Lisa Armstrong
Head of Fashion
Hello everyone,
This morning we’re bringing you a special edition of the Fashion and Beauty newsletter straight from the Oscars red carpet.
Well… all those who said the dramatic creative changes at the top of big fashion houses last year wouldn’t cut through to the public didn’t anticipate the Matthieu Blazy (Chanel) and Jonathan Anderson (Christian Dior) red-carpet effect.
Both designers, not yet a year into their posts, have been relentlessly showcasing their wares (and wears) during this awards season. It’s fair to say neither fully hit their stride until last night, with both serving up dress after stunning dress.
First out of the limos (a surprisingly early arrival for an A-lister; she was one of the first to arrive) was Jessie Buckley, radiant in red and pink Chanel. Over the past few months, Buckley has often looked as though fashion was happening to her rather than for her. But Danielle Goldberg, a top Hollywood stylist who also works with Greta Lee and Saoirse Ronan, finally captured Buckley’s contradictions – she’s both earthy and luminous – with this joyful strapless satin and silk dress, part sculpted, part flowy. For the first time, Buckley looked comfortable as well as radiant.
Like Buckley, Rose Byrne, in hour-glass Dior, embroidered with white cyclamen, met the right dress. Kirsten Dunst in architectural black ruffles; prima ballerina Misty Copeland in a David Koma black tuxedo with a white tutu hem (shades of Jonathan Anderson’s new Bar jackets at Dior), Kate Hudson (not normally a notable dresser, but her watery blue beaded Armani Privé strapless peplum dress looked stunning); Chloe Zhao in her Lady Dedlock black veil and Audrey Nuna, in a tailored gold and black jacket that exploded into a Scarlett O’Hara crinoline below the waist, all looked delightfully idiosyncratic. You’ve got to hand it to Gwyneth Paltrow, who always knows how to steal the spotlight while still managing to look somewhat sophisticated. In her blush pink Armani Privé gown, she took the concept of a thigh split to new heights – a not-so-subtle reminder that the over-50s can still bare all when it’s done judiciously. Naomi Watts also rocked slit-to-the hip Balenciaga at the after party, while Philipine Leroy-Beaulieu did a deep V-neck. Then there was 80-year-old Goldie Hawn, still somehow working her dizzy blonde charm and getting away with it.
It’s rare that red carpet dresses jet in direct from a show. These days they’re usually created from scratch. The fact that Byrne and her stylist Kate Young felt confident taking on a catwalk design (an adaptation of look 35 from the spring 2026 couture collection), is just one example of how this year’s Oscars fully embraced high fashion – not the gimmicks, but the creativity and craft. They even had Dame Anna Wintour presenting. If you didn’t stay up (that’s what we’re here for), she was good at playing herself – and as Naomi Campbell has frequently demonstrated, that’s not a given.
What do you think of the newsletter? Send your thoughts to me here: fashionnewsletter@telegraph.co.uk.
All that glitters at the after party
There was no time for the A-list to linger after the Oscars wrapped. It was on to the after party, hosted by Vanity Fair at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Waiting there was a whole new tranche of celebrity and society names, including Jane Fonda, Monica Lewinsky, Kim Kardashian and the Sanchez-Bezoses.
Obviously this required an outfit change, because stars and the fashion houses that dress them never like to miss a glamorous photo opportunity. These looks had a different mood though. More relaxed and more risqué. Kristen Wiig and Zoe Saldana switched to minidresses, while Nicole Kidman echoed the Oscar statuette itself in gold. But which red carpet was best-dressed overall? We’ll let you be the judge.
– Tamara Abraham, Fashion Director
The beauty take of the night
Jessie Buckley proves the power of a red lip
Is it just me or do we hardly see a classic Hollywood red lip on the red carpet anymore? The 36-year-old Best Actress winner Jessie Buckley stood out at the Oscars last night not only for her teeth-baring, wide smile and her face full of movement (a rarity nowadays), but also for a bold and intentional slick of bright, cherry-red lipstick. Elsewhere Rose Byrne opted for a swipe of deep scarlet, and Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve colour-matched her lipstick to her dress.
Buckley’s make-up artist for this entire awards season (because all the most in-the-know actresses find their favourite and stay loyal) is the Korean-American make-up artist Nina Park, whose client list also includes Emma Stone and Margaret Qualley. She is so in-demand for her refreshingly anti-glam, anti-contouring make-up style that The New York Times ran a full-page story this weekend highlighting her as “the woman on many celebrities’ lips”.
Indeed, on Jessie last night, Park used Chanel’s long-wearing Le Rouge Duo Ultra Tenue lipstick in Daring Red layered over an equally chic Chanel lip liner in the shade Rouge Cerise, for what she described as a “red lip that felt elegant and lived-in”. It is no coincidence that it also perfectly matched the red in Buckley’s two-toned, floor-skimming Chanel gown. As a beauty editor, nothing makes me happier than seeing make-up look so joyful and relaxed, and Nina Park perfectly nailed the brief for Jessie Buckley’s triumphant awards season finale.
– Sonia Haria, Beauty Director
– Lisa Armstrong, Head of Fashion
P.S. I hope you’re enjoying the newsletter’s makeover. If you have any feedback please email us here.
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