Wow, everyone at the Emmys must have gotten the memo on Sunday night that the Bette Midler is exiting “Hello, Dolly!” in January, for how else to explain all those silver sequined and feather-fringed gowns? Sorry, gals, Bernadette Peters has beat you to the punch, but, man, all that glitz and glam sure was fun.
RELATED: See All the Stars on the 2017 Emmys Red Carpet
So what if the beauty trend was largely of the slicked-back, don’t-care (or didn’t-care-enough) hair? This was the year that the Emmys went full-on Broadway, and the Top Ten dresses of the night fully reflected that spectacular sense of performance.
Zoë Kravitz in Dior Haute Couture
Zoë Kravitz wearing a rainbow of color on the red carpet? What next? Is she going to crack a smile? J.K. The coolest person in any dress looks phenomenal in all that razzmatazz (with a supporting role from Tiffany & Co., by the way). As she said on E!, “This particular dress felt magical, so I said, Go for it!”
Nicole Kidman in Calvin Klein By Appointment
This red dress (sweetly, the house calls the color grenadine) with its pleated bodice dress is an engineering marvel. It’s kind of a modified halter with a neckline supported by glittering crystal rope, a more effective styling trick, I think, than the ivory bandana that Millie Bobby Brown around her white princess gown, also by Calvin Klein By Appointment.
Claire Foy in Oscar de la Renta
If you’re going to try a jumpsuit on the red carpet, you better go big, and Foy went all the way in this stretch wool gabardine number with crystal embroidered rope.
Tessa Thompson in Rosie Assoulin
Another rainbow, and this one in pleated metallic rainbow Lurex that demanded a twirl.
Tracee Ellis Ross in Chanel Haute Couture
Certainly a daring look, this glamorously fluid dress with its bell silhouette set the stage for a night of sequins, feathers, and fun.
Halston Sage in Zac Posen
Here’s a more practical application of silver embellishment-on-white trend that looks so sleek and right (also matches the Chopard jewels quite nicely).
Yara Shahidi in Prada
This dress stands apart from the bright color trends with its flutter sleeves and muted tones of bronze tulle and green sequins, and Shahidi couldn’t look more grown up.
Priyanka Chopra in Balmain
It’s this year’s what-the-hey dress, as if made from a deconstructed quilted duvet that lost a pillow fight so badly it was spilling a trail of white feathers, but Chopra made it work.
Evan Rachel Wood in Moschino by Jeremy Scott
White tie and tails, what more could you ask for at the Emmys? Cue the Ziegfeld Follies!
