A great red carpet look used to just be about a megawatt dress and diamonds. Nowadays, things are a little more interesting, with onlookers wanting to be told some kind of story, whether it's about supporting sustainability (Cate Blanchett rewearing some of her most iconic red carpet outfits at last year's Venice Film Festival), championing young design talent (Beyoncé posting about Charlotte Knowles) or using fashion as a weapon of protest (2018's Golden Globes, where attendees exclusively wore black as a show of solidarity with #TimesUp). At yesterday's BRIT Awards, Dua Lipa delivered, paying homage to icons of this country's music scene with her custom-made outfits from Vivienne Westwood.
Arriving at the O2 Arena, Lipa backed the corset trend with a minidress in mustard yellow silk. Westwood signature punk stamp was seen in the combination of suspender tights, lace-up platforms and a three-strand pearl choker, but it was the singer's choice of hairstyle, Winehouse's signature backcombed beehive, that prompted a moment of nostalgia. In fact, Lipa would go on to win the same award, British Female Solo Artist, later that night as Winehouse, who took home the gong in 2007.
But that wasn't her only trip down memory lane. Taking to the stage to perform a mash-up of songs from Future Nostalgia, which won her British Album, Lipa revealed she was wearing what is surely the ultimate fashion throwback in pop, a chain-embellished blazer dress that had been hand-painted with the Union Jack. Of course she was referencing Geri Haliwell, who wore the itsy-bitsy minidress to 1997's BRIT Awards.
Haliwell was clearly ticked by the tribute, posting on Instagram: 'Girl Power at the @brits last night. Thanks and congratulations @littlemix and wow @dualipa you wore it well!' Mel C also chimed in, commenting below the post: 'Amazing women.'
SEE: Corsets: A History In Pictures
Diamonds might have been her best friend, but Marilyn Monroe - here in 1958 - was also closely acquainted with the corset.
She prefers a more undone glamour today, but back in 2005 Victoria Beckham was a nip-it, tuck-it corset devotee.
Now this is how you wear a corset. In 1960's The Millionairess, Sophia Loren serves up a masterclass in bombshell appeal. We bow down.
Come to think of it, have you ever seen Dita Von Teese in anything other than a corset? The burlesque superstar always knows how to wow.
In the 1988 adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons, Glenn Close shows its full swoon-appeal.
At the 2016 Met Gala - theme: Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology - Lady Gaga opted proved the corset didn't have to be a thing of the past in futuristic Versace.
You might think this look is all about the hair, but you'd be wrong. Helena Christensen wears a corset in John Galliano's SS93 show.
Madonna made Jean Paul Gaultier's conical bra corset iconic on her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour.
Mic drop moment. At a post-Brit Awards party in February 2019, Lizzo was looking Good As Hell in a patent red corset.
Vivienne Westwood is the corset's catwalk queen. Here a look from her AW98/99 collection proves exactly why.
In Paris in 2019, Bella Hadid proves that a corset can be (whisper it) understated.
If you already think double-denim is scary, look away now. Kim Kardashian is dedicated to the corset cause. Here she wears a puff-sleeved denim design, custom-made for her by Burberry's Riccardo Tisci, with leather chaps.
The corset is here to stay, at least according to Dior's Maria Grazia Chiuri, who showed them in her Resort 2021 collection.