Emerald Fennell & Vanessa Kirby wore very different Gucci looks to the 2021 Oscars

93rd Oscars, Academy Awards

Emerald Fennell really impressed me during the awards season, she was so funny and she seemed to be having a good time on Zoom for all of the awards shows. She’s a writer, director and actress and her 2020 was spectacular, from her work as Camilla Parker Bowles on The Crown to her work writing and directing Promising Young Woman. Emerald walked away with the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. I didn’t exactly think that PYW had the strongest screenplay, but it was thought provoking and I’m glad she won. She was seven months pregnant when she directed PYW in 2019, and she debuted her second baby bump at the Oscars in this blousy, Camilla-esque Gucci Resort gown. She joked about her vibe: “Tonight I am Susan, your pottery teacher who has a business proposition for you that is absolutely not a pyramid scheme.”

93rd Oscars, Academy Awards

93rd Oscars, Academy Awards

Also in gucci: Best Actress nominee Vanessa Kirby. In editorials, Vanessa comes across as a Cate Blanchett-esque shape-shifter with similarly delicate coloring. On the red carpet though… she just looked washed out. The dress was too pale and her makeup and hair did her no favors. I like a bold red lip too, but this was the wrong look. She needed some volume or something else with her hair (she needs a darker blonde too). She’s not even wearing earrings! Too undone.

93rd Oscars, Academy Awards

93rd Oscars, Academy Awards

93rd Oscars, Academy Awards

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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48 Responses to “Emerald Fennell & Vanessa Kirby wore very different Gucci looks to the 2021 Oscars”

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  1. Mira says:

    It’s funny how Emerald’s dress is pretty awful and absolutely amazing at the same time.

    • Esmom says:

      Yes, I think the cut is lovely and flowy and flattering and the colors look great but I think, looking back, she might regret the pattern. A solid color would look more classic.

      • (The OG) Jan90067 says:

        I think she looked like a Monet painting, and I loved it! Fresh, spring-like, and delicate (for a heavily pregnant woman! lol)

        Vanessa’s reminded me of Goop’s ill-fitting pink Oscar dress. V’s didn’t fit in the bust either. And that styling (makeup & hair) is tragic. I’d’ve gone with statement earrings instead of a necklace and let a (better fitting) neckline “talk” instead.

      • Soupie says:

        Good description about the Monet look. I loved this dress. Very very pretty. Emerald looked fabulous.

        Vanessa reminded me of Goop on her Oscar night. Why do these flat-chested women insist on low cut stuff? I’m not trying to be mean, I was small breasted until my 20’s but she just looked weird – and ghoulish with that dark lipstick. Total fail. Why did she allow that? She’s probably an attractive woman (not familiar with her). Another thing, when I took sewing lessons many decades ago, our mannequins looked like that entire dress, no lie.

    • FHMom says:

      Haha I thought that woman is a mess, and yet I somehow like it. Vanessa Kirby’s whole look is awful, starting with the hair and makeup.

    • Lucy2 says:

      It is! I can’t decide if I love it or hate it.
      I am so happy she has won an Oscar! I remember her from Call the Midwife, and I thought her film was excellent.

  2. Penguin says:

    Emerald looks radiant and happy and PYW was a masterpiece. I was on the edge of my seat beginning to end.

    • Darla says:

      Yes me too. I was really rooting for Carey to win too. She gave it her all.

    • Bella says:

      I loved the movie and too thought Carey was amazing. I have never seen a movie like that. It has stayed with me and I saw it a couple of weeks ago. I love Emerald’s dress. It is so pretty. She does look like a Monet painting.

      I think Vanessa looked gorgeous, but I thought her lip color needed to be a few shades lighter.

  3. Cecilia says:

    Yeah vanessa kirby’s dress just simply wasn’t it. I think it would have suited better had she worn a bolder colour.

    • MF1 says:

      Totally agree. She looks gorgeous but imagine how amazing she’d look if this dress was a a vivid red or pink.

    • NotSoSocialButterfly says:

      She looks rather ghoulish with the severe hair and makeup/ pale skin & dress combo.

    • Elizabeth Phillips says:

      Agreed. She looks better as a brunette. The bodice also has some fit issues.

  4. Jo73c says:

    Every element of Vanessa Kirby’s look is off in some way. Unflattering hair colour and style that make her eyebrows seem way too heavy and severe. All the ‘no’ to that lipstick colour. Her necklace actually detracts from the look further – too thick for the length and the choker style is wrong for the outfit, dull colouring, no sparkle. It’s worse than if she had worn no jewellery at all. The colour of the dress washes her out, and the fit around the bust is pretty bad. The view showing the detail on the back of the dress seems to be it’s best angle, I just wish I didn’t have to see her ghoulish face looking over the shoulder.

  5. Lauren says:

    If you hadn’t told me that that was Vanessa Kirby I wouldn’t have known. She doesn’t look like herself with this styling. Just one giant no. Emerald’s dress is meh, but that color looks pretty on her.

  6. Baela says:

    Vanessa Kirby somehow look too editorialised and too undone at the same time. So weird.

