Red Carpets, Fashion & Exploitation

From the fashion police To Bianca Censori's "Invisible Dress," all eyes were on women at The GRAMMYS.

Inside This Issue

• Fashion Police

• 2025 GRAMMY Red Carpet Trends

• Exploitation? Bianca Censori and Ye

• Premium Video: Thea’s GRAMMY Weekend Wrap

Thea Wood’s big fashion reveal; red carpet courtesy of the GRAMMY Museum. Dress by Andrew Clancey’s Any Old Iron. Boots by Johnny Was. Bag by I.N.C. Photo by Lurleen Ladd

Red Carpets, Fashion & Exploitation

It’s awards season. And if there is one category women have historically ruled, it’s the Red Carpet category. As fashion editor and former Project Runway judge Nina Garcia stated, “Shiney, tight, and short is the quickest way to look cheap.” You saw plenty of it on the competitive reality show. And what is more competitive than the red carpet?

All three design elements trended at the 67th GRAMMYS. The trick is balancing elements for a chic, camera-ready look. Here is my first “red carpet reveal” after weeks of reporting on my journey to ceremony. Even though I was not invited to walk the official red carpet. I created my own for the photo, thank you Canva. I loved my Shooting Star dress from Andrew Clancey’s Any Old Iron dress paired with silver cowboy boots for ultimate cool comfort. Plenty of “shiny” but short and tight are not my style.

The beauty of music awards ceremonies like the GRAMMYS, CMA’s and AMAs over other industry ceremonies is that outrageous scores more points than glamorous. If celebs successfully combines the two and/or mix in a social or political statement, all the better. Bjork’s swan dress. Lady GaGa’s meat dress. Cardi B’s oyster dress. They all fit into the Red Carpet Hall of Fame.

Scroll down to see my video montage of GRAMMY event highlights, new artists discoveries, and GRAMMY Museum exhibits!

Fashion Police

Late comedian Joan Rivers became the ruling red carpet judge thanks to her E! Channel show Fashion Police that premiered in 2010. Joan’s talent for mixing sexual innuendos with wise or poor fashion choices shot her career into the cable TV stratosphere. If you landed in the FP spotlight for good or bad showings on the red carpet, you “made it” in your industry. Women were usually the target, but men were not immune to her barbs.

No one knows quite why Joan got away with her sometimes wildly offensive jokes, but after her death in 2014, the show lost its charm and was cancelled in 2017. Would the show be green lighted today? No.

Don’t worry, social media influencers and YouTubers have picked up where Joan left off.

But you want to talk about exploiting eye candy for ratings! Think about it. The cable network made a lot of money from the question “what are you wearing?” on the carpet and then later praising or annihilating those looks. It may have single-handedly forced every celebrity to hire a personal stylist and made the rest of us feel like we need one before attending any public event.

Side Note: I am a certified image consultant and witnessed first hand the pressures women feel to look like a star at work, at home, and at the gym — let alone at an awards ceremony. The top concerns:

• I want to look as thin as possible

• I want to look approachable

• I want to look confident/capable

How all of these goals require somewhat conflicting strategies is a conversation for a different post. If you’d like me to write about it, DM me or leave a comment!

GRAMMY Red Carpet Trends

The fashion trends that stood out as I walked through a sea of music industry professionals at the 2025 GRAMMYS included:

• Sparkly, shiny suits. Suit jackets in a rainbow of colors and sparkles were everywhere. The strong, wide shoulders reminiscent of the Working Girl ‘80s power suit. They were my favorite. Janelle Monáe did it best until she threw it into the audience. None other than Taylor Swift picked it up and popped it on with her signature red dress. That jacket will fetch a lot of money one day for a charity!

• Corsets. Nothing like faint-inducing outer shape wear to get a little extra attention. The effect is sexy, nonetheless. Alicia Keys did it best pairing it with a headdress that wowed.

• Cutouts/Keyholes. Usually along the abdomen or off-center on the hip/waistline, this trend has been around for a while. Miley Cyrus nailed it.

• Hotpants. A misleading term, hot pants are essentially short shorts, or “Daisy Dukes” in all manners of fabric. We walked by a group of hot pants-wearing fashionistas in the hallway — I’m thinking they may have been the dancers for Charli XCX’s performance. In cases like Doechii’s stage performance, they were more like swimsuit bottoms with a matching bralette. Think Olympic volleyball team.

