Fashion Notes: 11 Best and Worst Dressed from the 2025 Golden Globes

It’s officially awards season and you know what that means — my roundup of the red carpet’s best and worst ensembles is here. I watched (and judged) so you don’t have to.

There were several dozen beautiful looks on the red carpet last night and several dozen fashion faux pas but I’ve condensed them down to the top of the top and the bottom of the bottom.

1. Best: Zendaya in Louis Vuitton

This is how you do the past. Zendaya in custom Louis Vuitton was the belle of the ball at this year’s Golden Globes. This gingery Marilyn Monroe number takes us back to the great William Travilla’s white satin gown that Monroe wore at the Call Me Madam premiere in 1953.

Travilla’s gown was a near replica of the famously fuschia one he designed for Monroe for her performance of “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” in 1953’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Here, Zendaya takes all the best parts of costume design from the past and brings us into the future with an unusual shade of orange and auburn hair. Of course, the Bulgari necklace and ring set aren’t a bad touch.

2. Worst: Ariana Grande in Hubert de Givenchy 

This is how not to do the past.

I can appreciate Ariana Grande’s affinity for Audrey Hepburn and her close friendship with Hubert de Givenchy who helped build one of the most revolutionary Parisian fashion houses that still stands today and this 1966 Haute Couture gown from Givenchy is a fashion classic fit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

And yet, it doesn’t work on Grande in the slightest.

This is a case of it’s not the dress, it’s the wearer of the dress. Like the Wicked press tour, there’s something off about Grande’s look. The hair is washed out, the eyebrows are almost nonexistent, the makeup doesn’t help, and the bust of the dress is too large for her teeny tiny body.

With some major tweaks, this could have been one of the best looks of the evening. As is, though, not even a Swarovski crystal choker can save this.

3. Best: Nicole Kidman in Balenciaga Haute Couture 

Nicole Kidman is a contemporary Aphrodite in this incredibly draped, glittering Balenciaga Haute Couture gown fit for a goddess.

For a red carpet, I’m not sure it gets much better. This is daring in every sense of the word. Brat is out. Babygirl is in.

4. Worst: Naomi Watts in Schiaparelli

Naomi Watts in this Schiaparelli gown is one of these looks where the farther down your eye travels, the more you start to question the stylist’s judgment.

I have no doubt that Schiaparelli will post to Instagram a 15 minute documentary-style clip of how this gown was designed, stitched, and crafted. The problem? When all that couturier work results in a dress that appears to have giant coffee filters stapled to the hem, no amount of craftsmanship can save it.

5. Best: Emma Stone in Louis Vuitton

A friend texted me when they saw Emma Stone on the red carpet in this custom Louis Vuitton gown and quipped “[you] must be salty…” I won’t lie, I am. It kills me to put the most overrated millennial actress in Hollywood on my best dressed list but credit where credit is due.

I was recently researching how red tones are the most inviting color palette on the color wheel. Unfortunately, the brutalist-lite that has dominated day-to-day aesthetics in America for too long have erased reds.

In that way, Stone’s gown — which could be ripped from Jackie Kennedy’s state dinners wardrobe — is such a welcoming return to warmth, like a box of Queen Anne Cordial Cherries.

6. Worst: Melissa McCarthy in Christian Siriano

What in the drag brunch is going on here?

7. Best: Andrew Garfield in Gucci

Andrew Garfield in this custom Gucci suit was the best dressed man of the evening. The wide, peaked lapels of this double-breasted jacket made up for the lack of tie or cummerbund. It was all the drama that was needed for an evening like the Globes.

Also, like Emma Stone in her cherry red, Garfield’s shirt, suit, and lenses on his shades brought a much-needed shade of rich forest green to the carpet. The return of greens is another indication that our culture is too consumed with greys, whites, and cool tone neutrals.

8. Worst: Jodie Foster in Dior

When I see a dress like this Dior number that Jodie Foster wore, I think ‘What’s the point?’ For something so bland and so lifeless, why not opt for a tailored suit? A pair of slacks with silk blouse?

It’s such a missed opportunity for Foster. We need more from our leading ladies.

9. Best: Margaret Qualley in Chanel

It’s no surprise that Margaret Qualley donned Chanel for the evening, she does after all literally get paid to wear the best of the best one-of-kind pieces from the pinnacle of Parisian fashion.

This gown, specifically, resonates because it could easily be a costume in the new Gladiator movie but teeters just on the edge. It’s regal, uncomplicated, and timeless. Isn’t that what we all want to see on red carpets?

10. Worst: Cate Blanchett in Louis Vuitton

I may be wrong, but I believe this is the first time in the 8 years I’ve written this column that Cate Blanchett has landed on my worst dressed list. Let me explain.

Blanchett, like Tilda Swinton, tends to have a look. She likes gowns with severe shoulders, think Haider Ackermann, and voluminous bodices with draped skirts.

This Louis Vuitton frock channels all that we’ve come to know about Blanchett’s taste in designer duds. But, in a way, I find too Cate Blanchett. I felt even more validated in this opinion when I discovered it was a gown she wore just last year to the Cannes Film Festival.

Changing it up, surprising us, wouldn’t be a bad move.

11. Best: Anya Taylor-Joy in Dior by John Galliano

Anya Taylor-Joy in this archived Christian Dior slipdress from the heyday of John Galliano’s reign at the house is a feast for fashion observers. You could just imagine Shalom Harlow dramatically carrying on down the runway in this gown.

Taylor-Joy’s Tiffany Blue Book necklace, which features more than 64 carats of crystal opals, probably made it impossible for her to move anywhere without security guards surrounding her — protecting these crown jewels.

This look is almost completely perfect. My slight issue is the over-posing. The garment speaks for itself, as does the necklace. To pose as if you’re turning on the plate of a microwave in a full rotation is … well, so theatre kid.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.