Grammys 2021 fashion trends: Rock-star looks and volume turned all the way up

Thanks to the way Sunday’s 63rd Grammy Awards telecast was produced — with parts of the arrivals red carpet and musical performances recorded earlier — it was hard to get a bead on who was wearing what and when as nominees and presenters popped in (some in real life, some by video) to chat with Giuliana Rancic during E!’s preshow coverage.

What it wasn’t hard to do, though, was figure out what the night’s standout looks (whenever and wherever they were worn) all had in common: They were focus-pulling, statement-making, over-the-top, literal-and-figurative rock star looks that seemed to telegraph an unabashed enthusiasm for getting out of the stretchy pants and into something with pumped-up color, sparkle and volume.

“Getting dressed was my favorite part,” DaBaby told Rancic about getting ready for the Grammys. He looked it too, thanks to the custom floral Dolce & Gabbana shawl collar tuxedo and the wide-brimmed hat he wore as one of the first to hit the red carpet.

DaBaby in Dolce & Gabbana on the red carpet at the 63rd Grammy Awards.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

If the looks at the Golden Globes heralded the coming spring with pops of green, here it was floral motifs that turned out to be one of the evening’s sartorial through-lines, thanks to attendees such as Debi Nova (“I wanted color and flowers and to make it festive,” she told E!), who opted for a hot-pink strapless high-low cocktail dress with a floral-printed hem and train from the spring and summer 2020 Georges Chakra couture collection.

Doja Cat’s motocross-meets-flapper Roberto Cavalli look (a custom creation by the brand’s new creative consultant, Fausto Puglisi) — form-fitting on top and a flurry of green ostrich feathers on the bottom — was another head-turner thanks to the open-zipper décolletage that plunged well south of the navel, making for what may be the most precariously plunging neckline at the Grammys since Jennifer Lopez’s Versace gown at the 2000 awards. (Doja Cat gets extra points for highlighting the cat-claw zipper-pull details for the TV audience.)

Debi Nova on the Grammy Awards red carpet in a hot pink strapless high-low cocktail dress with a floral printed hem and train from the spring and summer 2020 Georges Chakra couture collection.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

In the less-skin-and-more-fabric department were H.E.R. in a burgundy velvet robe and wide-leg trouser ensemble (from the fall and winter 2021 Dundas collection) that looked comfortable enough to lounge in; Phoebe Bridgers in a black Thom Browne cardigan jacket and skirt in black tulle madras trompe l’oeil tweed with crystal and pearl skeleton embroidery; and Noah Cyrus in a white Schiaparelli couture look that was part crumpled bedsheets and part flower blossom, in the best possible way.

Although we didn’t catch Taylor Swift’s arrival on the red carpet, from the photos we’ve seen, it appears she too was on board with the floral theme, choosing a flower-festooned Oscar de la Renta frock that fell to mid-thigh.

Ticking all the boxes — and a bunch of boxes we didn’t even know existed — was nominee Megan Thee Stallion, who hit the red carpet in a bright-orange strapless Dolce & Gabbana gown with an immense back bow and a seriously skin-baring leg slit. She accessorized with a sparkly stunner of a diamond necklace by Chopard. “I wanted to pop,” she told Rancic about the outfit. “I wanted to look like a Grammy, and I manifested it.”

And it worked.

In addition to winning the red carpet — and the night’s best-dressed award — she took home Grammy hardware in three of the four categories for which she was nominated. Thee Stallion had some competition in the leg-slit department, though. Dua Lipa wore a form-fitting sparkly Atelier Versace gown that also boasted side cutouts just above each hip. (The pink convertible gown that stripped down to two-piece sparkly number she performed in during the telecast was also custom Atelier Versace.)

Dua Lipa, in a custom Atelier Versace crystal mesh column dress on the Grammys red carpet, gave Megan Thee Stallion some serious competition in the leg-slit department.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Host Trevor Noah pumped up the volume by way of a double-breasted Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo (though he appeared to swap it out for a single-breasted tux jacket once the show got under way).

Other standouts were Bad Bunny, who went with an all-black Burberry ensemble that included a trench coat and a knit cap we’ve dubbed #badbunnyears, and the outfit-changing Billie Eilish, who won the evening’s matchy-matchy award for a Gucci ensemble that included not only a long-sleeved top in floral jacquard with tiger details and floral jacquard-patterned flared trousers but also a bucket hat, a face mask, fingerless gloves and fingernail art in the same pattern.

For the 63rd Grammys, Billie Eilish wears a pink Gucci top embroidered with black sequin tiger details along with matching bucket hat, fingerless gloves and nail art.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)