Carrie Underwood’s drastic transformation since her “American Idol” debut has been a little tough for some of her fans to accept. But she ain’t in Checotah anymore, and she’s got an edgier look to prove it. One of the style snafus she regularly runs into is wearing outfits that her fans consider scandalous because they conflict with her former image as an average small-town country girl.
When she was competing on “American Idol,” a typical Underwood outfit was blue jeans and a long-sleeved top. “Cleavage can be done in a tasteful manner — you can be intelligent, sexy and not have boobs everywhere,” she told Glamour in 2007. She proved this over a decade later with the ethereal floral gown that she wore to the 2018 ACM Awards in Las Vegas. But when she rocked a sheer black jumpsuit with a similar plunging neckline during her “Reflection” residency in Sin City, some fans found the look positively sinful.
Underwood shared a photo of the outfit on Instagram, and the style shamers came out in full force. “Sing Church songs and then dress like this,” one person wrote. “Kinda hypocritical…. Lost a lot of respect.” Another person commented, “What happened to your standards? Really disappointed over this choice of clothes. (Lack of clothes).” A third person begged the “Dirty Laundry” singer, “Please take time to reflect before wearing this out again.” In addition to sometimes dressing in a manner that some fans find offensive, Underwood has chosen outfits that were poor fits for the events she was attending, and her fashion choices have failed her in other surprising ways.
Her NASA look that was full of craters
Carrie Underwood, her husband Mike Fisher, and their sons Isaiah and Jacob visited the NASA Space Center in Houston, Texas, in 2022. They were given a tour of the facilities by astronaut Shane Kimbrough, who invited them inside the Mission Control Center and let them drive a moon rover. Underwood was dressed in a pair of stone-wash denim joggers and silver platform high-tops that somewhat resembled an astronaut’s bulky moon boots. However, it was her T-shirt that got her fans talking.
Underwood’s top was pock-marked like the surface of the moon. It’s actually become fashionable for the insanely wealthy to sport designer clothing full of holes, with Dior even selling a distressed white tee for $1000. However, some of Underwood’s Instagram followers found it baffling that she would step out in public in such a top. It brought to mind a pair of tighty-whities that had been in a 20-something’s wardrobe rotation during the entirety of their college education. “You’d think she’d have more respect for NASA than to wear that tacky shirt,” one critic remarked in the comments section of Underwood’s post chronicling the tour.
The garment looked familiar to one Instagrammer, who quipped, “Is that the best shirt you could find? I yell at my husband when he tries to wear clothes like that to go out!” Another person suggested a better use for the top, writing, “Is that t shirt really necessary?? It looks like it belongs in the rag bin out in the shop!” Underwood also has to use something to polish her massive awards haul.
Carrie Underwood’s ACM Awards dress that was a potential death trap
Carrie Underwood’s ACM Awards looks always get a lot of attention, and the wine-colored gown that she wore during her performance of “I Told You So” in 2009 did not disappoint. Folds of satiny fabric were piled up around her, and a long train extended back towards the stage’s scarlet curtains. The visual impact was dramatic, but Underwood possibly put herself in peril to achieve it. “That dress was hard to get into, oh my gosh, it basically stood up by itself, so I had to, like, crawl in,” she told Allure. Once she was secured inside the pretty prison, she was trapped there — she could only move if other people helped her by picking up the massive skirt.
Underwood said that a hiccup in the show’s production meant that she was stuck on stage longer than intended. “The curtains were supposed to close, and then everyone would get on the stage to help me,” she recalled. “The curtains never came down, so I was just standing there, and the host kept going.” The audience had a good laugh as Underwood awkwardly tried to move her skirt herself, but what if somethin’ bad had happened while she was struggling with that sea of material, such as a fire? Speaking of which, Underwood compared her dress to something hot and dangerous ahead of the event. “It’s like lava,” she told AP (via Today).
Her liquid leggings were way too loud
When someone complains about clothing being too loud, they usually mean it’s so brightly colored that it’s offensive to the eye, or that it features an obnoxious pattern. But Carrie Underwood was not referencing the appearance of her liquid leggings in a 2023 Instagram post. “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you…my pants are too loud!!!” she captioned a video that showed her modeling the shiny black bottoms.
When Underwood walked in the leggings, they made a noise somewhere between a squeak and a squelchy crunch. “Sounds like a bag of chips being crushed,” one of her Instagram followers opined. “It’s like the noise you hear when a kid is playing with a balloon right before it pops lol,” another comment read. Underwood had previously worn a pair of similar pants while performing at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival, and she presumably didn’t have the same issue with them. If she did, she probably wouldn’t have purchased the noisy pair without trying them on first.
Some of Underwood’s fans offered up solutions to silence her leggings, such as slathering them with lotion or baby powder. If the “Stretchy Pants” singer gave her britches a rubdown, maybe next time it made them think before they squeaked.
Her boots weren’t made for rockin’
Jesus, take the heel — and glue that puppy back on. In 2016, Carrie Underwood shared a photo of a casualty of her Storyteller tour: A cage-like boot. Its stiletto heel had partially detached during a concert in Winnipeg. Clearly, Underwood needs to choose stage footwear made of sturdier stuff to ensure that she doesn’t fall and bruise her tailbone during a performance.
Underwood definitely puts her shoes to work when she’s touring. “It’s surprisingly physical being on stage — there’s a lot of cardio,” she told People. “I’m running around in heels and I honestly write songs that I don’t give myself time to breathe.”
Before her peep-toe boots’ sad demise, one of the outfits Underwood wore with them was a black mini dress that had a warrior princess vibe — it was covered in silver studs and featured a fringe cape. She also rocked a molded waist cincher with lace-up accents. The ruined shoes complemented that outfit so well, and Underwood’s fans joined her in mourning their loss. “No!!!! Not the hot mama boots!!” one person wrote. “Sad about the boots! Glad it was worth it!” read another message. Other fans commented on how lucky Underwood was that she didn’t get injured, and one Instagrammer even suggested that she should consider ditching stilettos altogether. “Would your career or popularity suffer if you stopped wearing high heels? I doubt it,” they wrote. But as unsafe as they may be to perform in, it’s hard to imagine the “Give Her That” singer ever giving up her heels.
Her minor morning show wardrobe malfunction
Sure, Carrie Underwood’s one-time rumored romantic rival Jessica Simpson played Daisy Duke in “The Dukes of Hazzard” movie, but Underwood is the undisputed queen of pulling off daringly short denim shorts. She wore a pair with her matching boots and colorful floral top when she performed on “Good Morning America” in 2024, where she also spoke about returning to “American Idol” as a judge. Unfortunately, some viewers were too distracted by her shorts to be excited about her new gig.
On Instagram, one commenter exclaimed, “Not the denim diaper!” Another wrote, “How dare her stylist let her wear those ill fitted shorts! They have one job!” The shorts were also short enough that fans could see up them a bit when Underwood was filmed from a lower camera angle. “Pretty sure I saw some undergarments there,” read a third comment.
There was quite a bit of shaming over the shorts’ length, with one person writing, “I wouldn’t think her husband would love her dressing like that in front of other men!!” About that — Mike Fisher does criticize her leg-baring looks. “When I’m wearing some outfits, he’ll say, ‘That dress is a little short, don’t ya think?'” Underwood told Self in 2012. Urgh. It can’t be easy to hear that, so maybe Underwood’s fans shouldn’t be quite so hard on her when she shows a little leg, even if she does end up revealing more than she intends to.
