In Three Bob Mackie Looks, Sabrina Carpenter Channels Cher & Britney Spears at the VMAs

Sabrina Carpenter earned her dual degree in fashion and pop history at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards in New York City. After showing up to the Biggest Night in Music in a lace Valentino number, Carpenter changed into a trio of vintage Bob Mackie designs throughout the evening—two of which had connections to a pair of legendary pop divas, no less.

Following three VMA wins, Carpenter capped off her evening at Studio 54 after-party in peak 1970s style. The singer slipped into an archival Mackie number that the American designer crafted for Cher’s The Cher Show performance with Tina Turner in 1975. The bold piece features a black body suit overlayed with strips of mirrored, blue-and-pink fringe. Carpenter styled her signature blonde hair in tight ’70s curls and sported mascara on her lower lashes. Finishing off the look was a pair of towering sandals, just tall enough not to get lost in her dress’s cascading fringe.

Back at the UBS Arena, Carpenter accepted her three Moon People trophies in another archival Mackie stunner. She changed into a beaded dance dress from Mackie’s spring 1986 collection. Up top, the piece glistened with multi-color sequins depicting florals and then moved into a side-swept skirt in black beaded fringe.

Completing Carpenter’s Mackie trio was a reference to a historic bra Britney Spears wore in 2001. During her VMAs “Tears” performance, the singer wore what appeared to be a replica of a diamond lingerie piece Mackie originally created for the 1981 Las Vegas stage production Jubilee!). Spears wore the bra 20 years later during an HBO special of her “Dream Within a Dream” Tour in 2001. The piece sold at auction this year for $78,000, though Carpenter’s version is most definitely an homage—not the original.

It’s become a tradition for Carpenter to channel music icons at the VMAs. At least year’s awards, she hit the red carpet in a show-stopping Bob Mackie design that had connections to both Madonna and Marilyn Monroe.

As an ascending music icon in her own right, it’s fitting that Carpenter has done her homework on those icons who have come before her.