M.I.A.'s Maternity Wear: A Retrospective (SLIDESHOW, VIDEO)

Let's be honest: the real winner at Sunday night's Grammy Awards was rapper M.I.A.'s pregnant belly, draped in show-stopping sheer ensemble during her jaw-dropping performance with T.I., Jay-Z, Lil' Wayne, and Kanye West. And we mention that Sunday was her due date?

31-year-old M.I.A. gave the best pregnant performance we've seen since a nine-month pregnant Amy Poehler brought the house down with her Sarah Palin rap on SNL in October (and gave birth one week later) .

The rapper born Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, who spent her life between London and Sri Lanka, has had an epic year: She's expecting her first child baby with fiance Benjamin Brewer, the son of Warner Music Group Chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr., her single "Paper Planes" was a hit and nominated for "Record of the Year" at the Grammys, and she worked on the soundtrack for "Slumdog Millionaire," for which she received an Oscar nomination.

Here's a look at the Grammys' "Best Dressed Belly" and all the maternity wear that came before it.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

At the Grammys on Sunday, February 8th, 2009--her due date. At right, kissing fiance Benjamin Brewer.

WATCH the performance:

See more Grammys photos.

Comments

[starmusicmoe]

Exclusive video's 4 "M.I.A"

GUYS U need to check those video's outtttttt

http://www.mtviggy.com/desi/music-video-mia-paper-planes

http://www.mtviggy.com/desi/mia-citizen-of-the-world

http://www.mtviggy.com/global/mia-performs-galang-live

http://www.mtviggy.com/desi/mia-pull-up-people-under-the-stars


**********­**********­Enjoy*****­**********­**********

[Rhonnybay]

loveeeeeee­eeeeeeeeee MIA.....

I loveeeeeee­eeeeeeeeee the horrid outfits.

Its called: FUN!!

goodness

[mphalen]

Both her belly and face has blown up with this pregnancy.

[BluebirdofUnhappiness]

Didn't see the Grammy's. The outfit was theactrical, seemed appropriate for the venue...and she had sensible shoes---a bonus. I am a little concerned about the drunk allegation tho--good way to fry the baby's brain, very very very bad idea if it's true

[BeachBubbaTex]

I'm not a designer, but don't you think the outfit was intended to be over-the-top? The black-and-white dots over her largest, er, attributes filmed in b/w?

In any event, I'm a longtime MIA fan. If you haven't heard her (or about her) please do yourself the favor... she's going to be around for a while.

[Wordstosay]

She looked like she was having fun and the attention was on her can you tell me what else on that night was shown -for I was too busy watching news problems and looking for employment after being laid off and looking for another place to stay...I have no problem with this woman making the money for her baby and looking entertaining while doing it!

[leftoflennon]

No one on the CORNER got swagger like her no day!

[Furby]

She a hooker? Really?

[leftoflennon]

No ONE GOT SWAGGER LIKE HER!

[Jenniferkara]

She looked ridiculous. Even if she wasn't pregnant it was a horrible outfit. She looked like a large black and white ladybug.

[JewJitsu05]

The other outfits are fine but that black what ever you call it is HIDEOUS!

and you know it! I can't believe she wore that, if I were her BF and she was talking about going out in that I would dump her on the spot.

That thing is HIDEOUS!

[ricland]

Seriously, I'm wondering why they all just didn't pull their chairs in a circle and done a couple of bars of Hambone.

[kittykali]

LOVED THIS OUTFIT AND HER SENSE OF STYLE!!!!!

SHE, LIKE MOST PREGNANT WOMEN, IS BEAUTIFUL IN THOSE PHOTOGRAPHS!!!

[ricland]

I think you're confusing beauty with class.

You see, beauty is something you're born with.

Class is something you have to work at.

[kittykali]

I MADE NO MENTION OF "CLASS"......


AND YOU'RE CONFUSING "STYLE" WITH "CLASS".......


M.I.A., LIKE GWEN STEFANI, HAS HER OWN SENSE OF STYLE AND IT'S FABULOUS!

[muirbeach]

Gotta go with the majority on this one - that was one horrible outfit. I couldn't even tell she was actually pregnant - thought it was some kind of joke clown suit. Drop dead Gorgeous woman on stage with all the dudes dressed to kill- the only woman included - and she shows up looking like John Belushi doing the killer bee routine on Saturday Night Live. Now the dress she arrived in was beautiful. She needs a new stylist!

[ricland]

And the fact that she was blasted out of her gourd shouldn't be held against her either.

Like Dean Martin used to say: "You're sober as long as you can hang onto a lamp post without falling offf."

[pulpfashion]

The outfit was hideous! If she in fact has a stylist - the stylist should be fired... If she is depending on her own fashion sense she should seriously consider hiring a stylist. She looked like a giant black & white ladybug wearing over-sized pasties & a polka-dott diaper.

I know nothing about rap music and had never heard of MIA. I would have flipped the station for that performance but I could not take my eyes off of that ridiculous unflattering thing she was wearing & thinking to myself how wrong it was on so many levels...

I was so disturbed that I had to look her up on the internet. AND many people that have not heard of her - now have. I can't stop talking about her!

[smubiatch]

You must be living under a rock if you have never heard of M.I.A. Let me tell you a little bit about Maya since you are obviously ignorant on the subject...

She is a song writer, producer, singer, graphic artist, photographer, college graduate, and the founder of her own record label. Rather than singing about practically nothing like most artists these days (i.e., Kelly Clarkson's new hit "My life would suck without you"), Maya writes political lyrics that address issues such as poverty, war, and the working class.

And this is just the beginning of her accomplishments. The fact that you would attack someone, especially a woman who is 9 months pregnant, based on a costume they wore while performing is absurd. I see your username is 'pulpfashion' but you obviously don't know anything about that either as Maya is the epitome of fashion and popular culture. You seriously need to rethink your attitude.

BOO YA KA SHA!

[pulpfashion]

Clearly I have been living under a rock - I have no idea what BOO YA KA SHA means. Care to educate me on that as well?

I do appreciate your insight on Maya - she is obviously quite talented and deserves much respect for her accomplishments.

Fashion is art and art is subjective. Personally I thought it was an unfortunate choice.