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The ‘Make America Great Again’ dress and other looks that turned heads at the Grammys

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This year’s Grammy Awards red carpet could have rivaled the star power of New York Fashion Week, delivering the ultimate sartorial showdown and displaying some of the biggest awards show fashion moments in years.

Except it didn’t. Several fashionable celebrities skipped the red carpet or had jetted off to London for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards. And in the expected fashion showdown between Beyoncé and Adele, a pregnant Beyoncé bypassed the photo gantlet, leaving a fresh-faced Adele the red carpet winner.

Adele during the arrivals at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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The British songstress and Grammy winner didn’t disappoint, outfitted in a green long-sleeved floor-length Givenchy Couture gown.

She wasn’t alone in looking good for the red carpet. Other standouts included Paris Jackson (in a multi-colored Balmain look), Nick Jonas (in a blingy, studded Balmain jacket) and Jason Derulo (looking dapper in a tuxedo, vest and overcoat with fur trim), plus Carrie Underwood wearing a red long-sleeved Elie Madi gown with a diamond cutout.

“I usually don’t do red, but I was feeling it,” Underwood said.

For every Adele, Heidi Klum (in a short, metallic Philipp Plein minidress), Kat Graham (in a trio-striped asymmetrical dress) or Mýa (in a red pantsuit with a pussycat-bow blouse), there was a parade of cotton-candy looks, ranging from lime green-haired men (Mike Posner and Blackbear) to singer Girl Crush in what appeared to be a dress straight out of the board game Candy Land.

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Then there was the downright strange (Cee Lo Green, looking like a statue, in a head-to-toe gold outfit, including what appeared to be a mask, as his alter ego Gnarly Davidson).

CeeLo Green as alter ego Gnarly Davidson during the arrivals at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

And in these days of Donald Trump, of course there was a political statement, but not quite the type seen at fashion week in New York.

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Singer Joy Villa wears a "Make America Great Again" TRUMP dress during the arrivals at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Wearing the equivalent of a cartoonish slogan T-shirt, singer Joy Villa got political at the Grammys with a Trump-inspired red-white-and-blue gown featuring the president’s campaign slogan, “Make American great again.” On the train of the dress was the word “Trump” — in all-caps.

Laverne Cox during the arrivals at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Making a different kind of bold statement, Laverne Cox wore a skin-baring one-shoulder leather gown by L.A. designer Bryan Hearns.

Jennifer Lopez goes for a pretty-in-pink look during the arrivals at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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In the mix of looks, there were strong showings of pinks, dusty roses and lavenders, including Jennifer Lopez, who’s usually red carpet gold, looking more like a fancy bridesmaid at a Midwest wedding in a cleavage-baring Ralph & Russo frock than her glamorous self.

Grammy host James Corden also wore pale pink. His Tom Ford two-button Windsor dinner jacket had peak grosgrain lapels. And then there was Katy Perry, in her futuristic-meets-glam Champagne-colored Tom Ford embroidered mock neck tunic with a feather-embroidered tube skirt

Lady Gaga during the arrivals at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Just before the show began, a last-minute standout arrival stepped onto the red carpet.

Lady Gaga, who came to the Grammys to rock out with Metallica, turned heads in a nearly there look that appeared to have come from the wardrobe of “Fifty Shades Darker.”

The singer donned fishnet stockings, thigh-high platform boots, hot pants and a crop top. The look might have been her ultimate response to body shamers who questioned her Super Bowl outfits earlier this month.

marques.harper@latimes.com

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@marquesharper

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