It’s more than fair to suggest that music’s biggest night was off to a rocky start well before anyone named Beyonce or Harry Styles stepped foot on the red carpet. Notable snubs (justice for Charli XCX’s Crash), artists declining consideration, Trevor Noah hosting an award show for the gazillionth time, a cursed venue name in the Crypto.Com Arena. Things were not looking hot for The Recording Academy, an increasingly common trend for the institution in recent years.
And while the 65th annual GRAMMY Awards swore intrigue nonetheless, with a cast of certified superstars poised to break records and generally look like the red-carpet hotties they should be, it quickly became apparent that the night might not be everything we were promised — at least not in the menswear department.
R&B singer Miguel’s joots solicited a “this ain’t it, chief” the moment they touched hallowed ground. Producer extrodinaire Jack Antonoff’s oversized double-breasted blazer and an inexplicable JFK pin made us yearn for the days when swirly-ing theater kids was socially acceptable. Even Hazza himself, stalwart commander-in-chief of the mind-blowing, avant-garde ‘fit, left us contemplating the merits of dishonorable discharge.
Styles, in a way, provided a prime example and and apt synecdoche for the entirety of menswear’s music’s biggest night. Arriving in a florentine necklined, Swarovski crystal-bedazzled bespoke jumpsuit from up-and-coming label Egonlab, the ex-One Direction man should’ve looked downright dreamy: pushing boundaries, tats out, chest even farther out, locks perfectly quaffed.
But the jumper, while immaculately tailored and intriguingly chic, didn’t actually do much for Harry in ways of fit — the silhouette left Mr. Styles looking weirdly sexless, elongating the torso and squatting the legs while somehow not showing quite enough skin and draped just a tad too loose to deliver the iconíc sex symbol vibes we’ve come to expect from the one of the biggest names in the world.
In short, Harry freaked it just to freak it, but he didn’t consider all the details. And while the Grammy Awards, just like any major awards show, warrant a certifiably insane ‘fit, wild for the sake of wild often produces noticeably mixed results.
There were, of course, also loads of standard-setting looks that properly married overstated and outstanding. Known ‘fit god Steve Lacy took home IH’s award for best dressed, with both his red carpet Saint Laurent and all-leather ensemble working wonders for the Gemini Rights singer. Kendrick Lamar, surprisingly, also pulled off a seemly discrete nod to ’90s style, decked out in Martine Rose x Nike Shox and a narrow collar/tiny tie combo reminiscent of sloppy prep in the early 1990s. Bad Bunny demonstrated how less can be more, taking center stage in a very sensible (if slightly boxy) suit and anything-but-sensible flat-brim Green Dodgers hat. And Styles, to his credit pulled it together for his Album of the Year acceptance, rocking signature Gucci high-waisted trousers and a cropped jacket to pop star perfection.
There’s a bigger lesson to be learned here, we think. But for now, we’ll leave you with this — don’t wear a sequined jumpsuit unless you are very, very sure you can pull it off.
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