NEW YORK (AP) — Ariana Grande did her Glinda proud in a pale pink stunner, and her “Wicked” bestie Cynthia Erivo honored Elphaba in deep forest green on the Oscars carpet as high glam took over Sunday. Others went for bold red, classic black and pops of pink.
Grande wore a look from the Schiaparelli spring-summer 2025 collection. It was a perfect Glinda ode with no straps and a structured skirt that fell into airy pleats. Erivo, always a fashion darling, wore custom Louis Vuitton with a high triangular collar and huge shoulders, her signature long nails the usual on-point complement.
“Cynthia Erivo is a true fashionista who understands how beauty also plays into the overall look. I’m always impressed by her otherworldly nails. Tonight they were obviously an homage to ‘Wicked,’ a full set of black, gold, and emerald-hued stiletto nails handcrafted by Mycah Dior,” said Julee Wilson, Cosmopolitan’s beauty editor-at-large.
In gowns, metallics also had a strong showing in body-con looks: Demi Moore in sexy silver custom Giorgio Armani Privé and Mindy Kaling in a silver Oscar de la Renta gown with chunky embellishment among them. Emma Stone went for slinky metallic nude. Felicity Jones was in steel gray worthy of her film, “The Brutalist.” And Selena Gomez was a bombshell in a Ralph Lauren look of full crystals in metallic pink.
“The Oscars red carpet style really leaned into old Hollywood glamour, which is a trend that’s been building throughout the last year on the red carpet and on the runways,” said Brooke Bobb, fashion news director for Harper’s Bazaar.
“Right now in fashion we’re seeing a return to elegance and to intentional dressing, with designers tracking away from quiet luxury and moving towards something much more bold and, dare we say, exciting,” she added.
Lupita Nyong’o, a fashion “it” girl from her start, got that memo. She wore white custom Chanel with more than 22,000 pearls. Whoopi Goldberg wore an off-the-shoulder liquid metallic blue gown that she spotted on the runway while sitting front row at Christian Siriano’s recent New York Fashion Week show.
Most kept their jewels demure.
How did the men do?
Timothée Chalamet, never afraid to go his own fashion way, wore a custom Givenchy look by the company’s new creative director, Sarah Burton. It was a soft yellow trouser and short jacket leather combo. Chalamet is never afraid to go his own fashion way. Jeff Goldblum added an orchid flower arrangement to his off-white Prada tuxedo jacket lapel. The “Wicked” star walked the Prada runway in 2022.
Derek Guy, a menswear specialist known for his dieworkwear.com blog and Instagram feed, had his personal favorites.
“Mario Lopez was among the best dressed. He wore a midnight navy, single breasted, peak lapel dinner suit with a fly front shirt and black bow tie,” Guy said. “Nowadays, midnight navy is a subtle way to make a dinner suit look more distinctive from the sea of black.”
He also had kind words for “Wicked” director Jon Chu.
“He looked great in an olive dinner jacket. When guys try to innovate on classic formalwear, or, technically speaking, semi-formalwear since black tie is a notch below white tie, they often go a little too far and too wacky,” Guy said.
Chu kept it simple, he said, with good tailoring, a pleated formal shirt and beautiful cufflinks.
“But the slightly more unique fabric made the look distinctive. The quality of the tailoring is always going to be more important than gimmicks, and his outfit fit very well,” Guy said.
Color trends: Red, red and more red
Red endured at the Oscars as a strong trend. Among walkers wearing the color: Zoe Saldaña in a maroon strapless tiered look with a crystal-embellished bodice by Saint Laurent and Storm Reid in a bright shortie dress with a long cape. Saldaña accessorized with sheer black opera gloves. She debuted a Cartier emerald, onyx and diamond short necklace with a panther motif from the company’s High Jewelry collection.
Others stuck to black, including Marlee Matlin in Yara Shoemaker Couture and Coco Jones in sexy Coach, a custom look using vintage fabric. Yasmin Finney also chose black, peaking out from tall black feathers attached to the top of her dress. Fernanda Torres, the “I’m Still Here” star, stood out in body-skimming black feathers. The look was Chanel Haute Couture.
Miley Cyrus was a literal rock queen in a black, high-neck custom McQueen with shredded tulle, glass beads and sequin details. She paired the look with short black lace gloves.
