The New York Times has made headlines for announcing some changes in how it plans to cover Hollywood red carpets during the impending awards season, with an eye towards substance...
| |  | | | | Alyssa Rosenberg on culture and politics | | | | | | Golden Globe statuettes are displayed in Beverly Hills, Calif., during a January 2009 press conference. (Matt Sayles/Associated Press) | The New York Times has made headlines for announcing some changes in how it plans to cover Hollywood red carpets during the impending awards season, with an eye towards substance and style. “The red carpet is now a prime soapbox to speak out about harassment, sexism, racism, industry practices — as well as Hollywood success — and we want to continue to cover that,” Times style editor Choire Sicha wrote in a recent memo. “We will also make sure we find a time for us all to look at cool dresses and tuxedos and think about how we might dress up if we had all the money in the world (and how we might get that look even without the money). We think this is more useful than exploitative, as red carpet coverage is mostly of women, about, by and for women.” I think he’s right that it’s possible to do both at once. But I also think Sicha is selling red-carpet style a bit short by suggesting that it’s worth covering the looks because women will be interested in them. As my friends, fashion bloggers Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, pointed out in a perceptive Twitter thread, clothing is made by hard-working people who intend to make statements with their works of art, however commercial they might be. And more to the point, in a year when women intend to use clothing to send political messages, asking smart, perceptive questions about how they chose their dresses and what they intend to convey with those choices, is a means of doing political reporting from the red carpet. Take the plan by many actresses (and some actors) to wear black to the Golden Globes to protest sexual harassment. It would be interesting to know if, working within that limited palette, stars talked to their stylists and designers about wearing ethically sourced or ethically produced clothing, if they tried to find dresses by designers with certain life experiences or if they looked to specific details of their outfits to put their particular spins on this message of solidarity. Has the current moment encouraged more women to play with menswear, much as Evan Rachel Wood has been doing on the red carpet for the last year? Are stars more interested in aggressive details? Or are they playing with femininity, or even ideas about mourning? There are so many questions to ask about style besides: “Who are you wearing?” And the answers implicate so many more big ideas than “women are interested in clothes.” The fashion conversation this awards season should be more robust, not less, as a result. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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