Style

Grammy Fashion: Men Impress, Women Choose Bows and Short Hems

by Terri Potratz | February 9, 2009 at 04:18 pm

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For the first time in recent history, there were more men turning heads on the red carpet than women. The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place yesterday and while the women's fashions were largely disappointing, men saved the day with sharp suits and bold dashes of colour.

Women who made headlines for their sartorial choices included teens Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, who were on a 'date' that night and opted to wear similar long black dresses. Gowns by Lebanese designer Basil Soda appeared on Katy Perry, who wore a tight pink number with an elaborate bow detailing on the front, and Paula Abdul, whose bright yellow dress was decorated with metallic elements around the shoulder and waistline. Definitely...unique.

The only dresses I really liked on the Grammy runway were Sara Barielles' peach pink dress, complimented by a red sash and matching heels - though I thought her choice of matching red lipstick took the whole look slightly overboard - and Alison Krauss' purple red carpet gown. Carrie Underwood looked great in her golden dress, but what else is new - she looked so "the same" that you didn't really notice her. Otherwise, we saw a lot of bows and/or extremely short hemlines on the likes of Katy Perry, Zooey Deschanel, Giuliana DePandi, Paris Hilton, Eva La Rue, Kim Kardashian, Robyn, and Solange Knowles to name just a few.

Now on to the boys. I was certainly impressed with fellow Canadian and recent UFC Champion Georges St-Pierre, who looked positively dapper in a (matching!) black suit with a light grey vest and white shirt sans tie. A few groups turned heads with themed band outfits: each member of Coldplay chose a brightly coloured military-inspired suit jacket; OneRepublic coordinated their outfits to be entirely black, grey and white, while Awkwid wore matching slacks and shirts with different coloured vests.

While I am often against men wearing pairing mismatched suit jackets and slacks (a 'suit' matches, otherwise it is just an outfit!), there were a few who pulled this look off at the Grammys. Nas wore an ashen cream jacket over a white shirt, with dark grey pants, grey shoes and a cream scarf, and there were more than a few indie-rock types who went dressy with a suit jacket but stayed casual with jeans and scruffy shoes.

But nothing beats a clean, sharp suit: Simon Baker, J. Holiday, all of Death Cab for Cutie, Raphael Saadiq, David Banner, Trey Songz and Diplo displayed fine examples. But not all the boys were fashionable delights, as aging rockers Dani Flanigan and Yngwie Malmsteen so aptly demonstrated. Maybe the untamed hair had something to do with it.

On stage, Kanye West accessorized with a bright red microphone, a colour choice firmly in tune with his bright red sneakers for Louis Vuitton, Jennifer Hudson looked beautiful performing in a sparkling blue gown, while Gwyneth Paltrow raised eyebrows with a short sequined number that did little for her figure.

All in all it was a disappointing year for Grammy fashion, both on the red carpet and on stage. Few interesting risks were taken, no noteworthy trends introduced, and again I was left wondering how people with so much money can manage to look so cheap.