Slipping Into Something a Little More Comfortable
With the pressure to look stunning at awards shows ever stronger, actors and actresses who strolled the red carpet at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday said that looking good wasn’t their only priority. They also dressed for comfort.
That trend was reflected in simple silhouettes, toned-down glitz and a return to the always correct black. Whether it was the stretchy fabric of Debra Messing’s black-and-white striped Ralph Lauren gown or the curve-caressing crinkled silk of Catherine Zeta-Jones’ turquoise-and-black beaded gown by Christian Lacroix, actresses enthused that the high-tech fabric in their designer clothes made them cozy to wear.
Many of the actresses let their black or softly colored gowns become the backdrop for ever more stunning jewelry, from the delicate Cathy Waterman gold choker on Jamie Lee Curtis, to the mega-carats of Allison Janney’s Asprey & Garrard peridot necklace and brooches sewn to her Pamela Dennis train, to the antique emeralds strung about Trudie Styler’s neck (they were a gift from hubby Sting).
“I think that in order to look good, you have to feel good about yourself,” said Marg Helgenberger, who chose a stretchy print Dolce & Gabbana sheath. “You can’t project inner confidence when you’re uncomfortable.”
The softer Hollywood look embraces a return to pants and flat shoes and a fear of being seen tugging at ill-fitting clothes. (And what was Sarah Jessica Parker trying to hoist up into the top of her strapless dress?) But the new refinement made the rolled-out-of-bed hairstyles on Hilary Swank, Kim Cattrall and others look awkward.
Though Edie Falco called her Giorgio Armani tux “the most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn,” she confessed that her shirtlessness posed certain hazards. “I’m taped to within an inch of my life,” she said.
Many men jazzed up their classic tuxedos with diamond cuff links or shirt studs, or colorful shirt-and-tie combinations, such as Kelsey Grammer’s combo in butterscotch and Taye Diggs’ in lavender. Robert Downey Jr. chose a patterned Versace jacket.
Singer Bjork arrived with perhaps the most unusual look--hair in asymmetric buns, a fake-fur tube shawl and a Bernhard Willhelm dress with a sequined image of Michael Jackson on the skirt. “I came to Hollywood and I felt I should wear [the image of] one of the main inhabitants,” she said.
As the so-called Oscar night warmup, the more casual atmosphere of the Golden Globes allows more experimentation, even emboldening stars to choose their own clothes. Sandra Bullock bought her black corseted dress at Los Angeles boutique Les Habitudes, while Swank picked out her own pink mesh and green sequined slip dress at the Calvin Klein boutique in New York and was virtually jewel-free.
The tuned-down glitz factor in Hollywood saw more stars wearing black, including Julia Roberts in an Armani that needed an emergency safety-pin repair, Kate Hudson in an embroidered Vera Wang slip dress, Charlize Theron in a daring cutout halter by Christina Perrin and Rita Wilson’s shirt-top/ballgown by Josephus Thimister that she got from her most comforting source--her own closet.
