Charli XCX has a sound all her own, but she also has a deep knowledge of music history, style, and culture; she did name her most recent album Music, Fashion, Film, after all, and had John Cale, Martin Scorsese, and Marc Jacobs pose for the cover. I always love seeing what Charli's up to and how she's shifting the pop music landscape, and for the MTV Video Music Awards 2026, the star brought the goth vibes with a long, layered style that felt like something Morticia Addams would wear if The Addams Family was set in 2026.

Charli oscillates between wearing her hair in its natural curls and going straight, but she picked the latter for the VMAs. The shiny, inky black strands were parted in the middle and curled under at the ends to really show off the layers, with the front portion perfectly cupping her jawline to frame her face. Can you not see the legendary Mrs. Addams wearing her hair as such in a new version of the Addams franchise, or perhaps a prequel before she meets and marries Gomez? Either way, she'd approve and probably take some styling tips from Charli too, or at least give her spooky Wuthering Heights soundtrack a spin.

It's not a Charli red carpet look without a major smoky eye, and she delivered big time at the VMAs with tons of dark eye shadow on her upper lids and an equal amount of black liner on her lower waterline, plus some extra shadow smoked out underneath for that smudgy, sexy, indie sleaze energy she's famous for. Instead of long lashes, Charli went for just a few strokes of mascara.

Charli isn't just fresh off her new album and a handful of VMA nominations, including one for Best Pop and another for Song of the Summer. She's also got a collab with Madonna, who is opening the show and is the most-nominated performer of the night; Charli hopped on a remix of Madonna's song “Danceteria.” Does that mean she'll be hopping onstage with the queen of pop? We sure hope so.

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