Jessie Buckley said that the first time stylist Danielle Goldberg put her in a plain black The Row look, she could breathe. “I just want to see you, I haven’t seen you,” Goldberg told Buckley upon receiving the call–the ultimate call in fact–to hold the best actress frontrunner’s hand through a long and winding awards season. If that was back in November, then all roads have led to this point: the 2026 Oscars.
After baby blue brocade Dior dresses, sculptural Balenciaga gowns, and pearlescent Bottega Veneta confections, the final stop on Buckley’s awards season tour called for Chanel. Buckley has been fostering a friendship with creative director Matthieu Blazy—a man she describes as “a singular vibrant artist”—as he too navigates the super-fame juggernaut. “I love how he has been marrying the past with something so present and alive,” Buckley says. “His shows have been so beautiful.”
Buckley’s Oscars gown—a floor-skimming bubblegum gown with an off-the-shoulder wrap neckline in contrasting red—follows the same stylistic narrative as her blue velvet Chanel dress at the BAFTAs. “We like to tread a cool but classic and elegant vibe,” she says of Goldberg’s signature approach to curating timeless fashion with a knowing It-girl twist. Teamed with Buckley’s signature side-swept bob and minimalist make-up, the aim for the last leg of the awards trail was about having the final word in effortless best actress style. This time around, however, Buckley and Goldberg channeled a specific reference: Grace Kelly’s Edith Head dress at the 1956 Oscars.
But behind that signature half-smile and those eloquent yet seemingly off-the-cuff acceptance speeches is a woman navigating the first year of motherhood. Yes, there has been Champagne, but there have also been diapers, breast pumps, and Spanx as the Killarney-born, Norfolk-based star has dressed her changing body for each new ceremony. If sleep deprivation has taken a toll, she is far too gracious to grumble; instead, finding solace in female companions also juggling family and fandom.
“Honestly, don’t underestimate the toilet for a proper chin wag and some light relief,” she shares. “It’s a good place to get real with your girls and have a moment to take it all in.” Kate Winslet, in particular, was “a rock in a very kind moment”, when nerves threatened to derail a night in Tinseltown. “I’m not even sure she knows she helped me out, but she did.”
This sense of realism has rooted every part of the Hamnet promo trail, from the fashion to the friends she surrounds herself with. “Every few seconds, I pinch myself,” she told us mere weeks ago, upon accepting her Best Actress BAFTA. “This does not happen in [normal] life. I’m very, very lucky.” There will be plenty more pinch-me moments post 2026 Oscars, but, for Jessie Buckley, hanging up her Chanel and coming home to her little girl “for the best snuggles” is, arguably, better than any pat on the back from Hollywood.
See Every Look From the 2026 Oscars Red Carpet:
