50th Anniversary Grammy Awards: Fashion Review and More

This year, music fans will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Grammy Awards. Technically, the show is supposed to be about the awards, but very few of us watch these awards solely because we are curious about who will win Best New Artist or Best Song. The rest of us watch the show for a variety of reasons.

Foremost among those reasons is the fashions worn by the artists attending the awards. Unlike the Oscars, Grammy nominees generally don't show up in designer duds (although garment and jewelry designers are all too willing to loan celebrities these items just because they will be seen by a broad television audience). At no time was this more evident than on the red carpet.

At one time, the Grammys were like the Tony awards, or the Oscars, in the sense that attendees (whether they were nominees or not) had to show up in formal wear. That meant at least a tux with a black tie for the men, and a floor-length gown (generally in basic black) for the women. This year's Grammy red-carpet presentation was different. The vast majority of the men showed up in business suits more appropriate to the office, while many of the women showed up in cocktail dresses. However, one can fairly say that men's garments were all over the map, with Jay-z being the most formal, in a tux. One artist, who shall remain nameless, committed the fashion faux pas of showing up in a T-shirt and winter coat.

Neither my wife nor my daughter liked Rihanna's cocktail dress, due to what my wife says is its resemblance to a ballerina's outfit. (She says it would be more appropriate to wear while dancing in The Nutcracker.) Fergie's dress also stood out due to its unusual shade, about the color of a ripe ear of corn.