Forget the Oscars! Keep Your Eyes Peeled on Smaller Red Carpets This Awards Season

On March 10th, all eyes will be on the 2024 Oscars red carpet. Given that the whole world spectates that star-studded step and repeat, you could say there’s some pressure on awards season frontrunners such as Emma Stone, Lily Gladstone, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph to deliver a killer look at the event. The Oscars, after all, are the red carpet fashion affair. But don’t let the Academy Awards monopolize all your attention: in the lead up to the ceremony, there are numerous smaller film industry galas that pack solid fashion punch; this month’s Palm Springs International Film Festival, and last night’s Governor Awards, are but two examples.

At last night’s Governor Awards stars like Florence Pugh and Julianne Moore delivered some of their best looks of awards season thus far. Pugh shined in a glitzy blush pink Rodarte dress with a crisscross neckline and soft peplum. (Peplums, it seems, are back.) Moore, meanwhile, leaned into disco ball dressing with her long-sleeved Valentino gown. And last week at the Palm Springs festival, Margot Robbie appeared in one of her best Barbie-inspired looks yet—a pink polkadot Balmain dress—and Carey Mulligan chose the same label for her striking blue corseted look. The unifying theme between all these stars? They’re all clad in directional ensembles that they would never wear to the Oscars, an event that, for all its glamour, doesn’t always lend itself to fashion risk-taking.