Written by Megan C. Hills
After a yr of awkwardly Zoomed-in awards present speeches and
tie dye hoodies, it has been a aid to see stars returning to the red carpet. Glamour got here again with a vengeance, filling our feeds with shade, sparkle and flashes of nostalgia.
With highlights like Billie Eilish’s frothy
Met Gala ballgown and Lady Gaga’s extraterrestrial Valentino microdress, 2021 was the yr stars had a chance to redefine their wardrobes — and lots of delivered. Below are a couple of notable trends.
Dopamine dressing
1/22
Trend 1. Dopamine dressing: After a yr spent indoors, many stars took their alternative to make a flamboyant trend assertion — as seen with singer Billie Eilish’s frothy ballgown on the Met Gala. Credit: Kevin Mazur/MG21/Getty Images
Bright colours, glowing clothes and playful appears introduced pleasure to celeb wardrobes this yr, as stars dressed themselves completely happy amid the continued pandemic. At the Emmys, Michaela Coel surprised in a highlighter yellow Christopher John Rogers outfit, whereas Anya Taylor-Joy was the image of a retro Barbie in a scorching pink gown and fascinator on the Venice Film Festival. Others channeled their internal disco ball: Dakota Johnson’s fringed Gucci creation stood out on the Venice Film Festival, and extra just lately, Olivia Rodrigo’s periwinkle
American Music Awards robe glittered as she shuffled beneath its feathered hem.
Archival trend
Cardi B attends the “Thierry Mugler: Couturissime” photocall as a part of Paris Fashion Week at Musee Des Arts Decoratifs on September 28, 2021 in Paris, France. Credit: Richard Bord/WireImage/Getty Images
Fashion historical past turned this yr’s largest red carpet flex, as stylists and celebrities sought out uncommon archival items from many years previous. The rising curiosity in upcycling and classic undoubtedly performed a significant function within the development, which included Rodrigo donning a ruched 2001 Versace robe to the MTV VMA awards and queen of the archive Bella Hadid seen in classic Gucci, Stella McCartney for Chloe and extra in road snaps. And who may overlook the olive inexperienced
Jean Paul Gaultier robe worn by Kylie Jenner?
Daring to reveal
Zoë Kravitz attends The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City. Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Post-lockdown red carpets have been sexier than ever as some pandemic restrictions eased and celebrities returned to the general public eye. Sheer clothes, akin to Zoe Kravitz’s Saint Laurent
Met Gala look and Megan Fox’s Thierry Mugler robe (paired with a nude thong) on the MTV
VMAs, have been seen at many main occasions, whereas different celebs like Zendaya, Kendall Jenner and Halle Bailey opted for peekaboo cutouts.
Sophisticated midriff-baring ensembles have been sported by Carey Mulligan, Rina Sawayama and Alicia Keys all year long, whereas Lil Nas X, Kim Kardashian and Hailey Bieber have been amongst those that coated up in skintight catsuits that left little to the creativeness.
Gender-fluid menswear
Troye Sivan attends The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City. Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images
With Gen Z difficult gender binaries on TikTok and discussions about fluidity reverberating all through the style business, celebrities weren’t shy about pushing boundaries. With LGBTQ+ stars main the cost — together with Billy Porter in a blush pink trailing go well with and designer Harris Reed launching their debut gender-fluid trend assortment — others adopted go well with: Troye Sivan wore a minimal gown to the Met Gala and Kid Cudi wore a Kurt Cobain-inspired floral robe for his Saturday Night Live efficiency, adopted by a marriage gown on the CFDA Awards.
Some took extra refined approaches, together with Bowen Yang, along with his platform
Syro heels poking out from underneath the hem of a pointy go well with on the
Emmys. Nail polish was additionally extensively embraced by stars akin to Lil Yachty and Tyler the Creator, and Styles and Machine Gun Kelly even launched their very own nail polishes.
Fashion as wearable artwork
Bella Hadid poses as she arrives for the screening of the movie “Tre Piani” (Three Floors) on the 74th version of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on July 11, 2021. Credit: Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images
The sight of Bella Hadid at
Cannes Film Festival this summer season, sporting a Schiaparelli brass necklace designed to seem like a pair of lungs, stopped the web in its tracks. That surreal, creative strategy to trend continued all through the latter half of the yr.
Di Petsa’s “wet look” clothes, created by self-described interdisciplinary artist Dimetra Petsa and meticulously layered with tulle, remodeled stars such because the
Hadid sisters,
SZA, Chloe Bailey and
Megan Thee Stallion into water nymphs who appeared as if they’d simply emerged from the ocean. Zendaya opted for the same model, crafted out of nude leather-based by Balmain, for the Venice premiere of “Dune.” Her look was offset by that of her co-star Timothee Chalamet, who was wearing a glittering Haider Ackermann outfit that appeared as if it had been spun out of the evening sky. Of course who may overlook Kim Kardashian’s dramatic have a look at the Met Gala — a
faceless customized Balenciaga outfit that provoked questions concerning the nature of celeb whereas spawning limitless memes on Twitter.
Celebrity throwbacks
Gemma Chan paid tribute to Anna May Wong on the Met Gala. Wong is taken into account to be the primary Chinese American Hollywood star. Credit: Getty Images
As many stars went all out with their post-lockdown wardrobes, others took a step again to pause and pay homage to those that paved the best way earlier than them. Throwbacks to particular celeb and supermodel outfits have been seen all year long.
At the Met Gala for example, Gemma Chan honored Chinese-American movie star
Anna May Wong in a Prabal Gurung dragon-embellished mini gown and coiled braids, and YouTuber Nikkie de Jaeger stepped out in a
floral dress with a ribbon studying “Pay it no mind” pinned to her hem — a reference to transgender Stonewall activist Marsha P. Johnson. Kendall Jenner, however, channeled Audrey Hepburn with a sheer robe coated in crystals. The gown was a up to date tackle one worn by Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady.”
Zendaya made a quantity nods to icons, sporting a protracted model of Beyonce’s Versace 2003 BET Awards gown to the identical occasion this yr and a yellow cut-out robe to the
Oscars, modeled on one beforehand worn by Cher on “The Sonny & Cher Show.”
And Angelina Jolie stored the throwback references near residence on the London premiere of the “Eternals,” with daughters
Zahara and Shiloh sporting a few of Jolie’s beforehand worn red carpet clothes as they accompanied her. Jolie wore a 2018 Valentino robe.
Y2K
Avril Lavigne attends the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards at Barclays Center on September 12, 2021 within the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Credit: Astrid Stawiarz/WireImage/Getty Images
Championed by Gen Z stars like Dua Lipa and Addison Rae, the noughties obsession held sturdy by 2021. All the previous trends have been again in full power, noticed in Beyonce’s scorching pink Versace platform heels and Lipa sporting
different butterfly outfits a la Mariah Carey — even a Von Dutch-esque cap was touted by
Rihanna and
Miley Cyrus.
Surprising manufacturers akin to Ed Hardy and Juicy Couture made a comeback among the many celeb set, and retro staples like mesh printed tops, monogram prints and corsets turned go-to items.
Other maligned Y2K kinds, together with low-rise denims and child tees, additionally discovered their method into the closets of
Lipa,
Hadid and
Kaia Gerber. That love for the ’00s exhibits no indicators of slowing down, and it is seemingly we’ll proceed to see celebrities champion the last decade into 2022, with Versace, Fendi and others all steering the bandwagon.
