Ahead of the 2026 season kicking off in earnest, the Governors Awards is usually the first salvo in a busy three months on the awards circuit.
This year, the event honoured stars like Tom Cruise, Dolly Parton and Debbie Allen with lifetime achievement awards. But the most exciting part of any ceremony is arguably seeing what the attendees wear.
Instead of the more formal dress code that many tend to opt for at the Oscars, say, or the SAG Awards, the Governors Awards are generally a place where people can be more experimental. Who can blame them? This is the first stop in a tour that will see many walk away with trophies (and others having to clap bravely as the camera zooms in on them unforgivingly).
Fortunately, the attendees didn’t disappoint: hello to Sydney Sweeney’s silver mermaid gown, complete with Marilyn Monroe-inspired curls. Hello also to Jacob Elordi’s old-timey suit-and-turtleneck combo, and Jennifer Lawrence’s pure white Dior dress with a thigh-high slit.
This being the red carpet, there were also those going in for a bit of method dressing. Ariana Grande was on the red carpet, promoting the upcoming release of Wicked: For Good with a pink, one-shouldered, jewelled archival Dior by John Galliano dress straight from the F/W 2007 runway. Her stylist, Law Roach, has teased that we’ll be seeing an ‘evolution’ in Grande’s style to match that of her on-screen character, Glinda – which we are, of course, extremely seated for.
Co-star Cynthia Erivo, on the other hand, managed to find a Givenchy by Sarah Burton coat that boasted a pink and green colour scheme. And Mia Goth – aka the queen of Guillermo del Toro’s recent Frankenstein film – continued that film’s blue colour scheme with a pale blue Dior dress that somehow managed to combine massive silk pockets with vaguely bandage-inspired details on the bodice.
But why go pastel when you can go bold? Several stars rocked tomato-red ensembles last night, too. Tessa Thompson’s off-the-shoulder Valentino dress looked fantastic, while Emily Blunt wore a Schiaparelli number with a V-shaped mesh cutout and Queen Latifah wore a draped Lanvin gown.
From red to, um, monochrome (we’re looking at Jennifer Lopez’s very dramatic old Hollywood ballgown from Tamara Ralph), here’s our breakdown of the best-dressed stars to grace the carpet.
