At the VMAs yesterday everybody made a point of saying it was all about the music but let’s be honest - with beefs, nudity and drugs aplenty not much of it was about the music. So, we thought we’d bring it back to the music by soundtracking the looks of the evening - pairing each outfit with a song that might help us better understand what they were trying to say through their fashun.
Miley Cyrus: Sia - Chandelier
The song title paired with Miley’s outfit really should be enough but there’s a depth behind this song choice. “I’m just holding out for tonight,” Sia howls in Chandelier and from the moment Miley arrived on the red carpet it felt like she was doing exactly that. Every good chandelier should look brilliant but feel as if it’s about to fall and crush everyone at any minute. From Nicki Minaj calling her a bitch to having to segue from Kanye’s presidency announcement, Miley was very close to falling a number of times, but she managed to keep it together - just.
Miley Cyrus: Operator Please - Just A Song About Ping-Pong
Perhaps inspired by endless days of playing beer pong with Wayne Coyne while on hallucinogens, Miley was channeling serious Operator Please vibes with this one. It’s really a crime that this outfit was not designed for the band’s video when it released back in 2009. Just like the song, we’re sure people found the outfit ballsy, anarchic and pretty intolerable.
Jeremy Scott: Jamie xx - In Colour
In 2015 Jamie xx owns the rainbow in its various forms and Jeremy Scott is obvs wearing the cover of In Colour. Quite frankly, it’s the best way to stand-out in Loud Places, particularly when you’re almost a Stranger In A Room among many famous people. Without even a Girl by his side, Scott’s suit foreshadowed the Good Times that were about to be had. Gosh, this may even be the best suit of the night - Just Sayin’.
Nicki Minaj: Kanye West - Monster
Nicki Minaj was out for blood at the VMAs. She’d already taken countless swipes at MTV and also wanted to know, “What’s good, Miley?” What better way to get that point across than by dressing as a red version of the monster Douglas from Where The Wild Things Are. Like Douglas she could throw anybody miles and said it herself on her fire verse on Kanye’s Monster - “I’m a motherf**kin’ monster!” To add insult to injury, after she left Miley in a quivering heap, she went backstage and said, “just killed another career, it’s a mild day.”
Kylie Jenner: Janet Jackson - Rope Burn
Kris Jenner has given Kylie plenty of rope. At only 18 she’s been allowed to move into her own place, date Tyga and die her hair blue. But now Kylie is even using that rope to make her outfits. Props to her though because, while she’s probably given herself Rope Burn, she looks smokin’ and like Janet did on Velvet Rope, she’s made rope sexy rather than something you’d use to tie a dingy to a jetty. To be fair though, this outfits probably knot for everyone.
Kimye: Beastie Boys - Intergalactic
Kanye is a futuristic man. He knows if he’s running for president in 2020 he and his first lady won’t just have the USA to worry about - they’ll also have space. Kanye and his first lady channelled intergalactic vibes, coming as Windu from Star Wars. Beastie Boys’ Intergalactic soundtracked Kanye’s night not only because of his other galaxy-ready outfit but because the lyrics include “don’t tell me to smile” and “trying to change the world, I will plot and scheme.” Actually, come to think of it - did Kanye rip his VMA monologue from this song?
Britney Spears: The Freestylers - Push Up
Britney’s a busy woman, living it up in Vegas so she doesn’t have the time to shop for award show dresses anymore. Luckily everything old is new again and Britney pulled this dress from her Mickey Mouse Club days out of her cupboard. But whoahhhh Britney, seems like one or two things may have grown since then and, well, the title of the song says it all.
Selena Gomez: The Vaccines - Wetsuit
With a new record on the way and a full-time job in Tay Tay’s squad, Selena Gomez is a busy woman. So much so that she has very little time for play so with an awards show in LA she snapped up the opportunity to head out for a surf before the awards. Then, with very little time to get to the red carpet, she decided to keep the wetsuit, pop on some shoes and just pull down the zip a tad - voila. “Put a wetsuit on, come on, come on, grow your hair out long, come on, come on” - done and done.
Taylor Swift: Missy Elliott - Gossip Folks
You can crop it and decorate it with a pattern ripped from a David Jones bag, but we see you channeling the OG Missy Elliot. It may be bereft of the Adidas logo but Missy Elliot was always the queen of the tracksuit at award shows and that she will remain. Tay Tay on the other hand is all about the gossip. She used the VMAs to squash a beef with Nicki Minaj, promote a beef with Katy Perry and start a beautiful friendship with Kim Kardashian. That’s called gossip, folks and you know what Missy has to say ‘bout that? “Pue zoo, my kizzer, pous zigga ay zee.”
- Words by the interns' Sam Murphy for Cool Accidents
