Rihanna at the VMAs

Apppppparently, Rihanna's attendance at the VMAs was a last minute thing -- Splash News claims that her fans talked her into it, and I like to think that she was wearing this outfit while she was reading said messages on Twitter and watching a House Hunters marathon and decided to just get up and put on some jewelry and head out. That's MC Lyte on her tee shirt and I feel like MC Lyte was watching the VMAs at home in her own jeans and tee shirt and shaking her head like the rest of us at the Kids Today.

Rihanna and Harry Styles

"FML," she seems to be thinking here. "Taylor is going to KILL ME for this. I DIDN'T DO THIS ON PURPOSE, TAYLOR. They didn't have anywhere else to seat me!"

Rihanna at VMA after party

But obviously, she changed for the afterparty -- and while I am assumed by the fact that she's walking out of the party with her cocktail in her hand (is that even legal in New York?), I really love it when she dresses down. The LBD is a classic, but so is her face -- and you can really pay attention to it when she's not, like, wearing a pair of fringed Hefty bag hotpants and a bra made entirely of shellfish, or whatever. Miley Cyrus, take note.

VMAs Well Played, Rihanna

Rihanna is cracking me up. She didn't perform at the VMAs last night, and she wasn't nominated for anything, so I feel like she looked at her wardrobe and thought, "eh, whatever. I'm just going to wear jeans." And then of course she went back to the hotel and changed for the after-party. We live in a society. [Photos: Getty and Splash]