Somewhere between the pomp of the Grammys and the populism of the American Music Awards lie MTV’s Video Music Awards.
Aside from being a command performance for music’s major marketing muscle, the awards are–intentionally–a fashion spectacle.
What it is really about is the image. The broadcast image–right there in high-definition color–of the pop, hip-hop, rock and electronica stars. And from that brief scan of famous faces, the viewing public is picking up every sartorial cue and clue: the colors, the culture, the obsession, the posturing, the cowering and the sexual politics. And it’s all for sale. Every bit of it. The music, the moda, the man.
“I think people do take their cues from the red carpet at MTV,” said Ocean MacAdams, vice president of MTV News. “People like Farnsworth Bentley and Lil’ Kim always bring it. There are always big moments when they’re there. In Miami I’ll be interested in what Puffy, OutKast and Christina Aguilera wear.” “The press and the international press really care about the red carpet,” said executive producer Salli Frattini. “Just look in the pages of Us, People, In Touch, In Style. All those pages truly believe that people care about it. The artists care about it. They know where their pictures will go. We have a 90-minute preview show, and the fashion part of that is very much of interest to our viewers.”
And MTV has rewarded those viewers with some riveting moments since 1984, when the awards started. For video voyeurs, these moments are both fashionable and just plain surreal (many involving MTV’s most diabolical creations, Madonna and Michael Jackson). “I think MTV overall has led the fashion for younger viewers,” Frattini said. “The artists who are in the music videos and the celebrities who are a part of our programming lead the fashion trends for other award shows.”
All that said, the VMAs are rife with fashion moments–some with sartorial significance, others just too fierce and fabulous to ignore. It was hard (almost a sacrilege) to whittle the list down to 10 top fashion moments, but here goes:
Party time
Don’t want to watch the VMAs alone? Head to Whiskey Sky at the W Lakeshore, 644 N. Lake Shore Drive, for a viewing party at 7 p.m. Sunday, which includes a free, two-hour open bar.
Reinventing restoration
It simply worked. What better way to illustrate the hedonistic joy of the song “Vogue” in 1990 than the style-obsessed court of Louis the XIV? Times like this, we remember why we adore Madonna.
Diversity duds
Busta Rhymes and Martha Stewart were paired as presenters in 1997. These two would most likely never, ever have met if left to their own devices, but the power of MTV can manifest anything, anywhere, anytime. Have you ever seen two more contrasting styles so close together? Busta and Martha should be the poster children for the United Nations. If they can do it, we all can do it.
Attic chic
When Cyndi Lauper bopped into the world’s consciousness with her torch-song voice and thrift-store chic attire, she lit a fire under a movement that had been sputtering since the ’70s. Following Lauper’s lead, the ’80s youthquake hit Salvation Army and Goodwill stores and hit them hard. Then it was on to consignment stores, estate sales and the occasional Dumpster for quirky retro looks.
Pretty perverse
Following their amateur sex video, volatile couple Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson took to the red carpet in 1999 with their heads held high. Anderson in a fuzzy hat with her two best-known accessories pushed up high by a bustier straining at the seams. Lee, in a salute to perverts everywhere, wore a trench coat and little else. If you got it, flaunt it. But if everyone has already seen it, then you have to figure out a way to repackage your package.
The boob tube
Not too long after former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani outlawed such outfits in Times Square, rapper Lil’ Kim showed up at the Metropolitan Opera wearing most of her costume and a carefully placed pasty. She got more press than anyone in 1999, and with Mary J. Blige and Diana Ross, ushered “ghetto fabulous” into the lexicon.
Hip-hop hooray
When Run-DMC first rocked the house in 1987, their thick gold necklaces, Adidases and baseball caps were already rap music’s uniform. But a thumping performance with Aerosmith of “Walk This Way” made the look iconic. Someday, these outfits should be in the Smithsonian.
Anti-fashion
Kurt Cobain’s appearance in 1992’s show set slackers on the edge of the couch. Finally, someone too cool to care. “Grunge”–the music and the movement–was quickly made a commodity by the fashion industry and just as quickly failed to find favor with the women who buy designer duds. Turns out socialites didn’t want to pay top dollar for clothes that could be bought at thrift shops.
A fashion star is born
After a fun-filled, whimsical turn on the red carpet in 2003, the whole fashion industry took note of Farnsworth (a.k.a. Fonzworth) Bentley. P. Diddy’s butler/sidekick /stylist/bobo is now starring in the live-action version of “Fat Albert” and has a line of designer umbrellas.
Oops
Britney Spears can lip-sync and strip better than anyone in the world. Snicker if you want to–it is more than enough to become a star these days. In 2001 When she doffed a black pinstripe suit to reveal a translucent bodysuit, all the while executing dance routines that would trip up the best hoofer, we just couldn’t resist her.
A bag of Eminems
You may not think of Eminem as a fashionista, but what is more classic than jeans and a white T-shirt … especially if you bleach your hair to match your shirt and then hire carbon copies of yourself for effect. The video comes to life in 2000.
