The Golden Globes kicked off the red carpet awards season with a huff and a puff and a sizzling Jamie Lee Curtis in a sleek, slick look that put the grown back in grown and sexy. Matching pants and jackets have been steadily trending for at least two years, but the Globes made it clear that matching may become as popular as a Pence meme. Curtis’s look got major endorsement from Stefani Germanotta aka Lady Gaga in her matching hair and opera gown.
Each could have easily been a fail. But they turned out to be sweepingly fabulous with just the right amount of elegance. When stars weren’t dying their hair to match their dresses, their glam squads were brilliantly at work lining eyes with electric colors that matched their dresses. The effect was luminous and contemporary.
Lupita Nyong’o’s blue and beaded dress was a bittersweet reminder to fashion insiders that the creative designer Raf Simons just got the boot from Calvin Klein.
Necklines plunged, most dangerously on Taraji Henson’s custom-made Vera Wang, but generally there wasn’t as much cleavage on display as in previous years.
I like the chances taken by Idris Elba in teal three piece with waistcoat and Darren Chriss in printed Dior jacket. Timothee Chalamet was expected to be a little roguish and he delivered with a sequined harness, yes that’s what I said. Harnesses, once the province of the avant garde, now could be as edgy as a Jean Colonna Nineties runway show in Paris or as benign as a child’s harness backpack sold on Amazon.com. To his credit, Chalamet kept it on the left side of the equation.
Style got extra points by having Sandra Oh co-host. Oh served up major style. Her all-white dress picked up one of the evening’s major themes – big-time shoulder action. Catherine Zeta Jones in emerald green and a swishy runway walk was a winner in this category.
Whether Chanel will own the look worn by my girl Janelle Monae remains to be seen. It was quite unforgettable.
With all the fabulous stylish women of color out and about at the Globes, there’s grumbling among African-American designers. It didn’t appear that any of these stars chose to show black designers some love by wearing their designs. As the song says, “Where is the love?”
Would celebrities answer with a line from another song? “What’s Love Got to Do with it?” This is business. The fashion business.
