It's been a bleak week... Here's a distraction with some nice outfits.
Best unbothered
I saw a video, as I was mindlessly scrolling Instagram, of someone praising Kaia Gerber’s look at the LACMA gala. She was dressed by the host, Gucci, (who I am mildly underwhelmed by in its present incarnation) and looked fine, but forgettable. I have in fact forgotten the outfit, I think it was fitted and showed midriff? But towards the end of the video I caught a glimpse of her saying hi to someone in this incredible, intelligent and clearly polarising outfit and honestly I fell in love. I rewatched and saw it was Sarah Paulson, which tracks.
Both Sarah and her stylist Karla Welch (who also dresses Tracee Ellis Ross, another brilliant celeb who dresses for the joy she gets from it, rather than the male gaze or making the Daily Mail’s best dressed list) have a history of taking a cerebral yet largely unbothered approach to red carpet dressing. They are there to explore shape, function, art – and in this Altuzarra dress, architecture. The highly exaggerated peplum is similar to shapes recently seen at Loewe but even more sculptural and dramatic. The severe hair and red lip make it slightly American Horror Story which of course, Sarah is. She looks so confident and like she’d eat any haters for breakfast which is a vibe I am projecting onto her this week, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind being my sartorial therapy. – Rebecca Wadey
Best textures
Look, I know: this column is becoming very predictable with our penchant for bows and picking obvious celebrity favourites. Chloë Sevigny is the latter, but it’s hard not to when she’s just so cool. Case in point: this head-to-toe Saint Laurent runway look that she makes her own – a rare thing for celebrities these days who are styled and dressed (aka the clothes wear them, not the other way around; Chloë is the total opposite of that). I could picture her wearing this at a fancy gala (she’s at the LACMA Art+Film Gala here) or striding the streets of NYC. I love the ruffled lace high-neckline, the contrast of textures, the pointy pumps, the shoulder pads: it reminds me of the fabulous 80s costumes in the series Rivals.
Side note: I’m turning 40 soon so particularly attuned to these conversations, but I’m quite charmed by Chloë’s honest perspectives on getting older and not simply loving and embracing it, which is what we’ve been expected to do under the guise of empowerment. She’s turning 50 this month, and a couple of weeks ago shared a photo of herself in her 20s that’s been doing the social media rounds (coz it’s always youthful photos of celebrities that turn up on inspiration boards…), with a caption that says it all: “Ageing is so weird”. – Zoe Walker Ahwa
Best Wednesday Adams
In theory Halloween is over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t embody the fear in your soul by wearing an all black outfit. I loved this one on Phoebe Bridgers – complete with a little bonnet (I’m just a baby) – but we don’t have the rights to those images so you’ll just have to look for yourself. I also really liked this one on Chloe Lea – complete with Wednesday Addams plaits – who I admit, I had to Google. Turns out she starred as the lead in a TV show based on a novel by one of the greatest children’s authors of all time, Jacqueline Wilson (4eva <3). Now she’s in the new Dune TV show. Feels like approximately an hour ago that we were doing the Dune thing with Timmy and Zendaya, but Hollywood loves regurgitating IP, and besides, this show's about one of best bits in those films anyway – the Bene Gesserit sisterhood pulling the strings. Got to love a fantasy world I guess. – Georgie Wright
Best red carpet and chill
The Row isn’t your usual go-to brand for red carpet dressing, and Greta Lee is mostly known (to me) for her collaborations with Loewe. So this The Row look, styled by Danielle Goldberg, is unexpected, but the insouciant cool of it is not. I have a dream where I win millions in Lotto and the first thing I do is buy myself a capsule wardrobe from The Row and wear nothing else until the end of days (which, to be fair, may be sooner than I’d expected. The apocalypse that is; I’m pretty sure I’ll never win the jackpot). I’ll definitely get this dress along with my extra-slouchy cashmere sweaters, perfectly tailored oversized pants and coat. It looks comfy yet effortlessly cool, somewhat of a The Row trademark. Thanks for the inspo Greta. – RW
Best in taffeta
The Wicked press stop in Oz was odd, with that one interviewer focusing on Ariana Grande and basically ignoring Cynthia Erivo, and others trying way too hard to go viral on TikTok. But let’s put that cringe behaviour aside to focus on this drop dead gorgeous ensemble worn by Ariana for one of their photocalls. As a full look, it’s so much fun, but the details are what have my girly jaw on the floor, from the hand-smocking and pleated taffeta to the antique lace appliquéd ribbon trims on the bodice (I also love the sightly sickly coral pink taffeta). You must look at the details up close; total swoon.
It was created by the New York brand Bode, which is known for upcycling materials, being cool and also being very expensive, and inspired by a couture gown in 1905 and a Balmain smocked skirt from the 50s. – ZWA
Best incognito
Sometimes it’s nice to include aspirational fashion here, and sometimes it’s nice to include fashion you want to throw on a regular basis before dragging your body out the door. Like this. I recently bought a second hand Ralph Lauren trench, and, like Alex Consani, am partial to wearing it with baggy pants, sunglasses and a white T shirt. It’s good because it’s lighter than the extremely weighty leather jacket I normally wear, but you still feel vaguely presentable and ready to solve any murders that pop up. This is maybe the most unoriginal fashion advice ever (it’s been a long week), since people have been extolling the virtues of a trench since forever. But now I get why! Great! – GW
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