I woke up this morning, post-Emmys, to scour the Web and was legitimately alarmed to see how many of my most favorite dresses from last night had landed on worst-dressed lists. Taste is certainly a personal thing, but the percentage breakdown felt wonkier than usual. After a few seasons of complaints about how boringly safe the red carpet fashion game had gotten, I feel like we've reverted right back to that place of bashing people who've dared to step out of the sleek column-gown category.
Glamour's fashion news director, Jane Keltner de Valle, agrees. "I don't think the worst-dressed list holds the weight it once did," she told me. "In one respect, it's responsible for a certain play-it-safe blandness on the red carpet, which is too bad. Actresses are afraid of being called out, so they veer on the safe side instead of taking risks, which can result in some of the most memorable fashion moments."
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The Los Angeles Times put Lena Dunham on its cringe list, dressing her down with "her kooky pink confection looks like a piñata wearing silk pajamas." Guys, this is Giambattista Valli couture. I melted over that gown on the runway, and those words read like blasphemy to my ears (plus, I can't help but wonder if it were the runway model wearing it at the Emmys, rather than appealingly real-girl Lena, would people have been so harsh?).
"She really gave spunk to what could have been a Barbie dress on another actress," Jane added. "With her platinum hair and tattoos, it suddenly read as interesting and kind of punk."
Julia Roberts earned a spot on the worst-dressed lists from the Los Angeles Times and Entertainment Tonight, which just feels like nitpicking (the former said "It was a lot of heavy detail for such a short dress."). The shorter hemline was one of the most fun numbers on the carpet, and I can almost guarantee that if it reached the ground, people would be harping on how much the heavy creation weighed her down.
More boldly dressed women whose fashion verve was put down? Sarah Paulson, Natasha Lyonne, and Keke Palmer (from the Los Angeles Times, New York Post, and Daily Mail, respectively).
Fashion is meant for self-expression and individual picks, but I'm firmly in the camp that thinks worst-dressed lists, if they must exist at all, should include the outfits clearly put together for publicity's sake (like, erm, Amber Rose at the VMAs Sunday?). Even if you're on the other side of the line about Dunham and Paulson, there's a whole lot of wisdom to Arnold Bennett's words: "Bad taste is better than no taste."
Best and worst are totally arbitrary, note Jane. "A lot of actresses are embracing an 'I don't care attitude' or even courting the worst-dressed list," she said. "Often a tabloid's worst is a magazine's best, so which would you rather be on? People like Lena aren't afraid to take a risk, and, love it or hate it, it makes for a more memorable red carpet moment for all of us at home...the bigger question about worst-dressed lists is who's judging them. What are their fashion credentials and what makes them an authority? In general, fashion should be celebrated. If you loved a look, call it out. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
Well put, Jane.
Do you think the existence of worst-dressed lists is making stars play it too safe? Did anyone you love from the Emmys wind up on one?
