Whitney Houston Fashion Retrospective: Consummate Elegance, Always a Lady

Celebrated singer, actress, and model Whitney Houston—winner of six Grammys, two Emmys, and 22 American Music Awards—died on February 11th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel at the age of 48. Throughout her long career, Houston had earned a reputation for not only being one of the most brilliant voices in the music industry, but also for her inimitable ladylike elegance, her unmistakable signature style.

Houston was rarely ever a fashion victim—even though some of these clothes we're showing you, below, may seem pretty out-there in retrospect, remember that she launched her musical career in the mid-1980s, when dress-up pop acts like Culture Club (feat. lead singer, cross-dressing androgynous Boy George), Cyndi Lauper, and even Michael Jackson (in his early days) were all the rage. Houston's styling choices, in comparison, were tame—she wore a lot of monochrome looks in black, white, or red. Her silhouettes were relatively conservative—suits, shoulderpads, prom-dresses, turtlenecks.

Here's my very abridged breakdown of some of Houston's most memorable looks:

1985 - Saving All My Love For You: Whitney Houston put on a stunning red dress to perform her hit single at the Grammys in 1986. I wonder how many girls modeled their prom dresses after Houston's that year?__

1986 - American Music Awards: Whitney's 1985 album, Whitney Houston, won her seven American Music Awards in 1986 and 1987. Here she is at the 1986 awards show in an oh-so-'80s black-and-teal column dress, complete with giant bow on the shoulder and a rhinestone brooch: