Selena Gomez’s Neon Versace Pumps Revealed Her Secret “Sunshine” Foot Tattoo at the AMAs

At the 47th American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on November 24, 2019, Selena Gomez arrived in a head-to-toe neon-green Versace look, pairing a strapless satin mini dress with matching pointed-toe pumps. The shoes’ low-cut vamps also left her “Sunshine” tattoo visible along the outer edge of her right foot.

The appearance came as Gomez returned to live television after a two-year break, opening the show with Lose You to Love Me and Look at Her Now. Before changing into her performance looks, however, her red-carpet outfit put the focus on a deliberately monochromatic Versace pairing.

Selena Gomez goes head-to-toe neon in a strapless Versace satin mini dress and perfectly matched pointed-toe pumps at the 2019 American Music Awards (Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / WENN / Charlie Steffens)

How Selena Gomez’s Versace Pumps Revealed Her “Sunshine” Foot Tattoo

Gomez’s “Sunshine” tattoo had already been part of her collection for several years, first appearing publicly in April 2016. She is one of several celebrities whose foot tattoos become especially visible in low-cut heels.

Selena Gomez’s “Sunshine” tattoo sits along the outer side of her right foot, where low-cut pumps can leave it visible

The tattoo honors her maternal grandmother, Debbie Jean Gibson. Gomez has referred to her grandmother as “Sunshine,” giving the small script tattoo a personal family connection.

Selena Gomez Goes Head-to-Toe in Neon-Green Versace

For the red carpet, Gomez wore a neon-green Versace mini dress from the house’s Spring/Summer 2020 collection. The strapless satin design featured gold Medusa-style buttons running along one side and an asymmetric draped ruffle.

The matching chartreuse Versace pumps extend Gomez’s monochromatic red-carpet look from the asymmetric satin mini dress all the way to her toes

The vivid color carried directly into her footwear, creating an uninterrupted look from dress to pumps rather than using neutral shoes to soften the palette.

Gomez wore her shoulder-length hair in a softly blown-out bob styled by Marissa Marino. Makeup artist Hung Vanngo kept the beauty palette comparatively neutral with brown-toned eye makeup and a nude lip, while Tom Bachik finished her nails with OPI Baby Take a Vow, iridescent shimmer, and Swarovski crystals.

Gold Medusa-style hardware and cascading ruffles add dimension to Gomez’s vivid Versace mini, balanced by layered Roberto Coin diamond necklaces

Stylist Kate Young completed the red-carpet look with layered Roberto Coin diamond necklaces and matching neon-green satin pumps.

A Closer Look at Selena Gomez’s Matching Versace Pumps

At 5’4¾” (164.5 cm), with a US shoe size 7.5, Gomez has frequently turned to high heels and sharply pointed pumps for red-carpet appearances. Her Versace pair at the AMAs featured pointed toes, low-cut V-shaped vamps, satin uppers, and approximately 4-inch stiletto heels.

The low-cut shape visually extended the foot beneath the short dress while also exposing the “Sunshine” tattoo along her right foot.

Rather than serving as a contrasting accessory, the pumps repeated the dress’s chartreuse-green shade and satin finish almost exactly.

A close-up of Gomez’s neon-green satin Versace pumps reveals their sharp pointed toes, low-cut vamps, slim stiletto heels, and her “Sunshine” tattoo along her right foot

The silhouette also fits a recurring pattern in Gomez’s footwear wardrobe. In 2022, she wore white Stuart Weitzman Anny pumps with similarly sharp pointed toes and low-cut vamps, showing how she uses the classic pump shape with both bright monochromatic looks and quieter tailoring.

Her relationship with Versace footwear has continued. For a 2024 appearance at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Gomez again dressed head-to-toe in the Italian house, pairing a black dress with Versace Gianni patent-leather slingback pumps with pointed toes and stiletto heels.

The neon-green strapless satin dress came from Versace’s Spring/Summer 2020 collection

Selena Gomez Wore Four Looks From the Red Carpet to Her Opening Performance

The neon Versace mini and matching pumps were Gomez’s red-carpet look, the first of four outfits she wore during the ceremony. Two more appeared during her opening performance, followed by a fourth look that she wore while seated in the audience.

Gomez opened the broadcast with “Lose You to Love Me” in a floor-length black dress with long sleeves and a high neckline. As the same opening performance transitioned into “Look at Her Now,” she removed the black layer to reveal a crystal-embellished bodysuit worn with black fishnet tights and tall black boots.

The switch from the restrained black dress to crystals and boots visually matched the shift from the ballad into the more upbeat second song.

After the opening performance, Gomez changed again for her seated audience look, wearing a yellow satin and sheer green lace Versace dress with decorative straps and vivid red lace tights. She finished the eclectic color combination with green satin pointed-toe shoes embellished at the front, returning to the saturated footwear palette she had established with her red-carpet pumps.

Gomez Also Got a New Thigh Tattoo Before the AMAs

The “Sunshine” tattoo was not Gomez’s only notable ink connected with the evening. Shortly before the awards, she added a much larger design high on her left thigh depicting praying hands holding rosary beads.

Unlike the foot tattoo, however, her red-carpet or performance outfits didn’t clearly display the new thigh piece. Gomez revealed it in behind-the-scenes Polaroid photos from her preparations for the AMAs, making the two tattoos different parts of the night’s visual story: one became visible naturally because of the cut of her Versace pumps, while the other was deliberately kept off the red carpet.

Why Versace Remains a Celebrity Red-Carpet Favorite

Gomez’s neon-green pumps fit into a much longer Versace tradition: the house rarely treats shoes as a quiet finishing touch. From slim Medusa sandals to towering platforms and sharply pointed pumps, Versace footwear often carries the same confidence and recognizable details as its clothing.

That approach has made Versace a natural match for musicians and performers. Saturated colors, body-conscious silhouettes, metallic hardware, Medusa emblems, bold prints, and exaggerated heels are designed to register immediately on a red carpet or stage, while the house’s long relationships with celebrities have produced fashion moments that extend beyond a single appearance.

Jennifer Lopez’s history with Versace is one of the clearest examples. Nearly two decades after her jungle-print dress became one of the defining fashion images of the 2000 Grammy Awards, Donatella Versace personally invited Lopez to close the house’s Spring 2020 show in a reworked version of the dress. This time, she completed it with custom green snakeskin-effect Versace sandals featuring square toes and delicate leaf-inspired straps.

Rihanna took a different approach to the house’s footwear, repeatedly wearing white-and-gold Medusa sandals with both directional Givenchy tailoring and relaxed all-white separates. Nicola Peltz later embraced the opposite end of the Versace shoe spectrum, making the house’s towering platform boots and crystal-trimmed Medusa Aevitas pumps recurring parts of her early-2020s wardrobe.

Gomez’s 2019 AMAs outfit belongs to the same tradition. Her matching satin pumps did more than coordinate with her neon mini dress: their pointed shape extended the monochromatic look to the floor, while the low-cut vamp exposed the small “Sunshine” tattoo that made the styling distinctly hers.