Kelsea Ballerini Gives Us Dolly Parton Vibes in Leopard & More Best Dressed Stars at the ACM Awards

Louisa Ballhaus
·4 min read

Tonight’s 55th Academy of Country Music Awards are, by necessity, different from every year before — there’s no audience, no press-filled red carpet, and, while the ACMs are live, they’ve been staged across three locations for social distancing safety. But like we said, these are changes they had to make, not ones they wanted to. And that makes us appreciate all the more the stars who went out of their way to make sure that this year’s awards would be like others in at least one way: the fashion. No surprises here, but country music’s female stars carried the carpet looks tonight in a major way, from Kelsea Ballerini’s Dolly Parton-inspired sequined look to Taylor Swift’s demure, autumn-toned ensemble. Here are all of country music’s best dressed celebrities at the 2020 ACM Awards — and no, none of that rolled out of bed and into my flannel nonsense made it through.

Kelsea Ballerini

Kelsea Ballerini’s leopard print, sequined dress was too much in all the right ways — who knew that buckles that big were back in style?

Pink

Pink was country-rock fabulous in a long floral dress topped with a leather jacket for her duet with host Urban.

Trisha Yearwood

Trisha Yearwood’s sequined gown and flowing curls served up Southern belle meets old Hollywood, and were the perfect backdrop for her stirring performance of “I’ll Carry You Home.”

Mickey Guyton

Pregnant, glowing, and making history all at once, Mickey Guyton’s performance of “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” was so fabulous we almost didn’t notice she’s also rocking one of the best gowns of the night.

Gwen Stefani

Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani couldn’t make it all the way to Nashville, but Stefani’s all-white denim over fishnets, and that lipstick? A punk-country dream.

Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood blessed us all with a performance of “Before He Cheats” in a stunning gold dress with matching platform heels.

But she wasn’t done yet — next, the country legend blessed us with a sweet pink tea-length number while she channeled Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Barbara Mandrell, and Martina McBride.

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift’s global debut performance of “Betty” comes tonight and she looks every inch the part in fitted trousers and her classic red lip.

Tenille Townes

Tenille Townes gleaming gold jumpsuit is every inch the winner, just like Best New Female Artist Townes herself.

Miranda Lambert

Miranda Lambert’s denim top wasn’t just apropos for her rendition of “Bluebird” at the “Bluebird Café,” but the Female Artist of the Year nominee (among other nods of the night) celebrated old-school honky tonk style with signature Western fringe and a wide sparkly belt.

Before you go, click here to see the most over-the-top VMAs looks in MTV history.

Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga

Launch Gallery: Country Music Couples We Can't Help Singing the Praises Of

More from SheKnows

Best of SheKnows

Sign up for SheKnows' Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.