Velvet trending on the carpet isn’t new, per se – it’s a great fabric that’s both reliable and forgiving. So it makes sense that it’s popular – what’s fun is thinking about the Venn diagram of the women who chose it.
Isabella Rosselini is the easiest to figure out, of course – her blue velvet is an obvious tribute to David Lynch and her role in Blue Velvet. She looks magnificently happy about it, and why shouldn’t she? I love those moments when intention and execution are this easy to tie together.
Looking at her and date Laura Dern, I’m struck by how many people last night might have felt anxious or uncomfortable and wished so hard that they were these two. What a duo.
Speaking of confident, happy duos, I was not expecting to enjoy Scarlett Johannson and June Squibb so much. Onstage, Scarlett’s velvet looked black, especially next to June’s plum tones:
June Squibb and Scarlett Johansson presenting at the #Oscars
— Film Updates (@thefilmupdates.bsky.social) 2025-03-03T01:24:28.000Z
But on the carpet it’s more clear it’s a midnight blue that is so easy to wear, so generous in giving light and dimension where she wants it while never stealing the centre of attention.
Scarlett Johansson stuns at the 2025 #Oscars
— Film Updates (@thefilmupdates.bsky.social) 2025-03-02T23:48:09.000Z
I have to say, I’m so delighted with these two as a pair, and I’m very jazzed for what Eleanor The Great is going to bring out as a result. Look how much fun they’re clearly having together! I want that onscreen! More women onscreen together, or making things to put onscreen together! Please!
June Squibb and Scarlett Johansson during #Oscars rehearsals 📸: Al Seib and Richard Harbaugh / @TheAcademy
— Film Updates (@thefilmupdates.bsky.social) 2025-03-01T23:54:28.000Z
Black velvet is kind of the standard, if there is such a thing, but despite being a reliable standby item, Margaret Qualley’s dress looks very iconoclastic and deliberate.
I do wonder if her stylist was like “Margaret. Dude. You were in The Substance, it’s obligatory that you have a backless dress!” It’s a nod without being, you know, on the nose. Whatever, don’t mock! You come up with a body-related idiom then! Either way, I’m very into a…do we call that a spinal lariat? Maybe they started with the necklace and worked backward? Heh. Backward. (I’m really sorry. We’re very sleepless.)
The other no-nonsense, stalwart black velvet is on that no-nonsense stalwart presenter, Amy Poehler. Amy is always consistently a utility dresser at awards shows – she has a silhouette she likes, but it always works for her – I’ve never once seen her hike up a strapless gown or fuss with a hemline, and she looks like a million bucks.
…and also, she knows it. Another of my favourite red carpet tropes. ‘Yeah I did, where’s the flaw? Can’t find it, can you?’
All Amy’s lines cracked me up, because they were about writing and I am a pathetically easy mark on that front.
The final velvet dress, and I’m not sure it wasn’t the best one, was a wine-coloured column on Meg Ryan, displayed to great effect when she presented with Billy Crystal. Again, she looks chic, she looks chill, she looks like the dress is in absolutely no danger of going anywhere, and if necessary she could pinch-hit on hosting for the next few minutes…
Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, stars of When Harry Met Sally, presented the award for Best Picture to Anora. www.newsweek.com/oscars-2025-...
— Newsweek (@newsweek.com) 2025-03-03T03:46:57.641Z
"i used to work here" - billy crystal
— endora bullshit (@endora-bullshit.bsky.social) 2025-03-03T03:42:47.543Z
Also, Billy’s “I used to work here” is a really quality line. Easy and chill, much like his presenting partner’s outfit. Perhaps he felt the velvet vibes and leaned in, too.
So, class, what have we learned? While velvet dresses can trend more mature, they don’t have to be aging – and they imbue the wearer with a chill, easy, “I know we’ve got this” kind of vibe, and/or are chosen by people who have that vibe going for them in the first place. I think we could all learn something here, and that is that you don’t have to look uncomfortable. There’s another, softer way…
