Given all the black last night, it was hardly surprising that the 75th Golden Globes looked more like a serious New York fashion event than a televised Hollywood ritual and the unified dress code lent a powerful visual impact to the evening’s red carpet because after all, what looks better with red than black? This was exemplified by Mandy Moore’s Rosie Assoulin black gown with elegant train, pocketed skirt, and red sash. I thought she looked particularly modern, fresh, and comfortable.

Mandy Moore

Dressing in noir certainly worked wonders for many if not most of the attendees. Someone like Reese Witherspoon for example, can tend to look saccharine sweet in pastels and fussy prints but she looked quite chic last night. Even Mariah Carey looked better than usual; sophisticated rather than tacky.

It was anything but dull and boring and there was plenty of variety within the fashion choices, with women showing their strong personalities, which is exactly what I expected to see. But for me, the ones that really looked the best showed restraint and let the fashion do the talking. When accessories were used to make a statement, they were wisely chosen.

Among the various looks that stood out:

Diane Kruger in Prada (I loved everything about this dress including the touch of sparkle)

Jessica Biel’s divine Christian Dior Haute Couture creation.

Wonder Woman Gal Gadot who never gets it wrong, looked every bit the strong powerful woman in a sharply tailored cropped black tuxedo jacket and draped jersey dress by Tom Ford.

Alison Brie in a strapless black jumpsuit with an over skirt (clean, simple, statement making).

Rachel Brosnahan in Vionnet

Tracee Ellis, who loves to experiment and is a bona fide fashion plate, added a turban to her black dress.

Viola Davis in black velvet Brandon Maxwell with Harry Winston necklace, made a wise choice wearing her hair au naturale.

Zoe Kravitz, added emerald green drop earrings to her otherwise simple black velvet gown.

Kerry Washington in all over black sequined Prabal Gurung accessorized with Roger Vivier black booties.

Young Millie Bobby Brown, a true budding star  with an obvious flair for fashion looked appropriately youthful in a short and sculptural Calvin Klein dress.

Most kept it rather sedate, dignified, and elegant, but that doesn’t mean sex was not in the air. I was surprised when I saw Catherine Zeta-Jones arriving in an ultra-sheer ultra-sexy black lace Zuhair Murad which I thought given the evening, was a strange, rather inappropriate  choice (it looked too boudoir for my tastes).

Nicole Kidman’s black Givenchy was a better way to wear lace.

But the one who really took the cake was Blanca Blanco in a red hot red dress that left little to the imagination. Since I assume she is not living under a rock and was completely clueless about the message underscoring the evening, the only thing I can think is that perhaps it was her way of taunting Harvey Weinstein and sending him a message: “Eat your heart out. This is what you are NOT getting tonight”.’

Interestingly, another woman eschewing the black dress code and opting for red was Meher Tatna, President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. But she had good reason explaining that in her culture, you do not wear black to celebrate something. And yes, there was a lot to celebrate and no, it was not just the fashion!

– Marilyn Kirschner

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