(Red Carpet)
Kacey Musgraves' 2023 Grammys Updo Is A Literal Work Of Art
The singer’s hairstylist looked to sculpture for inspo.
Kacey Musgraves is a country singer first, but her most recent albums, Golden Hour and Star-Crossed span genres, and her style is just as fluid. Musgraves often channels the ‘60s and ‘70s with her outfits and beauty moments, especially her long, sleek espresso brown hair and shimmery disco eye makeup. But there’s always a modern element that transforms her look into an entirely fresh take. Such is the case with the Y2K-esque updo Musgraves wore to the 65th Grammy Awards.
Upon first glance, Musgraves’ updo is reminiscent of the trending styles from the early aughts, but instead piling and pinning strands of hair to the crown of her head, the singer’s hairstylist Giovanni Delgado created a neater, glossy style inspired by the art world. “For the carpet, we decided to do something modern and effortless,” Delgado tells TZR. “The inspiration was sculptural shapes from artists like Constantin Brâncuși [a Roman sculptor].”
An artful updo starts with hair prep. Delgado detangled and added shine to the singer’s damp hair with UNITE’s 7SECONDS Detangler, T3’s Detangle Duo brushes, and UNITE’s 7SECONDS Blowout Crème. Then, the stylist blew-out her hair with T3’s Afar Travel Hair Dryer, a compact, but powerful hot tool that speeds up drying time without sacrificing hair health or shine — convenient when getting ready to hit a red carpet.
Before physically doing the updo, Delgado added a few subtle bends to Musgraves’ hair with the T3 1.5 Inch Singlepass curling iron so the ends of her hair are soft and twisted once it’s all pulled up. Then, he pulled Musgrave’s hair into a low ponytail, running a bit of UNITE’s U Oil through the tail for added softness and shine.
When twisting and pinning the hair, the stylist says it’s important to not overthink it. “Snatch your hair in a pony and begin to twist and pin,” he says. “Leave the ends out for a beautiful juxtaposition between undone yet modern.” Delgado left Musgraves’ chin-length curtain bangs out of the updo to add even more of that retro flare she’s known for.
A spritz of hairspray (Delgado used UNITE’s GO365) is the final touch to nailing this look and ensuring it lasts all night — whether or not you’re walking a red carpet and performing in the Grammys tribute to country legend Loretta Lynn like Musgraves.
And while Delgado looked to art when conjuring up this style for Musgraves, the singer’s makeup artist Moani Lee leveled up the monochromatic trend with Charlotte Tilbury products by matching her smoky eye, blush, and glossy lip to her blush pink Valentino jumpsuit and feather cape.
