Taste and color: Which way was the red carpet?
Critics of the red tracks thirty years ago love to clutch at the head: "How could you dress like that? What did the actress think? Where did the stylist look and was he even there?" Among the most common insults - the assumption that the dress "off the rack", that is, it was bought for a couple of minutes in a department store, and did not last for weeks in a fabulous studio on Avenue Montaigne. By the way, these assumptions are not so far from the truth.
At the same time, until recently, the mandatory "who are you wearing?" - A question that implies that the attire must be designer. What is not a reason for actresses and brands to enter into a mutually beneficial alliance?
Until the mid-nineties red carpet dressing in the form in which we know it, simply did not exist. No stylists, minimal contact with brands. Guest awards could really buy a dress in a shop, order a costume designer’s costume (Gina Davis came to Oscar in 1992 in an asymmetrical mini dress that famous costume designer Ruth Myers made for an actress) or — oh, horror! - to invent him. Demi Moore somehow resorted to the latter and eventually appeared on the awards ceremony of the American Film Academy in bicycles. The reaction of others and critics was ambiguous, but it does not seem that the actress at least touched it at all: she came to have a good time - and she did it.
Closer to the millennium, the concept began to change: the red tracks suddenly flooded designer outfits. One after another, Angelina Jolie was walking the dresses of the now-defunct Randolph Duke. In 1997, Nicole Kidman chose a dress for Oscar in a beautiful “alcoholic” shade of Chartreuse from John Galliano's first couture collection for Dior. Two years later, Gwyneth Paltrow put on her famous pink Ralph Lauren (which, by the way, already has its own page in Wikipedia). Replaced by "nouneyma" came heavy suites: Chanel, Versace, Valentino, Armani.
Such an abrupt change of course was connected at once with several circumstances. To begin with, in the nineties, the number of awards increased significantly: the Gotham Awards, The Hollywood Film Awards, the Producerrs Guild of America Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the Critics Choice Awards joined the basic package, which included the same Oscars and Golden Globes; as a result, the concept of a “film season” - a four-month “race” —was formed. As a rule, the same projects go through all the stages of the award ceremonies, which means that for a designer who has entered into a successful union with a celebrity, this can turn into a long-lasting advertising campaign. Moreover, most of these awards fall on television.
In addition, in 1989, television pre-shows appeared: two channels at once - Movie Time (today this is the E! Producing reality about the Kardashian sisters) and MTV - decided to comment on what is happening on the red carpet. It seems that at the same time the obligatory "who are you wearing?" - A question that implies that the attire must be designer. What is not a reason for actresses and brands to enter into a mutually beneficial alliance? The first did not have to spend money on outfits (moreover, some girls themselves would be paid to put on a certain brand of dress), and the latter again received advertising, because the answer to the question "who?" heard by millions of people around the world.
Finally, another reason - the rapidly growing Internet, quickly turned into an all-seeing eye. Yes, the speeds in the 90s were not yet so high, but it was already possible to find and see photos. And since it is just boring to look, the dubious division into the best dressed and the worst dressed began, and the heroes and heroines of the filming tried not to fall into the second category. At zero, the competitive element of what is happening will become particularly noticeable: who has a more luxurious skirt? Who is longer than the train? Effective neckline? The actresses will take on part of the model functions - and will learn to pose so that both shoes, and clutch, and diamond earrings courtesy of the jewelry house will be in the frame.
Today's Met Gala is a real parade of vanity, a red carpet for the sake of the red carpet: fashion houses have been making outfits for weeks or even months, just for the actresses and singers to walk through them with their cameras.
Dive deep into the story. In 1955, Grace Kelly came to receive her Oscar for the Country Girl in a cool green-blue dress created by Edith Head (an award-winning costume designer who had consulted guests for an American Film Academy award for nearly twenty years). Actually, this dress actress already wore - a year earlier at the premiere of the same "Country Girl". But those were the "pre-instagram" times, and literally only a few knew about the "duplicate" - after all, the star's photos did not fly away at the speed of light on blogs. Two weeks after the big victory, Grace will reappear in a landmark dress - on the cover of Life. It is impossible to imagine such a situation in the zero or early 2010s: the stars were under the gun around the clock, every faux pas was maliciously criticized - by journalists, bloggers, but the least anonymous online commentators stint on expressions.
The pressure of public opinion literally forced celebrities to seek help from professional stylists. Especially since the approach to the promotion of tapes began to change in zero: now the same film could have a premiere in three or even five cities, where, among other things, the stars also had to give interviews, come to television and participate in other events. You cannot save one dress here - you had to collect a whole wardrobe. What did the stylists Emma Watson, Keira Knightley and Kristen Stewart do.
The Institute's costume ball has been organized for nearly half a century, and fifteen to twenty years ago, the guests did not try so eagerly to comply with the stated theme of the exhibition. But today's Met Gala is a real vanity parade, a red carpet for the sake of the red carpet: fashion houses have been making outfits for weeks or even months, just for the actresses and singers to walk through the scarlet steps of the New York Metropolitan Museum at gunpoint. Unlike film awards, what happens behind closed doors is not broadcast anywhere (and there’s really nothing to broadcast, let's say straightforward: the guests dine under someone’s performance and inspect the exposition). But the game is still worth the candle: if you try hard, you can “blow up the Internet” (as Rihanna repeatedly did, turning into a meme), and then everyone will benefit - the celebrity and the brand that provided her with a suit. That's all and try.
Meanwhile, red carpet dressing is again on the verge of change. It is understood that the red carpet can and even should be used to translate one’s own views and values. Under the influence of a series of high-profile sex scandals at Golden Globe 2018, the actresses dressed in black: it was a version of a peaceful protest that draws attention to the Time's Up movement formed a week earlier (a month later the British BAFTA did the same). For the first time in many, many years, interviews with the guests of the evening did not begin with a request to tell about your dress. Since then, follow the red tracks is becoming more interesting.
It seems that the “meaningfulness” reached its peak at the current Cannes Film Festival, where, having no clear instructions on the color dress code, the participants stick to the monochrome and rebel against wearing heels. And yet - they are fighting for conscious consumption: the president of the jury, Cate Blanchett, put on the opening evening the same dress in which she attended the Golden Globe four years ago; At the premieres of the daily marked outfits from the almost forgotten collections. It seems that now the right question should not sound like "who are you wearing?", But like "what are you wearing it for?". Of course, no one has canceled the stylists: they are still the first assistants when it comes to awards or premieres. Nevertheless, some personal contribution (at least in formulating the message) celebrities in the outfit still make. Otherwise, it is impossible again.
Photo: Getty Images (6)
