The Vest of the Grammys

Grammy fashion, supposedly, is "anything goes" – an opportunity to let your freak flag fly, get a little rock 'n' roll, show some skin, etc. But the looks on display last night - with the exceptions of a wonderfully courageous Imogen Heap who dressed, I think, as a tree? and OK Go, who personified "the red carpet" - were classic and tailored. The biggest fashion trend of the evening was the triumphant return of the three-piece suit and, in particular, the piece that makes it three: the vest. For too long, vests have been relegated to the realm of thrift store bargain bins – a useless item that only hopelessly out of date losers would wear (full disclosure: my childhood wardrobe included many vests). Think of Grandpa in Little Miss Sunshine, who wore his bad-boy black leather vest as a, um, vestige of his glory days. But as we saw last night, there really is something sexy, masculine and classy about a vest.

An ageless Sting, who opened the show with the reunited Police (do we care? It's not like Sting or the Police's songs have been out of the public eye…), wailed out "Roxanne" in a black vest sans shirt, showing off his yoga physique. Later, in the evening's final performance, Anthony Kiedis wore a white tank top and black vest. I think Anthony needs to get some fashion props here, because I know I've seen him in this look many times before, possibly in the '90s, with long shorts, the very combo he wore last night (as you may know, one of the Style Council's current mantras is grunge revival, and it's totally happening).

Justin Timberlake, seated at the piano, performed "What Goes Around Comes Around" in a gray vest and rolled up shirtsleeves for a very "late night smoky jazz club" vibe. John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, also vested, had more of a Hasidic diamond dealer thing going, accented by a beard and yarmulke-esque haircut. Ludacris, shorn of his locks, wore a gray three-piece on the red carpet, but stepped it up to a black tux when he performed "Runaway Love" with Mary J. Blige. But he removed his jacket to rap in a white cutaway waistcoat (aka vest…are we sick of this word yet?). By the way, Mary J.'s red halter pantsuit and winged hair, only one of four costume changes of the night, were totally foxy.

I was very proud of the Dixie Chicks, but not completely sold on the trio of voluminous, floor-length black empire waist dresses. In combination, repeatedly swaying up to the stage in long swaths of black, they created a sort of Cousin It effect. However Natalie Maines did have the best off-the-cuff line of the night, accepting their fifth Grammy: "I'm ready to make nice!"

Gnarls Barkley's airplane theme was a bit mystifying (I read that they were supposed to be escapees from Fantasy Island???), and unfortunately their orchestrated version of "Crazy" never really kicked in. Plus, why wasn't the orange jumpsuited female chorus waving light sticks? How could they have overlooked such an obvious opportunity for a great visual?

That's hardly a surprise given the shockingly bad production values of the show. The camera work was amateurish – veering all over the place, barely able to keep Mary J. in the frame when she was having one of those bent-over soul diva moments; then cutting off the Texas Playboys at the chest in order to show Bob Wills in the giant screen above them. Um, how about cutting between the two? The reams of white paper they sent down during the Chili Peppers' song threatened to choke Anthony Kiedis (and this was probably not recycled paper, which surely irked Al Gore, whose lapel Queen Latifah cutely picked a stray piece off). Meanwhile the fog that poured out of a smoke machine during Christina Aguilera's rendition of James Brown's "It's A Man's World" almost completely obscured her at one point. In a sexy twist on the evening's theme she accented a form-fitting white suit with a low-cut beaded vest.

Only one garment outshone them all, and that was James Brown's cape, brought onstage by his main man Danny Raye. With a beaming smile Raye held up the glittery red cape reading "Godfather of Soul," and then he draped it over the mic stand and the stage went dark. That's one mantle that will never be passed on.

posted by Steffie Nelson

photo courtesy of AFP

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