Long gone are the shiny suits and badly designed evening
gowns at the Crown Gospel Music Awards, which took place for the 12th
time this past Sunday in Durban.
The awards, which celebrate the best in the
industry, were previously synonymous with bad fashion. That’s no longer the
case.
There’s now a concerted effort by the genre’s biggest stars
to look like their best versions and that was evident at this year’s awards.
The one thing about the Crowns, is how everyone can walk the
red carpet. Members of the public are allowed to purchase VIP tickets, which
gives them the superstar treatment of walking the red carpet, sometimes
arriving at the same time as a major star and getting your picture taken with
them in the background.
It’s always tricky trying to find out who is famous and
who is not. Hence today we will focus on the real stars.
ZANELE LAMBOKAZI
NKAMBULE
Zanele has never met a princess dress that she doesn’t love.
And she also loves jewel colours and therefore this frothy emerald confection
of a dress, was on brand. It wasn’t perfect. There was too much material and
seeing the girdle so prominently through the dress, was not a good look. The
neckline though, is amazing.
PEAL MODIADIE
The co-host wore a Neviole dress, one from their recent
collection. The brand is the latest red carpet favourite of the starlets and Pearl
looked like a star in her column dress with an architectural bodice.
BABO NGCOBO
Brocade was a favourite of many of the gents at the Crowns
this year and Babo was one of those who got it right.
KHAYA MTHETHWA
The co-host had fun on the red carpet, and it helped that
the Prince Bespokes blazer he wore allowed him to show that funky, but classy
side to him.
DUMI AND ZIPHO
MKOKSTAD
Possibly the best dressed couple. The couple, who were
making their red carpet debut, looked like classic Hollywood stars. Dumi was
one of the few who went with a simple tuxedo and cummerbund, while Zipho played
around with embroidery, beading and feathers.
MacDonald Ndou
MacDonald loves his bright colours and no one was surprised that he wore a canary yellow blazer.
PULENG MARCH
She looked edgy and very event appropriate in the ruffled number.
SONIA MBELE
So the actress and producer made everyone laugh, thanks to
her antics on stage. Sadly, the dress was nothing to write home about. It was
dated and the hair didn’t help, too.
NORMA GIGABA
She stunned in this black gown by Sandile Xaba. Not that
anyone was surprised. She’s an avid fashionista and always loves looking good.
This was firmly in her wheelhouse.
ZANDI KHUMALO
Zandi Khumalo in Treasure Cindi at the #CrownGospelAwards pic.twitter.com/g1jCiCWGAF
— IOL Lifestyle (@IOL_Lifestyle) November 24, 2019
She walked the red carpet twice and that’s clever because
you get to take the early pictures with an empty carpet, have your pick of who
interviews you, before coming back do things again and this time you make time
for the fans, which she did. The dress? Very dated. I will give her props for
being able to take direction and give us different angles of the dress. I’m
sure the designer, Treasure Cindi, will be happy about that.
NELISIWE SIBIYA
The songstress literally shut down the red carpet when she
arrived. She had an entourage of four people helping her with her garment. It’s
dramatic and where better to announce yourself than at the Crowns? I’m certain
a couple of people were not impressed that she took up so much attention, that
other stars were ignored.
THE SUIT THAT ROCKED
THE CROWNS
The blazer that broke the #CrownGospelAwards
These are the only three whose picture we were able to take. We counted more than 7. pic.twitter.com/aAxzyvVwjJ
— IOL Lifestyle (@IOL_Lifestyle) November 24, 2019
It seems like all the guys decided to find this suit and
wear it. Where is it from? This went from faux pas, to funny after I spotted
the sixth person wearing it.