Elle Fanning, meanwhile, also wore Sarah Burton’s Givenchy, the first to do so in public since Chalamet arrived later. It was a classic Hollywood white gown with a sweetheart neckline and black belt with long tails.
The men brought out the color from Chalamet to actor Colman Domingo. Domingo has become a red-carpet standout for all his refreshing looks. He wore a bright red Valentino tuxedo jacket with a matching belt and black trousers. Jeremy Strong and Andrew Garfield both wore variations of the color brown.
Julianne Hough kicked things off in an elegant light beige ethereal look straight off the Christian Dior spring 2025 runway. Joan Chen also went fairy-like in green chartreuse, an off-shoulder number from the Elie Saab resort 2025 collection. Monica Barbaro joined the pink club in Dior.
Some celebs added messaging to ensembles
Swedish singer and actor Kayo Shekoni lifted up her black heel to reveal the words “free Congo” on the red carpet, advocating for the conflict-ridden African nation.
“Conclave” writer Peter Straughan showed his support for Ukraine with a Ukrainian flag pin accent on his tuxedo.
“Just to say, let’s not turn our backs on Ukraine,” he told Variety’s Marc Malkin.
The pin carries extra significance after a tense meeting unfolded between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Friday.
The team behind best documentary nominee “Porcelain War,” the story of Ukrainian artists who trade their paintbrushes for guns to fight against the Russian invasion, also sported Ukrainian flag pins.
“The Brutalist” actor Guy Pearce showed up wearing a “FREE PALESTINE” pin featuring a white dove and a gold branch. The award show comes as Israel stopped the entry of all food and other supplies into Gaza on Sunday. Pearce, who has expressed his support throughout the awards season with various pins, said “it’s the least we can do.”“I’m just always on the case of trying to recognize Palestine and it having as much support as it possibly can because it’s what it absolutely needs.
How was the beauty game on the carpet?
Kathleen Hou, beauty director for Elle, saw an easy glamour.
“Nothing looked forced, fussy or overly dramatic,” she said. “The makeup featured a lot of nude glow, like the awards-season version of no-makeup-makeup, as seen on stars like Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Halle Berry and Demi Moore.”
Hairstyles, Hou said, “were very polished and modern, with details like glass-like shine and slickness, and a mix of knotted updos and loose styles.”
Wilson gave makeup props to Halle Berry and Moore.
“It’s not about them rocking a particular trend,” she said. “It’s about their timeless beauty. I mean, do they age?”
Wilson also noted all the tight hair.
“Lots of beauties in buns. Ariana Grande, Elle Fanning, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson and more stepped out in the sleek ’do. You can’t go wrong with such a classic look, especially in the stunning gowns they were wearing,” she said.
How stars have dressed this awards season
Mikey Madison, Moore, Chalamet, Grande and Erivo had a lot of red carpet wow momentum heading into the Oscars.
The 97th Oscars come less than two months after the devastating Los Angeles fires subdued carpet dressing for a time. As the city moves into rebuild mode, stars have been upping their fashion games heading into the biggest awards night of the season.
Some are notable for playing it glam but safe.
Like Margot Robbie’s Barbie pink, Grande has been mostly sticking to a far paler hue, her signature and an homage to her “Wicked” good witch. Castmate Erivo has always taken fashion risks. She ditched her Elphaba black for last week’s Screen Actors Guild awards, opting for a silver Givenchy look with a high shaggy collar worthy of her bad witch role.
Chalamet has been all over the place on carpet dressing as he navigates his Bob Dylan attention from “A Complete Unknown.” At the SAGs, he married a bright brat green button-up shirt from Chrome Hearts with a shiny black leather suit and a bolo tie as he continues to channel the real-life icon he plays.
Madison, a new fashion darling, wore a baby pink and black satin gown by Dior. She was among several stars to go vintage at the recent dinner for Oscar nominees. The star of “Anora” wore a dark blue velvet gown by Bill Blass from 1987. She collected a BAFTA award earlier this month in a custom Prada in ivory, accessorizing with a long matching stole and a vintage Tiffany & Co. diamond necklace.
She also went Hollywood bombshell at the SAGs with a strapless silver Louis Vuitton look with a large pleated bow at the waist. She’s been working with stylist Jamie Mizrahi, who has dressed Adele and Jennifer Lawrence, among many other celebs.
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James Pollard contributed to this story.
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For full coverage of this year’s Oscars, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards
