Carey! Greta! Ayo! Vogue Editors Share Their Favorite Awards Season Looks
After much tussling over Greta Lee on Slack, the Vogue editors have managed to condense an entire awards season’s worth of red-carpet looks down to standout moments from the Golden Globes to the Grammys, the Emmys to the Oscars. Which is your favorite? Thoughts on a postcard, please.
Photo: Getty Images1/12Rosamund Pike in Dior Haute Couture and Philip Treacy at the Golden Globes
Rosamund Pike in her Philip Treacy apple-shaped mourning veil to shield her ski accident injury at the Golden Globes was an early awards season highlight for me! Channeling her Saltburn character to a tee!
Chloe Malle, editor of vogue.com
Photo: Getty Images2/12America Ferrera in Versace at the Oscars
I'll be thinking about America Ferrera's pink chainmail Versace gown for the foreseeable future. The color, the sparkle, the fit... it was perfect.
Leah Faye Cooper, digital style director
Photo: Getty Images3/12Lily Gladstone in Gucci x Joe Big Mountain at the Oscars
Lily Gladstone’s Oscars look will go down in fashion history. I loved that Gucci collaborated with the Indigenous quillwork artist Joe Big Mountain on her gown; So rarely do we see big luxury labels give a spotlight to smaller artisans, let alone on such a big scale. Plus, she looked fabulous.
Christian Allaire, senior fashion & style writer
Photo: Getty Images4/12Maddie Ziegler in vintage Alexander McQueen at the SAG Awards
The best look from the entire season didn’t come from a nominee or a marquee awards show. When Maddie Ziegler stepped on the red carpet at the SAG Awards, I was truly at a loss for words. The actor and dancer pulled a truly jaw-dropping vintage Alexander McQueen dress from Shrimpton Couture: the little sister of his iconic Oyster dress. From the spring 2003 “Irere” collectsion, this tattered chiffon dress made Ziegler look like a mermaid that had washed ashore. This just goes to show that the smaller awards shows can indeed pack a big punch.
Hannah Jackson, fashion writer
- Photo: Getty Images5/12
Caroline Polachek in Olivier Theyskens at the Grammys
I think about this dress all the time. It's from Olivier Theyskens's fall 1998 collectsion, his first one in Paris. The pieces were constructed by Theyskens himself with what he had available, and he embroidered this anatomical heart and its veins himself. It's complex, romantic, a little goth, and perfectly emotive, which is also the way I'd describe Caroline's music. Theyskens was looking at Florentine studies of anatomy for this collectsion, as reported by my colleague Laird Borelli-Persson on Replica Handbag Store Runway. On the red carpet, Caroline described Theyskens as one of her favorite designers of all time, and I feel the same way.
José Criales-Unzueta, fashion news writer
- Photo: Getty Images6/12
Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr. in Saint Laurent at the Oscars
I thought Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan looked like the hottest, coolest couple at the Academy Awards. I loved their matching-but-not Saint Laurent looks but admit that given the option to wear one of the two, I'd go for the suit with the terrific flared trousers.
Laia Garcia-Furtado, senior fashion news editor
Photo: Getty Images7/12Dua Lipa in Courrèges at the Grammys
As red carpets go, the Grammys tends to deliver more on shock factor than chic. But this year, in the midst of the novelty hats, the stripper heels and the excessive use of marabou trim–visible even over Miley’s gravity-defying bouffant–was a dress that swiftly became my surprise favourite of awards season 2024. With its metallic fringe, deep V neckline and artfully placed hip cut-outs, Dua Lipa’s slinky custom Courrèges was hardly wallflower territory (that’s a 23 carat Tiffany & Co. sapphire around her neck, by the way). But something about the relaxed fit (see how the long sleeves even extend over the hands, like the stretched arms of your favorite jumper), suggests that looking this good requires little to no effort from Dua. It was the opposite of try hard, and given the occasion in question, all the more attention-grabbings as a result. Less, “this will get them talking”, more, “this old thing?”
Kerry McDermott, digital director
Amy Sussman/Getty Images8/12Celine Song in Loewe at the Golden Globes
At this point, there is nothing interesting about wearing a ballgown on a red carpet, even if it happens to be a very beautiful one, which is why I loved the skirt suit that Past Lives director Celine Song wore to the Golden Globes earlier this year. It had been custom-made by Jonathan Anderson’s team at Loewe—and pierced with a jumbo-sized clothing pin–and it said more about who Song was as an artist than an “elegant” and “classic” and “Old Hollywood” prom dress. This was an introduction: simple and direct with just enough romance and humor to be considered an instant classic.
Daniel Rodgers, fashion writer
Photo: Getty Images9/12Ayo Edebiri in Bottega Veneta at British Vogue’s BAFTAs after-party
Ayo Edebiri is the moment. She not only made a swift transition from being a writer to a voice actor and then an on-screen star, she’s also emerging as a bona fide fashion plate. My favorite look of hers from awards season is the cream satin button-up shirt French-tucked into trompe l’oeil leather jeans–courtesy of Bottega Veneta–for the British Vogue Fashion + Film party, where she served as co-host. If anyone deserves their fashion kudos this year, it’s Ayo.
Alex Kessler, fashion editor
Photo: Getty Images10/12Greta Lee in Loewe at the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party
Greta Lee’s Oscars appearance was the apex after the stellar fashion she’s served all awards season. For the ceremony, the actor arrived in a wonderfully minimalist black and white Loewe gown, before changing into another custom look–an icy silk dress complete with the brand’s signature chains on the neckline and draped around her waist–for the Vanity Fair after-party. Perfection.
Alice Cary, commerce writer
Getty Images11/12Carey Mulligan in archive Balenciaga at the Oscars
I could have picked any Carey Mulligan look. The British star might have missed out on the trophy front, but she consistently showed up on the red carpet. Orchestrating her own campaign for the super-cinched silhouette, Mulligan, with the help of her stylist Andrew Mukamal, tapped every major house with an aptitude for corsetry to make her a one-off, Old Hollywood-esque gown fit for a modern leading lady. It culminated in a recreation of a ’50s Balenciaga ballgown at the Oscars that Mulligan herself said was her “favorite” ever. God, it was good. It might just be my favorite ever.
Alice Newbold, executive fashion news & features editor
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin12/12Jennifer Lawrence in vintage Givenchy at the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party
While there’s been a lot of archival remakes this season (that Carey dress was totally worth it!), it was wonderful to see plenty of true vintage, too–including this sheer Givenchy by John Galliano dress that Jennifer Lawrence wore for the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party. An elegant take on the never-ending naked dressing trend, the look was originally worn on the fall 1996 runway by Kate Moss, making it a real piece of fashion history. Can’t say more sustainable than that.
Emily Chan, senior sustainability & features editor
