Ariana Grande’s Best Red Carpet Looks: From Nickelodeon to ‘Wicked’

Ariana Grande‘s resume is a great show of her singing and acting talents, but one thing it fails to show? Ariana’s outfitting skills. Something she’s nailed from the very beginning of her career: crafting an image. She’s always struck that balance of having that girl next door je ne sais quoi and also having an iconic, recognizable image. She went from Cat on Nickelodeon’s Victorious, where her hair was bright burgundy to becoming one of the most beloved popstars in the world, where she had the longest, highest, silkiest ponytail that money could buy and always wore short skirts and bows. Now she’s literally Glinda, and she embodies that character. Need I say more? She has the outfits and the look that makes you notice and the talent that makes you stay.

Everyone knows by now that the red carpet is not just the entrance to a party, but a place where Hollywood’s power is brokered. It’s where icons are made, where dresses are shown like pieces in a museum, and it’s where attention is traded and measured. Ariana Grande is no fool to that. She has been using her slot on the red carpet lineup to her advantage for the last decade. She very artfully uses skin, hair, and glam, silk, bows, and taffeta to make you look. And look we do.

She makes fewer appearances now, which of course happens when you reach the A-list for life status that she’s gotten to. She hates media attention (valid), and she’s become very private. But that’s its own strategy. Wherever she goes, if ever she chooses to grace a red carpet, a Met Gala, a movie premiere, there we are. And that’s after a decade’s worth of work being a living icon.