American Music Awards Dresses

Pop culture and music fans will no doubt be talking about who won what category at the American Music Awards 2011 the following morning, but they’ll also be talking about who wore what.

Some people may look to the red carpet to see which big names have arrived, but others see it as the ultimate fashion runway.

Although it seemed as if a lot of the usual celebrities, like Beyonce, Rihanna, and even controversial teen superstar Miley Cyrus, were missing from the red carpet, there were still plenty of others that graced the awards ceremony.

Among the best american music awards dresses were Taylor Swift, Heidi Klum, Nicki Minaj, and Katherine Hiegl, some of who were winners of their categories.

Heidi Klum wore a metallic mini with floral patterned perforations by Giles Deacon. The "Project Runway" host and mother of four may have had cutouts that revealed a little bit of skin, but she kept it tasteful, unlike another fellow mother (ahem, J.Lo). Dressed similarly was Sarah Hyland, who plays Haley Dunphy on TV’s favorite comedy "Modern Family." The 20-year-old actress wore a strapless mini dress by Amen that was embellished with sparkling sequins.

Katherine Hiegl, who presented an award for favorite country album, wore a Roberto Cavalli dress. The floor length gown had a plunging neckline and frontal slit that was subtly sexy. The simple and understated gown was asymmetrically adorned with sequins on one shoulder.

Taylor Swift, who went home with three awards, dazzled in her full-length Reem Acra gown. The sequined gold number fit like a glove and emanated the golden girl’s sweet style. Although the 21-year-old singer looked elegant, she plays it on the safe side a little too often. Fellow award winner Nicki Minaj also looked fabulously fierce at the American Music Awards 2011. This is perhaps the 28-year-old rapper tamest outfit, but nonetheless, she made a statement in her bubblegum pink hair and an Oscar De La Renta gown. The black lace bodice was completed by a full emerald silk taffeta skirt.

Also catching our eye was Selena Gomez, whose style seems to keep improving. The actress-singer emanated old Hollywood glamour in a pale gold dress with a deep-V neckline and thigh slit. The Giorigio Armani dress featured a dropped waist with a tasseled tie detail. To complete her outfit, Gomez was accompanied by her boyfriend, teen heartthrob Justin Bieber.

But there were just as many fashion wrongs as there were rights.

Reality star Audrina Partridge stepped out in a strapless micro mini. The side cutout seemed like an awkward afterthought, and it looked like that piece of fabric was just attached onto the bust of the other side. Her towering platform heels went over the top and looked tacky.

Speaking of tacky, media personality Phoebe Price wore a white floor length gown that was decked out in a lined and dotted symmetrical pattern. She paired the dress with a fur shrug and a strange concoction of a hat that is easily worse than the ones seen at the Royal Wedding.

Even though Katy Perry was honored as the only female pop star to have five No. 1 singles from one album, she definitely didn’t win any awards in the style category. Her Vivienne Westwood gown looked washed out, and the Chinese print was a definite miss. The singer, known for her quirky style, wore a different dress in shades of pink during her performance at the awards ceremony, which was only a slight improvement from before. It was the mullet version of a gown—structured on top and loose on the bottom.

Kimberly Perry of The Band Perry wore a Bottega Veneta piece on the red carpet. Unfortunately for her, Emma Stone donned the exact same dress five months ago and also looked five times better. The dress looked frumpy on the 28-year-old country singer, and the tassels on the bottom only reminded us further of grandma’s drapes.

But perhaps one of the worst dressed at American Music Awards 2011 was Jennifer Lopez. The usually clean and classy star bared too much skin during her performance on stage and gave the illusion of being naked. The transparent bodysuit featured the bare minimum amount of sequins to still be allowed on television. Not only was her outfit too revealing, her raunchy performance was also tasteless. When the 42-year-old mother accepted her award, she continued with the revealing trend in a one sleeved sheer gown. The black lace dress conveniently covered the appropriate places and perhaps would’ve been highly praised if she had not just been so scantily clad. Jenny From The Block may have won favorite artist in Latin music, but her overall performance, which was basically a live Fiat commercial, and attire was heavily criticized.

What a lot of wonderful gowns we saw at the American Music Awards 2011! Selena Gomez, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift [above] were clowning around in an array of bright, sparkly frocks - can you BELIEVE Ms Minaj was in an Oscar de la Renta ballgown?! - while Jennifer Lopez hit the stage in a brilliant glow-in-the-dark number. There was a lot of silvery delights on show too courtesy of Heidi Klum in a wicked Giles dress, Jennifer Hudson in metallic Jenny Packham and the aforementioned Selena in a veeery slinky gown. So without further ado, here's our round-up of who wore what...

american music awards dresses Alanis Morissette