The worst fashion trend of the Golden Globes

Hollywood may be a famously liberal city, but it’s starting to seem increasingly conservative. At least that’s how it seemed at the Golden Globes, the first official red carpet and community fashion competition of the year – and thus theoretically the pace setter for 2025, or at least the 2025 awards season.

The biggest trend of the night wasn’t the usual stars dressing like statuettes, although there were plenty of those (hello, Mindy Kaling at Ashi Studio and Mikey Madison at Bottega Veneta) or stars dressing to match the carpet (see Dakota Fanning in Tony Ward and Emma Stone at Louis Vuitton). Rather, the most notable trend was a retro-classicism that made the event look like an Olde Tinsel Town cosplay convention. Forget Thursday’s recap; Remember “Send Me Back” Sunday.

Ariana Grande set the tone by doing her best Audrey Hepburn impression in a buttery silk Givenchy couture column from 1966 (the 1960s were the height of the Hepburn-Hubert fashion partnership).

Then there was Selena Gomez, who portrayed Jackie Kennedy in ice blue Prada and a stylized bob; Nicole Kidman and Margaret Qualley in huge, puffy Catherine Deneuve ponytails to better show off their Balenciaga and Chanel dresses; and Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro in newfangled Balmain and Dior versions of old-fashioned 1950s ball gowns. Not to mention Pamela Anderson in a very Madame

When Zendaya, usually one of the most adventurous dressers on any carpet, appeared in a strapless satin Louis Vuitton column gown with matching overskirt as a tribute to 1950s black artist Joyce Bryant, it was clear that some…um, nostalgia was afoot To. And that doesn’t even include the sea of ​​traditional tuxedos in the room.

Surely this has something to do with a well-documented Hollywood neurosis about looking silly that arose in the last century, when Joan Rivers unleashed her inner Chihuahua on the denizens of the red carpet, the worst-dressed list emerged, and the stylist went to town new became a power broker in the fashion film industrial complex.

Despite the numerous brand ambassadors that connect celebrities and fashion designers, most designers today create at the will of these stylists, whose primary goal is to ensure the comfort of their customers. And what could be more convenient than defying your own tastes and role-playing like on a Pinterest board collaged with style stars of the past? Zendaya’s dress would never have been recognizable as Vuitton if she wasn’t officially a face of the brand.

But part of the trend probably also has to do with the mood of the moment and the promises (and fears) of the incoming presidential administration, with its bombastic, celluloid reverence for the days of yore when America – and Hollywood – ruled the world and the people Ties and women wore pointy bras and (yes) gloves. Well, it happens politically. Why not fashionable? Furthermore, if you’re not sure what to expect, the safest thing to do is to retreat into the certainty of the past, especially when you’re bathed in the soft-focus glow of the dream machine.

The problem is that while these women and men all looked very glamorous and many of them were on best-dressing lists, they didn’t look modern. They didn’t even look like they particularly enjoyed fashion. Nothing about these styles challenged established clothing norms or created new ones.

Maybe the red carpet isn’t the place for that. Maybe that’s the runway’s job. But given the increasingly interdependent relationship between fashion and film (this time embodied by Saint Laurent, who not only produced Emilia Pérez but also dressed stars Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofía Gascón), this increasingly seems like a false dichotomy. Part of the red carpet’s job is to translate the interesting parts of the runway into semi-real life.

Apart from a few outlandish experimenters – Ayo Edebiri, who seemed delighted to find herself in a Loewe pantsuit with an extra-long gold feather tie; Ali Wong in a tattered red Balenciaga dress with her hair down and her signature dark glasses; Jeremy Strong in a jade green Loro Piana suit with a matching bucket hat and glasses that made him look like a leprechaun tycoon – that didn’t happen.

Sure, those looks were strange. But they weren’t remotely retro, and they were memorable in that catchy way that snakes its way into the cerebral cortex, marinates there for a while, and then starts influencing fashion at large. They had the courage of their own convictions.

When the Globes, where the night’s biggest awards went to indie and edgy films – “Emilia Pérez” and “The Brutalist,” as well as Demi Moore for best actress and lead actress for “The Substance” and Sebastian Stan for “A Different Man.” “ – reflected everything, it was the power and value that comes from having the courage to be different and pursue a unique vision.

Here’s hoping people start dressing accordingly as the rest of the red carpets roll out in the run-up to the Oscars.