For this final stretch of beauty, the category is … ROYAL REALNESS. Queens, BRING IT TO THE BALL.
5: Saoirse Ronan in Carolina Herrera at the “Mary Queen of Scots” London Premiere.
Serving us Elizabethan collar realness, Miss Saoirse gets tens across the board for a look that feels queenly and regal, but also has a high-fashion ethereal quality that suits her perfectly.
4: Chadwick Boseman in Givenchy at the “Black Panther” European Premiere.
IS THIS YOUR KING? Too fucking right he is. No man had a greater effect on male red carpetry this year than Chadwick Boseman, who repeatedly demonstrated that a modern man can wear high-fashion suiting while at the same time completely avoiding any allusions or references to businesswear. This is a gorgeous look in its own right, but when we consider how incredibly on-point it is for this premiere and how well it establishes new paradigms in menswear, it easily becomes one of the best looks of the year. It’s flawless.
3: Lady Gaga in Alexander McQueen at the “A Star Is Born” UK Premiere.
If it never occurred to you that Lady Gaga would hit the London premiere of her star-making turn dressed in Elizabethan drag, then we propose you just don’t know Steffi well. This is both a hilariously obvious bit of self-promotion (very much in the Gaga mode) and also a totally eye-popping stunner of a look that probably wouldn’t work on any other mainstream actress at a premiere. It’s the very definition of “extra,” which makes it so perfectly on point.
2: Lupita Nyong’o in Atelier Versace at the “Black Panther” L.A. Premiere.
BOW DOWN TO YOUR QUEEN. The Black Panther cast and promotional tour managed to get the fashion world to sit up and take notice of Afro-Futurism as an aesthetic. We don’t know what blows us away more, this absolute stunner of a dress or the fact that the house of Versace was inspired enough to design it.
But, as much as we know in our hearts that this look is flawless and we’ll remember it for years to come, there is one look that outshone them all. Ladies and gentlemen, the very BEST red carpet look of 2018 (which you really should’ve figured out by now if you know us):
1: Ezra Miller in Moncler at the “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” Premiere.
Ezra Miller, you fabulous queen-on-a-chessboard, come on down to get your prize.
This is easily the most high-fashion, avant-garde look ever worn on a mainstream, big-budget, star-studded red carpet. You can’t even get folks to show up at the Met Gala in something this bold or edgy. Not only did he create a total frenzy of press coverage for stepping out like this, but he also served up a uniquely beautiful, envelope-pushing, totally unforgettable fashion moment on a red carpet, something no male star has ever truly managed before. In a year when male stars defaulted to accountant suits at a heretofore-unheard-of rate; a year when a conservative, conformist, corporatist aesthetic went up against a sober, serious, hashtag-heavy politically-minded aesthetic on the red carpets of the world, this was a moment of pure fashion joy; a tribute to all those queer boys who stood in front of their mirrors, sucked in their cheeks, and saw a star the likes of which the world had never seen before. Bravo, Ezra. Brava, even.
[Photo Credit: INSTARImages]
