On fashion’s first big night of the year, there were no blunders; no moments of fashion disaster. No one tripped on their hem collecting an award, or flashed too much flesh. Instead, the Golden Globes were an evening of statement-making for women of a certain age, both on the red carpet and the podium itself.
In her acceptance speech for her role in The Substance, 62-year-old actor Demi Moore took aim at an industry known for its rampant ageism, reminding us that despite working for “like, over 45 years … this is the first time I’ve ever won anything as an actor”.
Moreover, she did so in a gold Giorgio Armani Privé column dress sliced open with diamante. The dress was a neat bit of styling, as an homage to the trophy itself, and the bathroom “back-birth” scene from the film. But mostly, it was about pairing an old-school brand with new world messaging.
The pro-age glamour didn’t stop there. Two of the biggest stars of the night – award-winner Karla Sofía Gascón, 52, and nominee Nicole Kidman, 57 – channelled retro Bob-Mackie glamour in asymmetric gowns and goddess hair (buoyant yellowish-orange Saint Laurent, and silver Balenciaga, respectively).
Michelle Yeoh, 62, and Naomi Watts, 56, both went for black, but with a twist – Yeoh’s black taffeta gown, also by Balenciaga, created a strange textural Giacometti silhouette, while Watts’s black velvet strapless gown by Schiaparelli descended into a millefeuille of pink organza petals.
However politically charged the white pantsuits worn by Nickel Boys’ Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, 55, and Kate Winslet, 49, in Erdem were, they remained a potent reminder that tuxedoes have long transcended the brandy rooms of gentlemen’s clubs, particularly when worn by an actor like Winslet who has spent her career as a target in sniping over her body.
And then there were the rule-breakers: Pamela Anderson, 57, demure in form-fitting Oscar de la Renta, opera gloves and – shock horror – barely any makeup, and Viola Davis, 59, who won the Cecil B DeMille award wearing the same winged Gucci sequin gown that she wore to a gala in November.
Despite being an industry obsessed with youth and youthful consumption, fashion is slowly attempting to push age representation beyond tokenism. According to fashion search engine Tagwalk, about three-quarters of the 20 biggest shows in Paris and Milan last year featured older models. Proof that this has bled on to the red carpet, to present the penultimate award, Glenn Close wore a black Balmain dress scrawled with silver embroidery.
The dress was demure and classy, but also loaded, coming from a catwalk which cast half its models over the age of 35. Prada and Balenciaga too, which appeared over 10 times on the red carpet between them, have been using older models for years, while Moore herself recently modelled for Fendi.
Special mention should also go to the sheer number of gold and bronze metallic dresses – an attempt perhaps at manifesting an award – as well as the menswear of the evening. This was split between tradition-adhering black tux and what, in the case of nominee Jeremy Strong in sage green Loro Piana suit and matching bucket hat alongside Sing Sing actor Colman Domingo in an enormous Valentino bow, can only be described as a curious piece of meme bait.
If an awards show doubles up as promotional fashion content viewed through the infinite scroll of social media, it is a welcome reminder that what celebrities wear can be used for more than just escapism. Of course it matters that some of the hardest working women (and men) in Hollywood are getting older, yet remain gorgeous.
And that red carpet fashion tends towards either bespoke or couture, two sides of an industry which are inaccessible to the average Joe. But rather than simply appearing as walking adverts for a brand, the overall effect feels more collaborative. Maybe Hollywood, fashion and the golden ageism that has always ensnared the two, is starting to move in a new direction.
