Black clothing—particularly when that clothing is the high-end stuff of red-carpet couture—has a way of refining things, of clarifying things, of cutting to the chase: Stripped of bright color and its pretty distractions, the focus can become the details that allow fashion to double as art. The perfect tailoring. The artful seaming. The layering and beading and draping. The testing of craft—and of true skill and talent and artistry—that tends to come with constraint.
Black was the color of the evening on the red carpet of the 2018 Golden Globes: In sartorial solidarity with the Time’s Up movement—which aims to fight sexual harassment in Hollywood and beyond—celebrities rejected the fuschias and jades and bronzes that have made past ceremonies such beautiful spectacles and, instead, almost uniformly wore black. This was meant to inspire deeper conversation: about #TimesUp, about #MeToo, about Hollywood, about justice
It succeeded, to the extent any such shift could have been expected to: The celebrities’ outfits, which normally speak subtly—about their wearers, about their designers, about the culture of a moment—spoke, this time around, stridently. They forced conversations on the red carpet about fairness, about structural change: not “Who are you wearing?” but “Why are you wearing it?” And, so, there was a paradox at play on the red carpet on Sunday evening: The clothes in one way mattered more than ever. And the clothes, in another, mattered not at all. While the dresses and jumpsuits donned by invited celebrities were accessorized, often, with striking accessories and glittering jewels—a black dress can, on top of everything else, serve as a canvas for other forms of wearable art—the accessories most in demand were words.
Here, because of that—via the verbal outfits unveiled on the red carpet of the Beverly Hilton, and on the Globes stage, and on social media, from celebrities and activists and participants around the world—are some of the most striking looks from the Golden Globes of 2018.
Tracee Ellis Ross
What she wore: “Time is up on a lot of things. We all have to stand up together and with arms linked and not ranked. We can put an end to abuse and discrimination that makes the imbalance of power.”
America Ferrera
What she wore: “It’s so incredible to look around and see everyone in solidarity, ready to really address the issues that exist in our industry and across all industries. It’s our job—right now, the time is now—for us to do the work that will make women and all people more safe and more equal in their workplaces and in their lives.”
Kerry Washington
What she wore: “The reason we’re here, the reason we didn’t just stay home, is because we feel we shouldn't have to sit out the night, give up our seats at the table, our voice in this industry because of bad behavior that wasn’t ours. We get to be here to celebrate each other and support each other and stand in joy and solidarity and say we are looking out for anybody who feels marginalized in the workplace, whether you’re a woman or man, because of your sexual orientation, age, race, gender, we’re here to support you … We’re committed to making a change not just in our industry, but every industry.”
Ai-jen Poo
What she wore: “I hope people see the momentum and the energy and the fact that we’re uniting across all industries and all communities standing together saying we all deserve workplaces where we’re safe and our work is valued and we can live and work with dignity. That’s the future, and we have momentum, and we want to say to everyone that they should join us. This is a movement where there’s space for everyone and there’s a role for everyone.”
Meryl Streep
What she wore: “I think people are aware, now, of a power imbalance, and it’s something that leads to abuse. It’s led to abuse in our own industry, and it’s led to abuse across the domestic workers’ field of work. It’s in the military, it’s in Congress, it’s everywhere. And we want to fix that. And we feel sort of emboldened in this particular moment to stand together in a thick black line dividing then from now.”
Laura Dern
What she wore: “May we teach our children that speaking out without the fear of retribution is our culture’s new North Star.”
Uzo Aduba
What she wore: “Because the numbers don’t lie. Because tomorrow is too far. Because your fight is my fight. Because enough is enough. Because it’s time.”
Constance Wu
What she wore: “I am proud to be part of the Time’s Up movement to end harassment, discrimination, and abuse in the workplace, and I want you to be a part of the movement, too.”
Marai Larasi
What she wore: “There’s something about in women in Hollywood speaking out. There is a wall of silence around violence against women and girls, and every time somebody speaks out, it just creates a bit of a crack in that wall.”
Emma Watson
What she wore: “We’re wearing black because this is a moment in time. It’s not the beginning of a movement or the end of a movement. But it is a moment in time that we stand in solidarity with women across all spheres of life—with women across industries, basically saying time’s up on violence against women.”
Saru Jayaraman
What she wore: “A lot of women say they’ve been sexually harassed but didn’t do anything about it because it was never as bad as when they were young women working in restaurants. I’m excited to stand with Amy Poehler, who worked in the restaurant industry, and excited to stand with women in other sectors. It’s our collective power that will overcome the balance of power.”
Amy Poehler
What she wore: “Symbols are important. Coming together is important, but working to make real change, that’s what makes it real.”
Rosa Clemente
What she wore: “As an organizer, any opportunity I have to bring an issue to the front of people [who] don’t know about it, we embrace that.”
Barbra Streisand
What she wore: “Folks, time’s up! We need more women directors and more women nominated for best director.”
Alyssa Milano
What she wore: “I pray every single day that my daughter does not have to go through the sexual harassment, misconduct, and assault that I’ve gone though in my lifetime. I wear black for Bella.”
Jessica Chastain
What she wore: “I wear black to stand in solidarity with my sisters and to say it’s #TimesUp on this imbalance of power IN ALL INDUSTRIES.”
Denzel Washington
What he wore: “It’s important tonight, but it’s important to follow through. It’s important to see what’s going to happen a year from tonight. So that takes all of our effort and real movement and real change of … laws, but [also] rules of behavior.”
Connie Britton
What she wore: “Poverty is sexist.”
Nicole Kidman
What she wore: “I do believe, and I hope we can, elicit change through the stories we tell and the way we tell them. Let’s keep the conversation alive. Let’s do it.”
Reese Witherspoon
What she wore: “It just became clear that with all of the news that’s been coming out that it couldn’t just be business as normal. We wanted to stand up and do something for all people to say time’s up on discrimination, harassment, and abuse in the workplace.”
Eva Longoria
What she wore: “This isn’t a female issue, it’s a power issue and so [we’re] saying time’s up to ending the abuse of power and recognizing the women that came forward. They kicked that door open for this conversation to happen. Roseanna Arquette, Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek, Olivia Munn, Asia Argento; there’s so many amazing women who’s lives were changed because of this. So we want to make sure that doesn’t happen again, with this movement. Tonight is not a moment, it’s a movement.”
Debra Messing
What she wore: “I am wearing black to thank and honor all of the brave whistleblowers who came forward … Time is up. We want diversity. We want intersectional gender parity, we want equal pay … We want people to start having this conversation that women are just as valuable as men.”
Billie Jean King
What she wore: “We’re in solidarity about standing up for people who’ve been abused and harassed.”
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