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Red Carpet Rundown: 2015 SAG Awards

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fracnesmcdormand
Red carpet season is in full swing! Last night we had the SAG Awards, otherwise known as the Costume B-Roll, where the only goal is to look half-decent, burn off whatever lingering obligations you have to a designer your client has promised to wear, and quietly begin marketing yourself for a very different role a year from now. As such, almost no one looked bad, because no one was taking any risks – this was a look nice & show up affair for neatly everyone. In that case, we’ll only have a few divisions, but sometimes people’s dress choices are interesting almost despite them! (“People” = a team of trained professionals who have long meetings including inspiration boards and projected income charts. “Them” = the actors they are dressing.) Look of the Night: Absolutely literally, the look of the night belongs to Frances McDormand. But I also enjoy her outfit. (Not as much as her face, but how could you?) I hope she dressed herself. I hope she dressed everyone behind her. I hope she… Read more »

Miss Universe 2014

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Last night the Miss Universe pageant, which is technically Miss Universe 2014 but dithered until it became simply the 63rd Annual, began with the National Costume Contest. About six weeks from now, my latest novel, PERSONA, hits shelves. Persona is a political thriller (diplomats, assassinations, the usual), but of course one of the most fascinating aspects of statecraft is the ways it asks you to set aside your identity for something else’s sake; often you don’t get to decide, and maybe you don’t even realize until later what exactly is gone. Tomorrow I’ll show you the promo cards for Persona and talk a bit about the swimsuit competition of this contest. But for tonight, the celebrity aspect that gets folded into Persona’s slightly sidelong world is partially influenced by behind-the-scenes glimpses of pageants like this one. Miss Universe doesn’t get as much traction in the States as you might think, but it’s gaining, and it’s already a major event elsewhere, with all the weight that goes with it. (The Guardian talks today about a selfie… Read more »

Red Carpet Rundown: Golden Globes 2015

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The red carpet is always an alien planet. The gravity field is different there, objects held in orbit by twenty-thousand dollar dresses, jewelry that comes with its own bodyguards, and clutch purses studded with adamantium – or no purse, if designer contracts couldn’t be arranged: it’s dangerous to your image to go with a purse you bought yourself unless you’re under 14. Your goal is to stand out, unless you risk being put on a worst-dressed list if you do, in which case you play it safe. (Or, sometimes, you wear a fashion-forward thing you know will get you on the Worst Dressed because you’re demonstrating edge. It’s the Victorian language of clothing writ small; you wear hothouse flowers in the city because they’re more expensive, and take the priciest silk flowers you can buy into the country with you.) Let’s not pretend I don’t care about stunning outfits worn by famous people (I’m in this as much as anybody), but the red carpet goes beyond a fashion event to become coded messages about the… Read more »

Red Carpet Rundown: Met Costume Institute Gala 2014

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metmodelsmcig2014
Last night, the murky power plays of the fashion world and the transparent power plays of the film and television world came together for the Met’s Costume Institute Gala, a single gloriously awkward night of designer patronage in every sense of the word. This year’s honoree was Charles James, perhaps the master of midcentury American formalwear. Unsurprisingly, the dress code meant this was a red carpet filled with references to his work, which was overall a lot easier for most people to handle than last year, when the Costume Institute announced “punk couture” like it was a fart in an elevator and then ran away cackling. (Weirdly, the history of this particular red carpet suggests the more focused the exhibit, the easier it is to dress to theme.) It helps that Charles James was as adept with a striking pencil-skirt cocktail dress or slinky draped silk as he was at a showstopper ballgown, which means everyone could more or less please themselves and probably still be nodding at James somehow. This event has gotten bigger… Read more »

Red Carpet Rundown: BAFTAs 2014

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Red-carpet season continues across the pond, as London hosted the BAFTAs on Sunday! They’re always interesting, with a mixture of UK actors and Hollywood celebs and such a wide range of outfits that I feel as if the Stylists’ Guild classifies BAFTA as a free-for-all and just does whatever. We’ll be making quick work of it – it’s a rising red-carpet presence, so the photos tend not to be of a Golden Globes density yet. It’s still red-carpet, of course, but I feel like this is something of a testing ground for looks that aren’t the standard. Let’s find out why! LOOKIN’ GREAT DIVISION Naomie Harris, look of the night. Clean lines, unusual color, amazing sleeves, and her styling is minimal and clean and totally eye-catching. The sort of gown described as “confident” or “strong.” In a Bedknobs and Broomsticks situation, this gown would be flying on its own to fight Nazis. Lupita Nyong’o, who has gracefully knocked aside the competition to be this year’s consistently best-dressed, and manages to make this quasi-mermaid ballgown, which… Read more »

Red Carpet Rundown: SAG Awards 2014

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ritamorenosag2014
Ah, the SAG Awards, where people momentarily stop pretending they’re here for anyone but the actors! Hilariously, that takes less acting than normal for them. Life is complicated. This year’s SAGs also got the memo about No Necklaces, which saved it from an awkward social situation in which the SAGs show up at a garden party and the Golden Globes and the Oscars suddenly pretend they have eye ache from the sun and disappear inside without even saying hello. This time, there’s no look of the night because it would be a four-way tie and this is more a super-congratulatory dinner party Oscar preview than a heavy-duty red carpet, so let’s just dive in. SO GREAT DIVISION Rita Moreno. I literally clapped at my desk when I saw this picture. Proceed, madam. Lupita Nyong’o, who is making this year’s red carpets for me. Fantastic color, simple cut, interesting but not overwhelming statement detail. I love it. (P.S. She won the well-deserved Best Supporting Actress award and I really hope that’s the tipoff for Oscar gold… Read more »
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