The Top Twenty BEST Red Carpet Looks of 2017: Part FOUR, aka THE TOP FIVE

And now, darlings, having listed all of the very worst red carpetry of the year, as well as counting down all the best of the lot, it’s time for us to close out this trying year with some positivity, beauty, and good vibes.

Which means these are the very best looks of the year and you’re not allowed to argue with it. Why would you want to end the year putting negative energy into the universe? Or worse, by questioning us?

Onward, to T Lo-approved gorgeousness.

5: Nicole Kidman in Gucci at the SAG Awards.

Miss Nicole had herself a pretty good career year, reminding everyone of just how good an actress she can be with her Emmy-winning turn on Big Little Lies. Like so many fashion-minded celebs, her career highs were met with some fashion highs as well. She didn’t nail it every time – and in fact, nearly wound up on the worst list with a couple of her attempts – but this year saw a more energetic, bold, risk-taking Nic sweep the red carpet, and nothing could be more emblematic of that turn than this incredible head-turning parade float of a gown. It manages to be over the top but somehow chic at the same time.

4: Zendaya Coleman in Vivetta at the Variety magazine “Power of Young Hollywood” party. 

Miss Zendaya landed on the worst list twice this year, but it’s comforting to know that she balanced that out by landing on the best list twice. She’s the biggest mainstream risk-taker of the year, which makes her perfectly balanced showing on both lists perfectly sensible. The pajama trend vexed us all year long on the red carpet, but occasionally a gal showed up in a stylish version that won us over. No one did better on that front this year than Miss Z, showing up in this glittery and stylish version of lounge wear, a bit unlike anything else seen this year.

3: Janelle Monae in Elie Saab at the Academy Awards. 

Like Zendaya and Nicole, Miss Janelle also had a very good career year which she expressed through her fashion choices. While sticking to a very strict black-and-white theme throughout awards season, she showed up on the big night no more colorful, but practically exploding with whimsy, grandeur, texture and regal high style, making for one of the most delightful red carpet moments of 2017.

2: Ruth Negga in Valentino at the Met Gala. 

Bow down to your High Priestess of Fashion, who snatched the ecclesiastical robes (almost literally) from Pope Tilda this year. As we saw with other two entries on the best list this year, Miss Ruth can do fiercely chic and stunningly pretty looks as easily as the rest of us eat pizza, but it takes a true savant to take your fashion to the highest level: By establishing your own fashion church. As we said, Tilda did it. Cate did it too. We’d even argue that Lupita flirted with churchhood for a bit. But it takes a very focused fashionista to deliberately drape herself in robes that beg to be worshipped. This was easily one of the oddest high-fashion moments on any celebrity red carpet this year, producing a look both richly old-world in tone while also coming off extremely of-the-moment. No one looked quite like this this year.

The same could be said for the final look; the ultimate red carpet ensemble of 2017…

1: Cara Delevingne in Chanel Couture at the Met Gala.

Miss Cara is that rarest of fashion birds: a former model who also happens to have impeccable style instincts. Most of that lot does pretty badly for themselves when left to their own devices, but when Cara’s got a project to promote or a high-end appearance to make, she tends to do very, very well. Even so, she managed to shock the hell out of us by showing up at the Met Gala in a stunning Chanel suit made even more so by the addition of a silver-painted head; a brilliantly executed bit of so-modern-it-hurts styling. It was fantasy fashion, perfect for the occasion, but it was also good branding for her the release of her upcoming sci-fi film (the little-remembered Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets). establishing her as a chic Robot Girl and a next-level red carpet genius. Everyone on this list impressed us, none more than this final five, but no one really came close to the brilliance, drop-dead chicness, and appealingly modern oddness of this look. We have no problem or hesitation naming it the most fabulous red carpet look of the year. It’s a stunner.
 

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