Ariana Grande might have stolen the show at last week’s Grammys with a puffball gown the colour, shape and size of a small cloud, but across the pond at the BAFTAs, an entirely different style dominated. It’s sleek, minimal and belongs in the 1990s. It is, of course, the slip dress.
Emilia Clarke’s gown, which came straight out of Schiaparelli’s couture show in January, was a slinky black column with trails of sequins.
Naomie Harris’s Michael Kors Collection number, meanwhile, looked like high-fashion armour, with its thigh-high slit and shimmering silver fringe.
The Little Women cast also came out swinging for the slip dress. Saoirse Ronan’s custom-made Gucci frock might have had a full skirt, but those spaghetti straps and that simple bodice were definitely from the school of 1990s minimalism.
Greta Gerwig’s version, in forest green velvet, was a deliciously sumptuous take.
As well as slip dresses, there was plenty in the grunge-yet-glamorous pool. Margot Robbie and Rooney Mara both chose voluminous gowns in the inkiest of blacks, from Chanel and Givenchy respectively, that proved there is a grown up way to do gothic.
The takeaway? A slip, in coal black, is the only way forward.
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