iHeartRadio Awards fashion: mini dresses, boots, chain mail, and Rihanna channeling Lil' Kim
LatestLast night the iHeartRadio Awards attracted a bevy of radio-friendly pop stars who were outfitted in either colorful mini dresses or ensembles that resembled American currency (see: Rihanna). In fact, it seemed as though the show served solely as a backdrop for Rihanna’s outfit.
Looking like a straight stack of crisp hundred dollar bills, Rihanna took to the iHeartRadio Awards stage last night to perform her new hit, “Bitch Better Have My Money,” emerging from a helicopter that apparently was a legit time travel machine. Transporting viewers back to the time of peak Bad Boy hip hop — back-up dancers, plenty of Versace, and boastful talk of cash — the whole look, feel, and styling of the performance served as an homage to the era’s titular queen, Lil Kim.
Showcasing her unending love for colored furs, Rihanna slinked about the stage menacingly like a couture-laden loanshark, growling into the microphone (idle?) threats and taunts of driving foreign cars with someone else’s wife in the backseat (Could it be Beyoncé? Kim?).
I was beyond pleased with this look and the extreme baby hair that was gelled along the sides of her mean mug.
Of course there were other people there — people whose outfits I really enjoyed. Like tween hair activist Zendaya in a multi-colored mini, accented with big 80’s crimped hair. My co-worker was saddened the pop ingenue didn’t take this opportunity to rock a big ‘fro as a FU to Guliana Rancic, but there is always next time. Hailee Steinfeld, a style prodigy if I ever did see one, showed up in full-on couture Dior, she joining Rihanna in sporting patent leather thigh-hit boots straight off the runway. This while Jennifer Hudson sported plenty of fringe, from her neon bod-con mini to that choppy pixie cut.
America’s sweethearts Gina Rodriguez and Taylor Swift did not-so-basic black, with plenty of cutouts, leg, and hands-on-the-hip action, while Iggy followed suit in this odd panache of see-through netting and garishly printed harem pants. The corkscrew curls and last-minute decision to throw on a vest to hide her new décolletage seems ill-conceived.
Oh my gosh and what’s left of Danity Kane made an appearance with matching sea punk ombre hair, black pantsuits with plunging necklines, and metallic pumps. I really want them to win. I think the world needs another DK album, but they need not match so earnestly.
Rebel heart Madonna just looked really, really good in this Alexander Wang Fall 2015 haute Goth look that was one-part chain mail, one-part velvet. Wang has done an exceptional job of steering this collection away from a Hot Topic trap, and churning out austere but chic lewks that I have on several occasions remarked I will be buying plenty of.
Then there was this, which I just had to share, because the girl has no chill.
All in all, an eventful evening of fashion, helicopter time machines, and ’90s hip hop ephemera that has me looking at colorful furs in a whole new way.
Marjon Carlos is a style and culture writer for Fusion who boasts a strong turtleneck game and opinions on the subjects of fashion, gender, race, pop culture, and men’s footwear.