At the Golden Globes, stars redefined what it means to dress for modern times

In recent years, having the best vintage dress or a meme-worthy look seemed to be the ultimate red carpet flex in Hollywood.

But at Sunday night’s Golden Globes, actors wore gowns that spoke to the present – something strange and sober, in which ease and wearability are demanded but rarely given, and when unusual beauty can feel like a statement in aesthetically conservative times.

Vintage, or finding something forgotten or conjuring a well-remembered moment, has been the dominant trump card in Hollywood – a sign that you should be taken seriously as a fashion player in addition to an artist. That’s all been well and good (and has been great for reminding us that something doesn’t have to be new to look right), but it’s also left us mired in nostalgia, obsessing over recreating past moments.

When stars weren’t repeating the past, they were wearing ridiculous outfits. Crazy colors, outrageous silhouettes, pointless ruffles and swags – the fashion victim became a venerated main character rather than a cherished sideshow act. Viral clothes, engineered to spin the internet into days of discourse, tainted our collective sense of what was glamorous and pretty.

Everyone has looked just fine lately, but at a time when Hollywood seems to be losing its hold on our fantasies and influencer celebrity has overtaken movie stardom, we have less of a sense of what modern-day glamour looks like. When we dream – of wedding dresses, proms, celebrations and fame – we see very little that shows us the visual values of our times.