The 2026 Grammy Awards were a big night for music.
Sunday night’s awards show was also a big night for celebrity fashion.
No one better embodied that than Chappell Roan.
The spectacular musician wore a sheer custom gown that hung suspended from her nipple piercings. See? Not everything is terrible.
Music isn’t the only art form
On Sunday, February 1, Roan attended the 2026 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
There, she turned heads and created the show’s first viral moment with nothing more than one jaw-dropping look.
Roan wore a fashion statement by Miguel Castro Freitas, the Mugler creative director.
The custom negligee dress came with a matching cape. Both are silk georgette (thus the sheer look) in a bold, deep red.
That look was already phenomenal. But Roan stepped it off a notch when she shed the cape, leaving only the barely-there sheer material suspended from nipple rings.
To be at least as clear as Roan’s dress, she does appear to be wearing pasties under the dress.
(Pasties are not uncommon for cosplay or celebrity fashion, but that sounds like a complex accessory to wear in conjunction with piercings)
People with a more intimate understanding of the fashion world than any of us have compared the look to Manfred Thierry Mugler’s 1998 spring/summer collection.
The label has reported confirmed that this was the inspiration — now reinterpreted in a custom look for Roan.
It was not Roan’s only look for the evening. But it was the boldest and most sensational. Good for her!
Grammys dresses have been cultural moments for decades
At the risk of showing our ages, we here at THG remember the media buzz over Jennifer Lopez’s green Versace dress.
(That was also for the Grammy Awards — back in 2000, so about four days after Roan’s second birthday)
The conversation fixated upon “how” Lopez had kept her dress in place. The idea of double-sided tape keeping fabric in place had simply never occurred to many people.
That was when the Twin Towers were still up, fascism was something that “couldn’t happen here,” and yeah, people just had less imagination when it came to clothing.
But hey, Lopez’s dress got so much attention that Google Image Search was borne of it. And that was back when Google seemed like a decent, user-friendly company. It was a very different time.
Roan has made bold fashion statements on the red carpet before.
For example, she wore a Jean Paul Gaultier dress to the 2025 Grammys that brought Edgar Degas’ famous ballerina paintings to life
Just days ago, she wore a mint green modern-meets-retro nurse ensemble by ILONA to the premiere of Charli XCX’s The Moment.
Obviously, this is Roan’s boldest look yet.
In addition to turning heads, it’s also inspiring more artists. (If you’re like me, you awoke to see people drawing their favorite blorbos in the same gown)
Good things can happen!
We wouldn’t necessarily say that Roan wearing such a phenomenal dress is an omen.
But it’s a reminder that, despite the horrors of our time, good things can and do happen. Even in the hellscape of 2026.
By the way, Roan took to the stage to present a Grammy to Olivia Dean.
Dean was this year’s Best New Artist winner. Roan of course took home the same award one year ago.
We are really looking forward to more of Roan’s music, by the way. “The Subway” is still a huge hit, but we’re greedy for more.