• Sheer/nude. If you ask me, this trend is getting out of hand and not in a genius way. If all I see is your body, then where is the creative design? I know the sexual allure will attract eyes, but that’s merely a transactional goal. I like it best when there’s a thoughtful fabric-to-body balance. Guitarist Grace Bowers and DJ and red carpet queen Paris Hilton looked the most comfortable and chic.

• Men are getting more into the fun. I saw lots of bright colors and patterns on the guys. Teddy Swims proved men can pull off pearls, too! More of this, please.

Canada’s TMS did a great wrap-up of trends on their morning show. Critical but in a kind way that Canadians pull off better than Americans.

Exploitation? The Bianca and Ye Incident

You didn’t think I’d mention the sheer fashion trend without talking about the stunt that 47 year-old rapper Kanye West (Ye) pulled with his 30 year-old wife Bianca Censori? After stating in her ear, “You’re making a scene now,” she dropped her fur coat for a “reveal” that left nothing but a fully-transparent nylon mini-dress (the term “dress” employed loosely). They walked, posed, and exited without staying for the ceremony. Rumors ran that they were kicked out, which apparently was not the case.

ICYMI, here is a quick recap from El Independiente. I chose this clip because they did not blur out the dress and the original audio was left in place.

Paparazzi yell Bianca’s name trying to get that money shot. One male photographer yells out “Kanye, fantastic! Bianca, your dress!”

Soooo, here we go.

1. What the fuck was so fantastic that Ye deserved praise? Escort his nude wife down a row of photographers? He later said, “Thank you to all the outlets who recognized us and gave us back the energy we put in.” Excuse me, “we” put in? Looks like Bianca was the one expending all the energy, baring her body and soul for public consumption while Ye smugly stepped back in his I-just-came-from-church-of-Ye security guard outfit.

2. What was so remarkable about the dress? The only remarkable thing anyone noticed were Bianca’s no-longer-private assets. Ye claims the “Invisible Dress” was tailored six times before walking the carpet, according to E! News. I guess that made it couture? They took it a step further at the GRAMMYS after party where Bianca changed into a mesh body suit that also required blurring for TV. Lots of social comments state that he’s just exploiting his wife.

3. And guess what! It was all in the name of promoting Ye’s new clothing line for women that directly competes with… drumroll… ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s “SKIMS” clothing line. The YZY Women bodysuits retail for the low price of $20 (SKIMS run $25 - $120) and he claims that one size fits all. Ye posted that he’s “scaling innovation,” but maybe he should start with scaling sizes. If he’s cracked the code to a one-size body suit that properly fits all body types, we’re all waiting to be enlightened. Ye says he’s seeing his vision become reality, so I’m guessing that means he envisions all women dressing like they are not dressed in public. You can’t make this shit up.

The guys at TMZ pitched the idea that Ye is a brilliant marketer, because of course they did. Most likely, Ye is exploiting his wife to get the attention that he so craves. If he wanted to be original, he could have donned the invisible dress with impossibly high heels and teetered down the red carpet himself. That would have been an impressive feat.

I’m not a professional marketing guru, but this strategy is stale. Let’s look at the pattern:

• Kim says her ex-husband and fashion designer helped as a ghost creative director for her SKIMS line. Been there done that.

• Kim publicly wore SKIMS bodysuits in 2019 to support the brand’s launch just like Bianca is now doing in 2025. Take two!

Is Bianca simply Kim 2.0?

Bianca is a beautiful woman, but in order for a stunt to be a brilliant marketing strategy, it has to sell product in addition to getting press. The bodysuit had not yet sold out when I checked the website two days ago. Let’s think like a marketer and designer… How many women were inspired to go out and purchase the invisible dress or mesh bodysuit after the GRAMMYS? What about the overall “look” is relatable to the everyday woman?

And if there is one thing that Project Runway judges taught me, it’s always to ask: Where would a woman go wearing that outfit?

BREAKING NEWS

Today, Shopify took down Ye’s Yeezy brand commerce site for violating terms of service after the entire store was reduced down to selling just a single t-shirt with a swastika on it. A former Yeezy employee is also filing a lawsuit claiming that Ye sent her antisemitic and misogynistic texts. (Brilliant marketer my ass.)

GRAMMYS WRAP VIDEO

I was going to post this for premium subscribers, but it’s too fun not to share with everyone. A new Hidden Tracks article is coming out featuring Nina Simone in honor of Black History Month. Upgrading helps keep this newsletter and podcast alive! Any and all support is greatly appreciated :)

Thank you for joining our band of dreamers, rule breakers, and rockstars.

It’s a wrap!

Thea 🎶