Katie Holmes, You Will Always Be Famous
Fashion

Katie Holmes, You Will Always Be Famous

by Evan Ross Katz

Wow, it’s my last column of 2022. Can I believe it’s the end of the year? I can. Was it a good year? I can’t answer that. But it did give us AnnaLynne McCord’s "Dear President Vladimir Putin: I'm so sorry that I was not your mother” monologue, Keke Palmer’s pregnancy reveal, Chris Pine’s eye roll, Eugene Lee Yang's death stare, Heidi Klum’s worm, Nicole Kidman’s Miu Miu micro-mini and ample stills from the set of the Barbie movie.

Sure, Elon Musk bought Twitter, democracy continued to be ravaged and The View’s flop era prevailed. But all things considered, 2022 was an upswing from the two years before it. Still hell, but a more familiar hell, y’know?

Speaking of Barbie...

We can’t yet be certain that Barbie will sweep the Academy Awards, but if there was an award for the longest press cycle, I’m confident Barbie would pick up the trophy. Sure, there’s the 14 years of development since the film was first announced, but, more acutely there’s been an eight-month span between the first promo image and the just-released teaser trailer, during which the film has remained buzzy thanks to leaked set images. And it’s not going to be waning any time soon, with the film not set to be released until July 21, 2023.

So what to make of the teaser? Very little, expectedly, has been revealed. We get the voice of Helen Mirren, a clear send-up to 2001: A Space Odyssey (which the Kubrick estate acknowledged on Twitter), plus our first glances at Simu Liu, Issa Rae, Ncuti Gatwa and Kingsley Ben-Adir. No signs (yet) of Will Ferrell, Hari Nef, America Ferreira, Michael Cera, Kate McKinnon or the film’s other 884 stars. We didn’t get a single line uttered or any sense of the plot, but what we did get was a sense of the scope and lushness of the film's world. There are tinges of Willy Wonka and Xanadu as well as the overt nod to Kubrick.

Can we, as a society, possibly withstand a seven-month lead-up to the film? Honestly, we can. In fact, I’m looking forward to it. Greta Gerwig has proven herself a formidable talent. And with Margot Robbie escaping the clutches of Chanel, it’s safe to say we’re going to get some major red carpet moments (as evidenced by the Babylon red carpet). Plus, I’m super eager to see what chemistry Robbie and Ryan Gosling have while promoting the film. My first inkling that House of Gucci wasn’t going to deliver came during the press tour when witnessing the lack of spark between Lady Gaga and Adam Driver. Let’s just say that, with The White Lotus on hiatus, I’m in desperate need of something to become my new personality. Alas!

In Defense of People Who Don't Give a Fuck About Portia's Wardrobe

A week out from the Season 2 finale of The White Lotus and some conversations remain: Did Theo James really wear his prosthetic cock “not to be distracting,” or, per Aubrey Plaza, did he want to have “the biggest one”? Did Daphne and Ethan hook up on the island Isola Bella? Why was Abby Di Grasso voiced by Laura Dern but not, in fact, played by Laura Dern when we finally got a visual? These are all important questions. Unfortunately, the most gripping conversation amongst the masses seems to be that of Portia’s wardrobe.

There are rankings of her “chaotic” outfits, articles about what the show got wrong with her wardrobe and even entire articles rounding up Twitter reactions to her clothing. The discourse was not helped by actress Haley Lu Richardson, who revealed during a Today Show appearance that some of the clothes Portia wore came from her own closet. Like the most recent swell of conversations about Hollywood nepotism, the topic got stale very quickly due to many acting like something that was both intentional and obvious was somehow divisive.

The thing about Portia’s wardrobe — and, by proxy, hating on it — is that it’s all very intentional by design. “Portia’s look came out of looking at Instagram influencers and how they put things together in a haphazard but accidentally cool way,” costume designer Alex Bovaird toldThe New York Times. Portia is a bit of a mess. She doesn’t have money, makes some bad choices and spends all her time on TikTok. So we wanted her clothes to reflect that.”

Perhaps we’ve become too accustomed to characters looking like Cassie from Euphoria? But it wasn’t just the haters; it was also the articles in defense of her wardrobe as if this was an enlightened take.

“I saw so many comments hating and defending before I wrenched myself away from the endless discourse,” Bovaird tells me.

I’m bummed we didn’t get the necessary discourse around Harper’s outfits or Daphne’s or Lucia’s. Hell, we should have gotten more discourse around yacht captain Tommaso’s knit cap! I think the larger conversation to be had is one less about Portia and one more about the ways social media has impacted the way Gen-Z dresses opposed to more traditional media. That’s a discourse I’d heartily welcome.

Katie Holmes, You Will Always Be Famous

An outfit I will go to the grave defending? Katie Holmes at the, wait for it, Z100 2022 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball, wearing a deep-blue strapless Tove top, a pair of shapeless blue jeans (designer unknown) and Margiela sneakers. To quote Peppermint on The Pit Stop: “It’s fashion.”

​The comparisons were swift (and apt): Anne Hathaway at the Ella Enchanted premiere in 2004, Miley Cyrus at the 2006 Teen Choice Awards and Ashley Tisdale during any red carpet she attended as a teen. “We decided the rich color and subtle bustier effect detailing of the top was elegant and would be fun if paired with jeans, creating a more youthful feel for Jingle Ball and the atmosphere there,” Holmes’s stylist Brie Welch told​The New York Times. Would I describe this look as elegant? I wouldn’t. Do I love the conviction of her stylist doing so? Absolutely. In fact, we need more of both this kind of nonsensical, thrown-together styling in addition to descriptions from stylists that dignify it.

In a celebrity dressing landscape that has hastily been consolidated to a handful of stylists who work hand-in-hand with brands to often (not always) craft moments rather than statements, this felt refreshingly off-kilter. Don’t get me wrong: This look doesn’t belong on any best-dressed lists (do those even exist anymore?), but it does warrant a welcome discussion about the banality of the red carpet — and those who dare defy it.

And there you have it: 2022. As Theodore Rex star Whoopi Goldberg once said: "To everyone who couldn’t stand me this year, stay tuned, 'cause next year gonna be worse.” See y’all in 2023!

Welcome to "Wear Me Out,"a column by pop culture fiend Evan Ross Katz that takes a deep dive into celebrity dressing. From award shows and movie premieres to grocery store runs, he'll keep you up to date on what your favorite celebs have recently worn to the biggest and most inconsequential events.

Photo via Getty/ Jamie McCarthy