I didn’t actually watch the 2011 Golden Globes ceremony, but I wonder if there was ever a time that a Glee cast member wasn’t in shot during the red carpet coverage. The whole cast turned up for the ball, even down to Becki, the cheerleader with Downs’ (where art thou, Howard Bamboo?!) and they made a surprisingly strong showing style-wise.
Dianna Agron in J. Mendel – Dianna has been one of my favourite newcomers to the red carpet as she has an exquisite elegant Wasp-y style that I’ve really taken too. She manages to take classic shapes and structures but make them look fresh and young, with a ‘modern-day Grace Kelly’ feel about her (now just watch her crash and burn in 2011, like my previous darling Marion Cotillard did this year, for which I’m blaming the pregnancy hormones). This gown is no exception to her tried and tested formula – it’s a little safe but it’s so pretty and ethereal and suits her so well that I really don’t care. Her flawless old-school Hollywood hair and make-up lift it (even if she does like a porcelain doll you’d be scared of dropping) but then there’s the edgy grunge of the nail varnish. Divine.
Lea Michele in Oscar de la Renta – I’m glad Lea’s taken to smiling again on the red carpet, as there was a period where she went all J.Lo sexy-face on us. This pale pink confection has a romantic innocence about it and I love the cascade of ruffles and asymmetrical neckline. OK, it does look a bit like pink bed-sheets draped just so and the colour really does remind me of frilly old lady loo paper but it has a sort of sweet drama to it that is quite charming. And the choice of the contrasting turquoise ring is inspired.
Jayma Mays in Alberta Ferretti – I absolutely get the intentions behind this Art Deco-style dress and applaud them wholeheartedly. Yet, for me, it just doesn’t work. Firstly, Jayma is so perfect as the cardigan-wearing, colour-popping Emma Pilsbury and she seems so damn perky in real-life too that my mind can’t quite process this sudden drastic change in style. It’s not that it’s smouldering, it’s not that it’s black, it’s not even that it looks like it could have come out of Granny’s attic – all looks I feel that Jayma could have pulled off individually (and has done in the past) – it’s that it’s all happening at once and has been laid on thicker than a copy of The Yellow Pages. Too much, too soon, and that’s before we’ve covered the spider’s sneeze of eye make-up. However, I want that fan clutch bag very badly indeed.
Amber Riley in Oliver Tolentino – This is just fabulous. Silver is a great colour for Amber (I daresay this is the best she’s looked on the red carpet… ever) and it feels like proper, expensive, heavy silver rather than cheap spangly tat from Primark. The belt is a nice twist that makes the whole look more interesting, the one shoulder works surprisingly well (I’d feared major spillage and squeezage the other side) and most importantly, she looks super confident and genuinely happy. No Zoolander-pouting here and when you see how wonderfully a real smile sets off an outfit, you wonder why A-listers got so addicted to the Blue Steel in the first place.
Jane Lynch in Ali Rahimi – The top half is near perfection, a lovely unusual shape that’s supremely flattering. It loses its way towards the voluminous bin bag bottom, with random nipple tassles scattered about with abandon, but it’s neither tracksuit nor trouser suit and is therefore, a stroke of brilliance.
Jenna Ushkowitz in Rebecca Taylor – Another role reversal. This time, the bottom half is a rather lovely fluttering of tulle ruffles, the top half slightly cheap-looking diamante-encrusted satin. But the cornflower blue is a lush colour, all too rarely seen on the red carpet, and works a treat on Jenna.
Heather Morris in Lorena Sarbu – Another confident grin works wonders with what could have potentially been a one-note outfit. It’s relatively simple, letting the sparkles do most of the talking, but they’re facing competition from just how naturally sparkly Heather seems to be in person. Her body’s absolutely smoking too. Those short butterfly sleeves are just immensely flattering.
Harry Shum Jnr in Kill City suit and Anto shirt – What’s this, a man?! Men don’t really have much choice when it comes to the red carpet – it’s either conform to black tie or be mocked forever after. You can’t really go wrong with a plain black suit and they do often act as an instant elixir to a male’s attractiveness, so normally I’d advocate the sheep mentality. Here, however, Harry shows how to do it different but get it so so right. By keeping to the black-and-white palette, he doesn’t look too weird and wacky, and by bow tie-ing it up, he’s still the right side of formal. But the checked shirt is a masterstroke and the smallest detail (the black line detail behind the buttons) saves it from the clutches of the Topman masses. Effortlessly cool, just the right amount of quirky but still utterly swoonsome. Nicely played my twinkle-toed friend, nicely played indeed.
Naya Rivera in Douglas Hannant – It must be hard to be as intrinsically sexy as Naya. She’d probably make a nun’s habit look shaggable. January Jones was probably put out when she saw that someone else was showing almost as much boob as she was, but the sweetness of the blush colour and floral detail very nearly offset the banger effect. And then the figure-hugging va-va-voom nature of the dress kicks in and it’s a bit of a lost battle. But it was nice while it lasted. And she still looks very lovely.
More men! Have I lost my mind?!
Well, here we see where else trying to be different can land you. Darren Criss negates all the class of an expensive Armani suit by wearing cheapo stag night comedy glasses. I imagine he thinks it adds character, but only if the character you were aiming for is ‘twat’.
Kevin McHale very nearly gets different right, with this spotted suit jacket. However, it just veers a little too close to bad lounge singer, the type bashing away at a piano although no-one’s listening, with slicked-back hair, cheesy grin, a permanently sweaty brow and car salesman patter (I may have put too much thought into this image). Close but not quite (I liked it the first few views), I applaud the effort. * Insert obvious where’s the wheelchair joke here *
Justin Bieber – Brownie points for spotting the non-Glee cast member. Further brownie points for spotting the cardinal sin committed here, aside from having a face like a smacked arse. If sneakers aren’t good enough for a tacky nightclub in Newcastle, why would they be good enough for the Golden Globes?!
Through The Looking Glass 