Frockwatch: Golden Globes

In a ceremony riven with Ricky Gervais’ flat, misdirected bantering and the horrifying reappearance of Mel Gibson, it was fairly obvious that the women would make far more of a cultural impact at the Golden Globes. While men make up the vast majority of winners in non-gendered categories, women occupy the headlines and capture the public’s imagination, and a quiet revolution is happening.

‘Ask Her More’, an online campaign that encourages journalists to ask women about more than just their clothing on the red carpet has gained momentum not just with press and public, but also interviewees. This doesn’t necessarily means that fashion writers have less to talk about; just that female nominees – stars, writers, directors and technicians – are no longer trapped into allowing their frocks to do the talking. This means less outlandish dressing, no automatic attention grabbers. It was all very clean and serene (with more than a little bit of sparkle – it is an awards ceremony, after all).

In a pattern-free zone, it was striking block colours that made the most impact. Jennifer Lawrence looked a little uncomfortable in her red columnar Dior gown, hooking her thumbs into the hip cutouts as if they were pockets. Jennifer Lopez proved she was queen of the power stance in a mustard yellow, thigh split Giambattista Valli cape dress. Meanwhile, Julianne Moore was the quintessential high-octane Tom Ford woman in slinky, sequinned midnight blue apparel.

The super-low neckline made a reappearance, with necklines slashed to the waist. Kirsten Dunst and Olivia Wilde incorporated their v-necks with darks or muted colours. Jenna Dewan Tatum’s midnight blue and silver Zuhair Murad gown was a welcome dramatic reprieve from a couple of common dress motifs.

White drapery and simple silhouettes were overwhelmingly popular with nominees, with Saoirse Ronan’s simple Saint Laurent goddess dress and Lily James’ floaty Marchesa drawing similar plaudits. At the more clean-lined end of the scale were Taraji P. Henson and Laverne Cox, in stunning Stella McCartney and Elizabeth Kennedy gowns.

‘Nude’ is a misnomer when it comes to clothing, as the only skin tone it truly represents is a Caucasian one. At this stage we all really should be calling fabric colours what they are – pink, white, gold, bronze, brown – without letting one become synonymous with many. Digressions aside, the palest pales and the most golden of tans were complemented with corresponding flesh tone dresses, from Rooney Mara’s pink-tinged, ruffled Alexander McQueen gown and Cate Blanchett’s futuristic fringe, custom-made Givenchy to Brie Larson’s glorious gold Calvin Klein cutout number and Kate Hudson’s daring Michael Kors Collection bandeau. Occasionally, gowns were amped up to a subtle blush-pink, as with Katy Perry’s warm-toned Prada dress. A red tulle overlay on Amber Heard’s pink Gucci gown added a romantic dimensionality that was lacking in so many other ensembles.

Virtually every man wore a black tuxedo, and almost everyone had nothing to say about it.