Ariana Grande was not amongst the many attendees of last night’s Grammy Awards, but the pop sensation still managed to indulge in an awards-worthy look of her own—with a few very on-trend details sprinkled in, of course. Grande, styled by Mimi Cuttrell, shared a series of images to her Instagram in which she posed in a Balenciaga gown. The dress, from the brand’s fall 2023 couture collection, is designed in a very Barbiecore shade of pink, yes, but also featured a unique twist on the coquette bow trend.
Instead of, say, dozens of traditionally shaped bows lining the piece, it was made with various lengths and sizes of ribbons. The pieces became more dispersed as the strapless dress went on, allowing for a look at the white tights that Grande layered underneath. The one conventionally shaped bow was hard to miss—placed directly in the middle of the dress as the perfect candy-colored waist belt.
After a breakthrough past year on the runways and amongst fashion girls, bows don’t look to be going anywhere in 2024. But instead of the balletcore stylings which really propelled the trend, it seems that recent adoptees of the look are approaching things differently. Interestingly, Nicole Kidman also co-signed Grande’s exact (in another pastel shade) a few months ago.
Kidman debuted a powder blue version of the same Balenciaga dress for a Kering event in September. She paired her gown with velvet opera gloves but, like Grande, styled her hair in a sleek updo and rounded out her look with matching heels.
There appears to be a few main ways in which stars are going about bows these days. There’s Kylie Jenner and Julia Robert’s pared-back footwear version, Chloë Sevigny and her decision to dress like just one very big, big bow and, now, Grande’s ribbon Balenciaga moment. There’s something to be said for following trends, but there’s also power in making trends personal to your own style. Grande’s Balenciaga look does just that—and with news of her upcoming album eternal sunshine, out next month, we’ll be keeping an eye on just how her new era takes shape.
This post was originally published on W Magazine
