KeKe Palmer Dominates the 'Nope' Press Tour
Fashion

KeKe Palmer Dominates the 'Nope' Press Tour

by Evan Ross Katz

For those who have been living in a state of dread after finding out that the My Hand In Yours wind chime, popularized by Dorit Kemsley on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, is sold out, I have great news: the "chicest wind chime" is now back in stock, according to the website. Of course, our dread was already dismissed after hearing Beyoncé’s Renaissance — and in particular the transition from "Plastic Off The Sofa" into "Virgo's Groove," which has serious "Chromatic II" into "911" energy.

We could go down a number of wormholes — Shakira might go to jail, Will Smith broke his silence on the slap, Megan Thee Stallion blacked out her social media accounts, Jinkx Monsoon won Drag Race: All Stars 7, the 25th anniversary of Mariah Carey’s Honey, the quote tweets on Jesy Nelson’s latest selfie — but there are other, far more pressing matters to attend to at this time, so let’s get right into it.

KeKe Palmer Dominates the 'Nope' Press Tour

Should one be surprised at the slayage brought about by KeKe Palmer and the styling duo Wayman and Micah on the press tour for Jordan Peele’s Nope? One should not. Should one revel in the serve spree? One should. One must.

It began with the noted Angela Bassett impersonator rocking a full look from Marc Jacobs Fall 2022 to the Los Angeles premiere of the film: a white mini-corset top and elbow-length gloves paired with a black low-rise column skirt and the designer’s beloved platform Kiki boots (named not after Kirsten Dunst, I’m sad to say). Next up we got a sulfur twill and bonded Japanese crepe look courtesy of Christopher John Rogers Collection 009 for her appearance on the Today Show.

Keeping with the gloved theme from the LA premiere, Palmer stepped out at the Rome premiere of the film in a yellow double satin Prada dress accessorized with navy blue knitted gloves. Days later, at the Berlin premiere, she stepped out in a David Koma pre-fall 2022 dress that featured an embellished plexiglass design along the thigh-high slit. Finally, at the London premiere of the film, she capped off her reign with a custom Valentino green lace gown. As reporter Kyle Buchanan put it: “Crazy that Keke Palmer has two big star vehicles dropping at the same time (Nope and her press tour for Nope).”

According to Wayman and Micha, they started first, like they always do, with a creative conversation with Palmer. “We knew in terms of premiere looks, we wanted a grand opening and grand closing,” they tell me. “Starting we wanted to be eye-catching and conversational (Marc Jacobs Collection). For ending the tour we wanted elegant, regal yet fashionable (Valentino). Rome premiere we wanted a great color and clean lines paying homage to Italian heritage (Prada). For Berlin we wanted a look that conveyed young, fun and daring (David Koma).”

Hailey Bieber's Bathroom Is a Ruse

Let’s get one thing straight from the jump: Contrary to misleading, albeit hilarious, headlines: Gwyneth Paltrow did not tell Hailey Bieber that she fucked her dad in a bathroom. In reality, she riffed off Bieber joking about if Paltrow had horror stories from working with her dad on 1994’s Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, suggesting them fucking in the bathroom as one such potential horror story. Needless to say, the clip, much like many Paltrow utterances, went viral.

Why are we here talking about it? Because the set of this video needs critical dissection. I can’t count myself among the loyal viewers of Bieber’s Who's in My Bathroom? series, which bills itself as a talk show where she "invites special guests into her bathroom to have conversations that are both fun and profound, doing all sorts of outlandish activities along the way." Is making mint chocolate chip smoothies outlandish? Not no!

“The only rule in the bathroom is that there are no rules,” Bieber quips at one point, ostensibly offering the “fun” part of the promised premise.

The eponymous bathroom in her videos began as her actual bathroom, one that proved quite popular amongst her legion of followers. Entire news stories were concocted around its side table alone. The Zoe Reportcalled it “chic,” a “genius idea,” a “perfect choice,” citing how it, a side table in a bathroom, is a “decorating hack worth stealing.” You hear that? Side tables! Who knew?

But it’s actually the inclusion of a dining table in Bieber’s bathroom, debuted in her most recent video with Paltrow, that got folks talking. However, I’m sad to report that the bathroom — the one with that genius side table — is no longer the one being featured in the series and instead is a set at OBB Studios in Hollywood furnished by Pottery Barn. Harper’s Bazaar called the new set “stunning,” but I’m calling it confusing. While I get the practicality of a table, it feels clear that the limitations of the show’s premise are exposing themselves. My genius idea: Do the interviews with one guest in the tub and Bieber on the toilet.

NYFW Is Picking Up Steam

In 2017, when “designer” Philipp Plein made his NYFW debut, he did so with signs on all the seats that read, "Make New York Fashion Week great again." Though he did little to change the course, the question was one many in the industry were pondering. “The Great Fashion Week Migration,” as the New York Timescalled it, seemed to signal a turning point in the relevance of one of fashion’s most important tentpoles.

Now, five years later, things are turning. The CFDA just released the schedule ahead of September fashion week with three big returnees on the cal: Tommy Hilfiger, Area and Puma are returning to NYFW after a hiatus. That’s not all. Fendi, Marni and Cos will also be showing stateside this season. They’ll join returning favorites including Altuzarra, Brandon Maxwell, Dion Lee, Eckhaus Latta, Gabriela Hearst, Michael Kors, NoSesso, Peter Do, Theophilio and Willy Chavarria.

Do I believe NYFW was ever veering toward irrelevance? Not so. Too many dominant designers continue showing out season after season to call it anything close to a flop era, but it’s facts that an exodus, whether to Europe or out of the official NYFW cal (à la Christopher John Rogers and Marc Jacobs), has been happening, and this new and returning blood signals a boost in relevance that I do think the week was needing.

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.

Photos via Getty