Alison Brie Channels Audrey Hepburn At The Golden Globes — But With The Most 2018 Twist
The watchwords on the Golden Globes 2018 red carpet were "Time's Up" and the dress code was black for a good 99 percent of the attendees. But it wasn't just black dresses that were being worn by the stars. Though the dress code to stand in solidarity with women was merely "black" and not "menswear," a surprising number wore pants anyway. One of the best of the night was Alison Brie, nominated for her work in Netflix's Glow. Alison Brie's 2018 Golden Globes look was a stunning Audrey Hepburn vibe look with a surprise pants twist!
Brie has had a fantastic 2017. She had a role in the Oscar bait film The Post. She was the voice of Diane Nguyen in the sleeper hit BoJack Horseman. But her biggest success came in headlining Netflix's other 1980s throwback show, a thinly fictionalized story of the creation of the women's wrestling series known as GLOW. G.L.O.W. stands for "The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling" and it aired from 1986 through 1992.
The series starred Brie as Ruth Wilder, who becomes the "heel" (evil) character on the program, a Russian stereotype who really did exist on the original GLOW, and who had a long running feud throughout the seven years the show on the air with the All-American character Liberty Belle. Betty Gilpin plays Debbie Eagan, the housewife who found liberation and an acting career outside of the soap opera world playing Belle.
As Wilder, Brie is the "in ring general" of the group, the leader who drives things forward, even as those around her don't believe the show could possibly get off the ground, or be a hit series, or give them a career. She wears the pants of the group, so to speak. So it only makes sense that for her nomination, Brie decided to wear the pants to the red carpet.
Looks like a dress right? It's totally got the late 1950s Dior-volume look with the big skirt and heart shaped neckline, right?
Surprise! Pants!
Her reasoning to Ryan Seacrest during their interview on the red carpet was fantastic:
People talk about wearing black being so somber, but the mood here tonight is so celebratory. Tonight is about women wearing the pants, so I’m literally wearing the pants.
Surprise pants, and pantsuits in general, were something of a mini trend this evening. With everyone wearing the same color, the way to stand out was embellishments, accessories, hairstyles, and the cut of the outfit. This lead to several looks where front the waist up (which is what most TV shots are), fans would think the stars were wearing ball gowns. Then, from the waist down, there turned out to be wide-legged trousers, or cigarette pants tucked away among the folds of fabric.
Brie's pantsuit was one of my person favorites of the night, but there were several others of note:
Christina Hendricks, who is known for her feminine and voluminous looks, also went for pants. It would have been easy for her to just wear her usual throwback old school looks but instead, she showed up in pants with a half skirt train that trailed behind her.
Joining them in pants was Susan Kelechi Watson, of This Is Us fame. From the neck up, 1970s disco glam. From the waist down, it's all business.
Watson wasn't the only one rocking the pants from This Is Us, either. Sterling K. Brown's wife, Ryan Bathe, also turned up in a pantsuit. As Brown put it to Ryan Seacrest: “She wears the pants in our family so it’s only apropos that she wears pants." He keeps it real both on screen and off.
All the ladies who wore pants this evening looked smashing. Let's hope they stay boss both on screen and off.
