can’t always say that about her style approach.
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Olivia Rodrigo in Vintage Versace
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Coi Leray in Saint Laurent
The first time nominee (for both “Players” and “Baby Don’t Hurt Me”) managed to snag a look that combined that offbeat attention-grabbing style crucial to most pop stars and a high-fashion look that just screamed “runway.” The body suit has just enough of a formal feel to make it deadly chic, but choosing to finish the look off with that lime-green feather jacket was brilliant.
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Gracie Abrams in Chanel
The Best New Artist nominee and “Good Riddance” singer chose a look that combined retro elegance with a modern edge to it. If that skirt had any other top paired with it, we’d probably consider it pretty mumsy and old-fashioned, but that simple black crop top is chic in a fresh and unfussy way. The black and blue color combination lends the look a subtlety that gives it that old-school, Coco Chanel–approved feeling of sophisticated restraint.
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Chlöe Bailey in Caurav Gupta Couture
Unfortunately, while we love the bold sexiness of this gown, the design makes the textile look very stiff. The odd design of the skirt, with its awkward side panel, combined with the heavy textile and what looked like some fit issues did not give this look the breezy hotness it was probably trying for.
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Halle Bailey in Gucci
The star of The Little Mermaid and Grammy nominee (for “Angel”) hit the red carpet as a new mom who’s ready to show the world that she’s still the same hot mermaid girl she always was. The thong is thonging, the sheer is sheering, the shimmer is shimmering, and the fit is superb. What’s not to love here?
Doja Cat
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Oof. There’s just nothing nice to say about this look. The “Paint the Town Red” singer was clearly looking to be a little outrageous and shocking, but the overall effect came off messy rather than naughty. The nip slip is whatever—it’s the Grammys—but the design makes the dress look so dingy and flimsy. The shoes don’t go with it at all. And if we’re being nitpicky, we have to say it: Open toe shoes call for a good pedi.
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Lana Del Rey
The “A&W” and “Candy Necklace” singer took the mob wife trend to its absolute limit, looking for all the world like she just walked off the set of Goodfellas. While we might consider this look a little bit costumey and way too precious (a hair bow, glove bows, or shoe bows, but not all three at the same time, dear), there’s something genuinely fun about and we honestly can’t say she looks bad in any of it. It might be one of the better red carpet looks she’s worn in some time.
Ice Spice
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She is giving you denim, she is giving you rabbit fur, she is giving you a big gold cross and an obnoxious belt buckle. The “Barbie World” rapper showed up to the 2024 Grammys looking like she just time traveled from the 2002 MTV Awards, and while that may make some of y’all feel a little old, we can’t help loving it for being a fun and unexpected choice, with just the right high-low combination for the Grammys.
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Jon Batiste in Versace
We’re afraid the male stars of the music world failed to excite us all that much this time around, but we had to make room on this list for multiple nominee Jon Batiste’s gorgeous Versace kilt suit. It’s chic and unusual. We’re not a hundred percent on the pants, which probably could have had a slimmer cut, and we think there are more exciting boot options than those, but the jacket and kilt are truly beautiful and it was one of the more eye-catching looks of the night.
