Not Your Basic Black

She didn’t do anything. We all know that, right? Until Julia Roberts got up at the 90% mark of the show, to giggle and call out Kevin Hart for trying to sneak out of the show, and had the entire room eating out of her hands, applauding her just for being Julia Roberts.

@cbs

I think #JuliaRoberts should get a standing ovation every time she walks into any room tbh #GoldenGlobes

♬ original sound - CBS

And yet. Do we begrudge her? We don’t! She spent the evening hugging every single winner who passed by like they were each her most special nephew – like she put her hands on faces! – and we all clapped and looked at her delightedly, like she’s the people’s princess. Which she is, honestly…

The sparkly black dress is, yes, just a black dress, but it’s fitted immaculately, and nothing distracts from her strawberry Swarovski pendant and a ring that I can’t swear isn’t a raspberry. This is a preposterous setup that would look cutesy on anyone else, but anyone else is not, as the kids say, Mother. Not like Julia.

She doesn’t anoint just anyone, you know. Like, of all the co-stars over all the years, of all the movies, she chose Ayo Edebiri. Our Ayo – to have dinner with, to be her friend – and it fits. You believe that someday it will be her standing at the foot of the stage, hugging and pressing hands to cheeks, and very probably making exactly the same number of snarky comments when nobody else can hear?

Ayo wearing Chanel – it’s gorgeous, and also perfect – but, in case we forget, she was nominated for The Bear, a nod that got to the point of being almost embarrassing, both for being in the comedy category and for sweeping other awards for a good while there, so this dress is supposed to say ‘look over there’, but not before you take in just how great it really is.

And Ayo is, as we remember from visiting with Connor Storrie, constantly great. Look at her here, doing the rounds and kissing hands – you want to tell me she’s not Julia’s most rightful successor?

@enews

Ayo Edebiri is making her rounds at the GoldenGlobes. #AwardsSeason

♬ original sound - E! News

In fact, where black dresses usually annoy me, tonight I’m really warming to them as the uniform of the veteran –Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus, for example.

@thelifeofluxurymagazine

#selenagomez and #mileycyrus are sitting next to each other this evening at the #goldenglobes 🏆 #thelifeofluxury #goldenglobes2026

♬ original sound - Runway walksss🤩

They are both 33, and they probably have about 55 years of showbiz experience between them. Each of these dresses is, in its own way, befitting of these women’s iconic status. This shot of Selena:

When I left ETALK, after years of working specifically on red carpet fashion, there was one particular phrase I swore I would never use again, and even now, I wince at it. But I have to say that when, many years in the future, they look at this particular pic, of Selena in custom Chanel with Chanel jewelry, they will indeed call it Old Hollywood Glamour.

@enews

They raised us. 🥹 #GoldenGlobes #AwardsSeason

♬ original sound - E! News

Miley, on the other hand, this feels glamorous, yes, but it also feels like it’s either from the 80s or the future – like she’s one part celebrity songstress and one part Furiosa descendant. She is incredible, and even though I wish we had heard much more from her last night, every syllable from her super-low throat was thrilling.

She’s in Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, and again, there should be a portrait painted of this moment in time.

In fact, I don’t think I would mind black on the red carpet at all, if it were only for absolute baller vets who bring energy to a room just by being there, and having their cool-assed energy all over the carpet and the room.

Case in point – Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, she nominated for The Diplomat, he for The Beast In Me.  Keri Russell is wearing Stéphane Roland, Tiffany jewelry, and pants. It’s possibly one piece, but it looks like two. In other words, it’s chill AF.

Chill AF is basically these two – please enjoy them talking about how they approach the stress of an awards show in the house:

@e_entertainment

Who knew awards season could get this competitive? 😂 #KeriRussell #MatthewRhys #GoldenGlobes #LiveFromE #AwardsSeason

♬ original sound - E! Entertainment

They’ve been doing this all week, they’ll get a brief break before they do it again for the SAG awards, and still she’s cracking up at what he says to questions they’ve been asked a million times.

Yes, it’s a cute marriage and all that, but even more importantly, it’s just cool. Imagine not just being nominated, or even ‘consistently nominated’, or ‘nominated together’, but ‘nominated, together and separately, looking absolutely unbothered and having the audacity to laugh at the same time’?

Oh, and at the risk of sounding like I’m writing this in 2006, but I already let the horse out of the barn with regard to the fit up above…

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…it even has pockets. In fact, I think most of her red carpet gear does. This is the standard now.

In fact, this post has outlined my new rules. You want to wear black on the carpet? Fantastic. Are you an icon in your field? Are you, by any measure, an utter badass and also someone anyone would feel lucky to be seated beside? Do you, very obviously, contain multitudes we don’t even know about yet?

If you honestly say yes? Then you may wear black. You’ve earned it.