The Good, The Bad, & The Banal: Governors Awards 2024

Award show season is a time for individuals to display their creative, bold, and innovative sense of style. To explore fashion that much further. Yet, with hundreds of looks walking down the red carpet, sometimes repetition occurs and at times, predictability creeps in. Why have celebrities opted to blend into a sea of lacklustre outfits, seemingly content with the safety of the ordinary? So, here’s to the exceptional, the underwhelming, and the all too familiar.

Fashion has always been an extension of human expression, something everyone consumes and engages with. And yet, when it comes to male celebrities fashion often seems elusive, an afterthought. Of the 25 male attendees, only a mere 5 stood out as true trailblazers. Perhaps men have found solace in the safety of black and white suits, clinging to the simplicity of tradition. The Governor’s Awards may favour a refined, monochrome dress code, but does fashion have to be dull? Absolutely not. Rules exist to be broken, especially for the sake of fashion.

Barry Keoghan stepped out in a Dolce & Gabbana satin pussy-bow shirt, the perfect nod to his evolving fashion sense. In a similarly sultry vein, Paul Mescal wore a GUCCI ensemble, all open shirt and Renaissance flair. With seemingly typographical elements creeping back in, you’d hope and expect for a subtle Gladiator reference (given his upcoming role). But alas, Mescal too leaned into the full-blown Renaissance revival theme.

Jeremy Strong’s mint green suit was a refreshing beacon of colour in a sea of black and grey fabrics. But did he truly stand out for the right reasons, or was it simply the absence of bolder menswear that made him pop? His slouched posture may have dulled the impact of an otherwise striking choice. Meanwhile, Kevin Costner veered off his usual sartorial script with a bold gold suit, a surprisingly daring move that paid off. I, for one, applaud him for stepping outside in something other than his t shirt and blue jean wardrobe.

The women, as ever, delivered a masterclass in red carpet glamour. Margot Robbie stunned in an elegant Celine dress, while Zoe Saldana’s rich green YSL look turned heads. Both dresses an image to the glamour and glitz of the golden age of the Oscars, oozing 1950s charm. Nonetheless, it was the rule-breakers who truly stole the spotlight.

Elle Fanning, with her continued commitment to playful fashion, wore a dreamy baby blue Valentino gown. Ethereal and effortlessly feminine, Fanning stunned. Rosamund Pike offered a flair of whimsy in an Erdem pre-fall piece, adorned with fuchsia florals that felt like springtime bottled up in a look.

But my personal best-dressed of the night? Ayo Edebiri and Fantasia Barrino. Edebiri’s minimalist, almost Hunger Games’s Abnegation team. With its nude brown shade and futuristic silhouette was quietly powerful. In contrast, Barrino paid tribute to Old Hollywood glamour, with a stark neckline and sculpted bodice. Genuinely breathtaking.