A moment for Elle Fanning, whose vintage Pierre Balmain dress garnered as much applause on the red carpet as Ayo Edibiri’s Golden Globes acceptance speech about Hollywood assistants. OK, we exaggerate. But The Great star’s pearlescent look, with its sweet bow-bedecked bodice and ’50s-style skirt, set the tone on a night that looked to the past for winning fashion that read classic, rather than overtly contemporary.
While Fanning’s stylist Samantha McMillen delved directly into the Balmain archive for her client’s cute 1960 confection that had shades of Princess Margaret thanks to the actor’s own regal demeanor, other Tinseltown dressers zeroed in on classic Old Hollywood tropes to serve as the focal point of modern looks.
Jennifer Lopez, Lily Gladstone and Margot Robbie rocked opera coats or off-the-shoulder gown drapery which, once upon a time in Hollywood, would have been fur stoles shrugged artfully down the back and kept in place by the will of one’s elbow creases. Think: Lauren Bacall at the 1951 Oscars, or Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable at the 1953 premiere of How to Marry a Millionaire. “Life’s not all about money, there are furs and jewellery as well,” Elizabeth Taylor said once, pinpointing the other essential of the bare décolleté look: a heavy frosting of diamonds around the neck, which 2024’s jewelry sponsors were only too happy to supply.
The cinched silhouettes of Schiaparelli’s leading ladies Carey Mulligan and Dua Lipa had an air of Rita Hayworth’s Gilda about them, thanks to the narrow waistline and mermaid-esque hems. But naturally, bombastic creative director Daniel Roseberry made the proportions – and inner corsetry–extreme. Instead of Hayworth’s signature cigarette holder, Carey and Dua’s rebellious accents came in the form of literal ribcage embellishment and diamantés dripping down the bra line. Lipa’s red hair radiated femme fatale glamour.
Opera gloves, which have consistently been back on the red-carpet scene since 2020, were of course in attendance, thanks to the likes of Greta Gerwig and Andra Day. But fashion seems to have waved goodbye to the color-pop elbow-length styles–à la Marilyn Monroe’s shocking pink satin pair in 1953’s *Gentlemen Prefer Blondes–*in favor of traditional accessories in the vein of the debutante-esque Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, circa 1961.
The diaphanous dress lengths of Prada girl Hunter Schafer called to mind Grace Kelly in 1955’s To Catch a Thief, while fellow Miuccia model and best-dressed of the night Ayo Edibiri gave the wispy train a 2024 flourish in a postbox-red number that hit a high note. Kylie Jenner’s vintage Hanae Mori naked dress, sourced from the aptly named Timeless Vixen, would have looked just as breath-taking on any number of silver-screen sirens from the past. Well played by the business mogul, who was there to support–and snog–Timothée Chalamet.
Other Old Hollywood-isms found their way into the Beverly Hilton by way of Jennifer Aniston in exquisite scallop-beaded Dolce & Gabbana, Amanda Seyfried’s also strapless Armani Privé column gown featuring a Christmassy metallic bow, and Selena Gomez’s Marilyn moment, when a gust of wind threatened to compromise her own Armani. As the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes actor once said, “We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.” The Golden Globes 2024 shows that it’s not always newness that shines the brightest.
