The MTV Video Music Awards red carpet is always full of boundary-pushing fashion trends, and this year was no different. One of the biggest trends of the night? Basically no one wore pants.
OK, that's not quite true.
They were wearing something.
Many of them tried a trend known as lampshading. That's the practice of pairing tight, thigh-high boots with an oversized sweater, shirt or dress creating a lampshade-like silhouette. The volume on top helps tone down the skin-tight sexiness of the boots and lends the whole outfit an easy, cool, I-just-threw-this-together vibe.
Many of the celebs that donned this look did so with bold blazer dresses. From Taylor Swift's colorful beaded blazer to Megan Thee Stallion's leather look that demanded our attention, this look was everywhere on the red carpet this year.
Taylor Swift
Lampshading was alive and well in the look worn by the "Lover" singer. Bright colors and bold patterns were fully on display in the Versace beaded blazer with exaggerated shoulders and thigh-high black boots.
Megan Thee Stallion
The "Hot Girl" rapper paired a leather-studded blazer and minidress with matching thigh-high boots, living up to her aforementioned title of the season.
Pepa
Pepa, from the hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa, walked the red carpet in a leopard-print blazer dress with lace tights. The 52-year-old rapper, whose legal name is Sandra Denton, showed that women of any age can rock this silhouette.
Jonathan Van Ness
Jonathan Van Ness may not have lampshaded, per se, but he definitely wasn't wearing full-length pants. The gender-bending grooming guru from "Queer Eye" looked absolutely fabulous in a black romper with a dramatic cape draped over his shoulders.
Jamila Mustafa
The co-host of MTV's "TRL: Top 10" looked radiant in a cotton-candy colored sequined blazer that was asymmetrically button, all paired with a tight ponytail.
Natalie Friedman
The comedian, who has almost 1 million followers on Instagram (thanks to hilarious impressions of celebrities like Cardi B), achieved the lampshade silhouette with silver thigh-high boots and a gray embossed blazer with a plunging neckline.
Bregje Heinen
The Dutch model wore a gorgeous, long-sleeve silver minidress that showed lots of leg.
While walking around without pants might not work for the rest of us, anything goes at the MTV VMAs!
