Style at The Golden Globes

Last night, Melissa McCarthy wore a sequined bow tie duly paired with a fishtail skirt. Emma Stone, in Lanvin, seemed to have followed in the foot steps of meme-first-named Watson, who last year chose a jumpsuit with a cascading fabric appendage.

Allison Williams wore a red mille-feuille.

Diane Kruger, historical champion of fashion on the red carpet, quietly emerged in Emilia Wickstead-sparkle. Julianne Moore chose feathers and sequins, which looked phenomenal on her figure while Naomi Watts and Leslie Mann cloaked their small frames in strapless citruses. And thus, the question remains: is red carpet fashion actually fashion? For the most part, the answer has been a resounding: eh.

But then you take someone like Jemima Kirke, who wore a cropped lamé caftan that exposed her midriff from the front but extended well beyond the length of her white gown skirt from behind, or Irene Neuwirth with her poplin grommets, and your faith in the red carpet’s ability to exude style is re-established. You forage through hashtag-replete Instagram photos, fielding selfies from lesser known Golden Globe attendees and find the precise gumption with which you potentially hoped outfits would be worn.

This then presents a theory that debunks the initial question because there is fashion on the red carpet — it’s just not photographed and published with the same, maniacal rigor. What we’re left with at this point is another question — are the stylists cultivating or killing style on the red carpet? Of course, it’s not really their fault. It becomes a question of what the client wants, which more often than not follows the rules of aesthetic flattery as opposed to those of shock value (worth wondering, too, is whether there is any more value tethered to shock).

If you agree, the assumption is that fashion and flattery don’t go hand in hand — that to evince the spirit of style means to forgo the tenets of “complimenting shapes,” which, of course, is the precise reason I wear bad pants and have cited a preference to be called a bad dresser if the only other option is a “passive dresser.” This also just seems far too unilateral an opinion to blanket the concept of red carpet fashion so let’s recap, recoup and investigate in tandem.

Recap/recoup: Is red carpet fashion actually fashion? –> Yes and no. But then, are stylists affecting, whether positively or negatively, what happens on the red carpet? –> To a certain extent, yes, but ultimately, the client makes the thematic call. –> Does that mean the rift between fashion and flattery is growing evermore? Were they ever united?

Investigate: Do they even have to be united?