An night of celebrating sucess and excess, I felt like this year’s MTV Video Music Awards held at the Barclays Centre in New York were the most lavish, controversial and bizarre that I’ve seen in the past few years. As usual the red carpet was a show in itself and in true VMA style there were plenty of ups and downs.
First up my best dressed ladies. I um-ed and ah-ed about this one for a while but finally settled on the stunning Ellie Goudling in her head-turning Amato Couture gown, which was embellished with dozens of silver spikes. With tousled hair and natural make up, Ellie only needed to let the gown do the talking here. Runner up should be no surprise to you all. My girl Taylor Swift vamped it up to the max in a deep navy Hervé Léger gown. Styled up with 1940’s glamour, complete with vintage waves andred lipstick, the gown provided the modern twist with it’s subtle panels and plunging neckline.
Showstopping gowns are always the big thing at the VMAs and this year was no exception. After last year’s jumpsuit Rita Ora upped her game in a Alexandre Vauthier gown, complete with feathered train – which was carried up and down the red carpet – embellished plunge neck and thigh high split. Rita also styled this eccentric look with a sleek minimalist bob cut. If it weren’t for the big black belt I would’ve rated this look so much but the colour is too much of a contrast to the light blue tones of the gown.
Next up is Holland Roden, the Teen Wolf star is becoming one of my favourites to look out for on the red carpet and I was certainly loving her Naeem Khan dress gown. The gown not only comes with a completely embellished top, but has added trousers under the skirt of the dress. It’s very VMA appropriate and had it not been for the trouser detail this might have faded into the background. As always her make up is also on point and her slicked back hair and bold lip go great against the nude of the dress.
It was a night of comebacks for two of the biggest stars in pop. Katy Perry was one of the first big names on the red carpet on the night and stepped out in an Emanuel Ungaro leopard print mini with her hair piled into a high ponytail to show off those intricate shoulder details. You may recognise this as the mini version of the gown Coco Rocha wore the gown to The Met Gala recently. This is actually quite subdued for Katy, who’s definitely over her blue hair phase, and did feel much more mature than childish glam. The was a twist of course though that Ms Perry couldn’t resist….grills. Ugh. Thankfully she took them out for a few photos.
Lady Gaga was another name everyone was desperate to see, having previously arrived at the awards show in Meat, as a Man and McQueen. Which is why her looked shocked me. Much like Katy Perry, Gaga seems to have toned down the crazy for the this year’s ceremony and wore a custom Prabal Gurung gown. Apart from the dominatrix nature of the look with all of the leather, she looked fairly normal with her sleek black wig and almost natural make up – the only pop of colour was her coral lipstick. Part of me is disappointed she didn’t go for something more lavish, the other half of me thinks she was saving it all for her epic performance – hello sea shell bra. Yep definitely still a little ‘out-there’.
With Perry and Gaga out of the running for most controversial looks of the night this leaves me with these two for the bottom of the pile. Miley Cyrus was the talk of the town for all of the wrong reasons. Performance aside – my eyes still haven’t recovered – Miley walked the red carpet in a Dolce & Gabbana crop top and trousers. The looks is almost bearable, sans the embellished garter…, but it the styling that I’m so put off by. The chunky black platforms, bright red lip and part-shaved-part-90’s-hair-buns scream Gwen Stefani circa 1997. But you’re not Gwen, Miley, this is 2013 and you’re trying too hard.
Another questionable look came from model Erin Wasson, who wore a very revealing Alexandre Vauthier gown, which was completely sheer bar a few strips of fabric to cover parts of her modesty. The whole look leaves nothing to imagination but I do question whether it’s actually kinda perfect for the VMA’s? And can she get away with this considering her model status?
It wouldn’t be the VMAs without some flashes of skin. I was on the fence about Iggy Azalea‘s choice of Emilio Pucci gown in sheer gold, but matched with her sleek updo and bold lip the whole thing ended up really catching my eye without the whole ensemble looking too try-hard. Ciara was another who dared to bare. Her Givenchy Couture gown veered on the prettier side in a pale pink and looked rather elegant with her loose waves and all natural make up.
Two women giving some va-va-voom glamour to the night were Selena Gomez and Naya Rivera. A very grown up looking Selena wore a dark navy Atelier Versace gown. It was daring with it’s thigh high split, metallic embellishments and lace bustier detailing, but I can’t deny she looks great here. Even when she’s technically supposed to be in the backdrop Naya manages to make an entrance. Despite it’s colour, her jet black Paco Rabanne offered some subtle with discrete cut out details on along the waist and shoulders. Simple. Sexy. Bravo Naya!
A few extra looks from the red carpet also included Crystal Reed, who’s gorgeous – though a little plain – Zac Posen gown just melts into the backdrop. Had this been a higher brow January Awards season look she would’ve gotten my vote for one of the best dressed but alongside some of the bigger stars on the night the dress and styling felt a bit too Golden Globes for my liking. Singer Ariana Grande wore a very sweet Kenley Collins mini with matching heels. The print was the perfect injection of Summer I was craving for with a lot of the looks on the night and looks great with her more natural hair colour. I wanted to like Sarah Hyland‘s Marchesa gown – plus it’s definitely one of my favourites from the collection – but I can’t get my head around it. Sarah’s so tiny that the gown seems to swamp her and it also seems to have lost some of it’s original structure in the skirt.
It wasn’t all gowns and dresses, three ladies dared to be a little different and pulled their personality into their outfits. Model Coco Rocha rocked the biker chic look in Fausto Puglisi, but it’s her attitude that sets this look off perfectly! Jennifer Hudson looked stunning in a houndslooth top and leather skirt look by Christian Dior. With her sleek long hair and black out accessories, she definitely looked great on the night. Actress Shailene Woodley‘s always been a test-y subject on round ups gone by but she’s finally doing it right on the red carpet in her Emilio Pucci skirt and crop top combo hit all the right notes with me. Shailene also debuted what I’m calling her ‘Hazel’ hair, which she recently cut off for her role in TFIOS and donated to charity. Hopefully this fresh spin on her look is a sign of things to come with Divergent and TFIOS press tours/premieres on the way!
So what did you think? And what were your best and worst looks from the night?
[all images via Zimbio]
R.xoxo