Charli XCX Brings Club-Classic Brat Fashion to the 2025 Grammys Red Carpet

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 3 February 2025

Charli XCX was everyone's favorite reference on the 2025 Grammys red carpet. The British pop star truly pulled out all the stops for her long-overdue anointment at the ceremony, where she's nominated in seven categories for her album Brat and its singles, including "360," "Apple," "Von Dutch," and "Guess."

Styled for the occasion by frequent collaborator Chris Horan, the 32-year-old looked like she'd just finished a long night of clubbing in a hand-shredded dusty blue chiffon gown from Jean Paul Gaultier. She accessorized the custom Grammys red carpet corset dress with black cut-out thong sandal boots, diamond stud earrings, and a naked pedicure. But when the self-professed party girl takes the stage for a performance later in the evening, she'll likely change into something that allows her strut and jump around the stage more freely.

Her glam for the evening paired a feline matte brown smoky eye with nude lips and Cher-length brunette curls. Throughout her Brat era, Charli has been rocking her natural hair texture in a symbolic act of defiance. Seeing her reprise the style on the red carpet tonight was a delicious full-circle moment.

A photo of Charli XCX wearing a dusty pale blue Jean Paul Gaultier chiffon corset gown and black sandal boots. — Charli XCX wears a dusty pale blue Jean Paul Gaultier chiffon corset gown and black sandal boots.

Charli XCX has attended the Grammy Awards twice before, but tonight marks her first time being nominated and asked to perform. Prior this album cycle, I would even go so far as to say she was beefing with the 67-year-old awards show.

Still, I don't think I fully appreciated just how far the pop star has come until I revisited her 2017 Grammys red carpet appearance. Don't get me wrong. She looked powerful and gorgeous in her ruby brocade Vivienne Westwood sweetheart-neckline dress and matching Gianvito Rossi ribbon stilettos. Timeless glamour is timeless for a reason! It's hard to imagine the self-assured Charli XCX we know today choosing to play it so safe, but it was an endearingly conservative choice for mid-twenties Charli.

A photo of Charli XCX sporting Vivienne Westwood sweetheart-neckline dress and matching Gianvito Rossi pumps at the 2017 Grammys. — Charli XCX sports Vivienne Westwood sweetheart-neckline dress and matching Gianvito Rossi pumps at the 2017 Grammys.

There is a kind of glamour in the anti-glamour of Brat fashion, though. At the 2024 Met Gala, for example, the singer walked the red carpet in a bitchy punk-rock gown made from fifteen artfully shredded and draped white T-shirts. Dreamt into existence by Horan and Marni creative director Francesco Risso, the distressed patchwork dress was one of the evening's best interpretations of the chosen theme: “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” Vampy eggplant-colored lipstick and a spiky Edward Scissorhands-esque updo tied the edgy ensemble together.

A photo of Charli XCX wearing a custom Marni dress at the Met Gala celebrating “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” — Charli XCX wears a custom Marni dress at the 2024 Met Gala celebrating “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.”

Charli also wore a custom Marni gown to the 2024 BRIT Awards, only a week after announcing the release of Brat. With a corset chest-plate and a dramatic train, the colorful creation mimicked the look of watercolor paints pooling together in a palette. Pinned hair kept the focus on her exaggerated cat-eye makeup, which paired taupe shadow with white liquid outline for an editorial take on winged liner.

A photo of Charli XCX posing in a watercolor Marni look at the 2024 BRIT Awards. — Charli XCX poses in a watercolor Marni look at the 2024 BRIT Awards.

It would be so gratifying to see Charli XCX sweep the 2025 Grammys. But no matter what happens, the hyper-pop pioneer will leave the ceremony with another iconic red carpet look under studded belt. She's just living that life.

Hanna Lustig is a staff writer at Marie Claire, where she gets to gab every day about the topics she holds most dear: fashion, beauty, and celebrity. Hanna’s editorial journey began with formative internships at Elle and InStyle, where she was lucky enough to work for some of the smartest women in media while she was still in college at the University of Tennessee. Hanna then accepted a digital culture reporting fellowship at Insider, where she helped carve out a new beat dedicated to covering influencers. Those experiences later served her well as a staff writer at Glamour, where she developed a knack for spinning quick turnaround celebrity news and trend reporting into juicy feature stories. Some of her greatest hits include an earnest ode to the no-pants trend, this meticulously reported feature exploring the rise of endoscopic facelifts, this snappy take on the Chanel-designed fantasy of Sofia Richie’s wedding, this tribute to WAGs past and present, and this timeline of Katie Holmes’s life and career as told through her denim collection.

Diane Keaton once hung up on Hanna during an interview, but thankfully that mishap did not derail what has otherwise been a deeply fulfilling career writing for and about women. As one of Marie Claire's resident experts on style and culture, her current coverage ranges from exploring TikTok's contrast makeup theory and the return of the boat shoe trend to interviews with costume designers for hit shows like Nobody Wants This and The Penguin. When she’s not at work, Hanna can probably be found listening to pop music, talking to her dog, and gossiping with her best friends. For more of Hanna’s perfect opinions on pop culture, you can follow her on Instagram and X.

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