What I like most about Billie Eilish’s approach to fashion is that she doesn’t compromise her style identity for quality. She’s been wearing luxury brands on every carpet while avoiding a ball gown. Everything is an oversized designer label, and completely in tune with her current fashion personality. She’s 18. That personality could change - but on her time, not on anyone else’s, especially not the Oscars.
More and more young celebrities are making these choices - that is, they’re not adhering to dress codes or conforming to what is and isn’t appropriate as was decided decades ago by people who don’t get it. Somehow BTS has become the biggest band in the world, its members desired by fans even in North America, known for its uber-aggressive masculine ideal, and these young men from South Korea are out here in their lip gloss and blowouts, modelling the latest in concealer, in outfits that are often gender neutral.
Timothee Chalamet occupies the same space. He is the most hyped actor of his generation, thirsted after by everyone, and clearly cares about his individual style signature - which is also a lot more feminine than so many of his predecessors. And even when it’s not totally feminine, it’s certainly not safe.
Wearing a glorified track suit to the Oscars isn’t safe. Accessorising it with a piece of jewellery isn’t either, not on this carpet, at least. Met Gala? Sure. Oscars? One day you have to think he’ll win one. And winning one involves all kinds of presentation to the people who decide who wins. And in the past, the men in his position presented themselves a specifically serious way - think Leonardo DiCaprio - and it definitely didn’t include being a clothes horse.
Timmy is a clothes horse. Unapologetically obsessed with clothes and how they’re worn and what he wants to say when he’s wearing them. You can see it in how much he enjoys posing in those clothes, posing to look as good as he can in those clothes, caring about looking good in clothes. Without caring or maybe actually hoping that the internet will have something to say (he looks like a driver, a valet, an athletics coach etc), as it always does when it comes to him, his wardrobe, his facial hair, so many aspects of his appearance. Obviously he doesn’t mind it.
What I mind, even though I do really love him in this track suit, is that from some angles he reminds me of Scott Disick. You can’t unsee it now, can you?