  7. Original Penguin says:

    Emerald looks fine. Given her stage in pregnancy as long as the dress was comfortable all is good.

    Vanessa looks terrible. This is giving my Gwyneth Paltrow in that awful pink dress vibes and Goop looked better

  8. Lightpurple says:

    Vanessa’s styling failed her. Different, softer makeup and a less severe hair style and that dress would have worked. It’s all too harsh.

  9. Sofia says:

    When I saw Emerald for the first time I was like: no I don’t like it. But she’s pregnant, glowing and looks happy so that’s what matters. And it’s honestly not bad.

    I feel Vanessa’s was something that worked better in theory. I dislike her makeup and muddy contouring/bronzer.

    • Miranda says:

      God, that contouring. It looks like she was following a drag makeup tutorial, but stopped watching before they got to the part about blending.

    • Mia says:

      I thought the same thing about Emerald’s dress. Didn’t like it at first, then read her description of who she was channeling, and was immediately charmed.

  10. Miranda says:

    I am absolutely in love with Vanessa Kirby’s dress, and so jealous that I’m not statuesque enough to pull it off. But goddamn, she looks AWFUL from the tits up, and the color isn’t doing her any favors, either. She basically wasted the dress by pairing it with that middle school goth makeup. Did she just watch The Craft or something?

  11. Gk says:

    Emerald is spot on about her dress. Vanessa’s dress is secondary to the harsh makeup which distracts.

  12. Sue says:

    Vanessa looked washed out and like death. Way too pale gown, way too bleached out hair and the dark lipstick didn’t make any sense. I was sad for her – this was a big moment and she looked awful. Time for a new stylist.

  13. Tiffany says:

    It’s almost like Vanessa’s style was ‘Let’s just get this evening over with, cause I know I am not gonna win’.

  14. vertes says:

    Emerald was great in “Call the Midwife.” A woman in that last phase of pregnancy can wear anything she wants & is comfortable in.

  15. JP says:

    Vanessa Kirby at first glance- I thought she was wearing Calvin Klein from the 90s ( can’t bring myself to call a dress from that time vintage).

  16. ShazBot says:

    I’ve appreciated that throughout awards season, Emerald has been explaining what her vibe for each get up is. She has a great sense of humour.

    I think if Vanessa had left her hair down and did like a wavy, messy bedhead with lots of volume, it would have vastly improved the look. I do wonder if they tried a different hairstyle and hated it, and she just put it back like that, and that’s why she didn’t have earrings or anything ready to go.

  17. SarahCS says:

    Ok with all these bandeau tops, cutouts, etc. I know making boobs look shapely is not the only way to celebrate the female form but it feels like there’s a bit of a conspiracy to ignore the fact that women have them and they need some love and support.

  18. Case says:

    “I didn’t exactly think that PYW had the strongest screenplay, but it was thought provoking and I’m glad she won.”

    Wow, I thought I was alone in this! I’m so glad I’m not. I thought PYW had a wonderful, smart premise, definitely made you think, and had great performances, but it wasn’t fully fleshed out to the degree it could’ve been. I was so psyched to watch it based on the trailer but I found the film itself a bit underwhelming with some odd plot points. I don’t know how to describe it other than it felt like a draft version to me. It definitely didn’t feel like an Oscar type of film, but I honestly think this year was slim pickings due to all the COVID delays.

  19. TrixC says:

    Not keen on either of these dresses. The combination of the pattern and all the ruffles on Emerald’s just make it too busy. Vanessa looks horrible – the colour of the dress washes her out, the hair and the lipstick are too severe and the fit of the bodice isn’t flattering.

  20. Winnie Cooper’s Mom says:

    I can’t believe that this is Vanessa Kirby. She’s naturally a gorgeous woman. This styling is the absolute worst. I wonder if she’s upset by what they did to her hair and makeup. I also personally find her much more striking as a brunette. But you know Hollywood.. everyone thinks blonde is the beauty standard.

  21. candy says:

    Heroine chick is back, I guess.

  22. A says:

    “Your pottery teacher who is absolutely not trying to sell you a pyramid scheme.” LOL, this sounds like the sort of line Camilla would say to people, which explains how she got cast in the role.

    Fun facts about Emerald: homegirl went to Marlborough College. Her father is a jewelry designer who was the son of an army major, who went to Eton. I was looking through the Tatler website the other day, and they had a little throwback slideshow of their coverage of her 18 birthday party, and I wondered why she was in the pages of a society magazine. I guess her family must be posh or at least upper middle-class in some way or another, so that would explain it.

    Vanessa Kirby looks alright, but is she a natural blonde? If she is, then I have to say, she looks better as a brunette.

    • Ann says:

      The first time I ever saw Vanessa Kirby in anything, maybe a decade ago, she was a blonde. The second time I saw her was as a brunette in The Crown. I prefer her as a brunette, but honestly I think blonde would be fine….just not in THAT shade, with that makeup and hairstyle. It looked very harsh.

  23. Mia says:

    Vanessa has the same stylist has Rooney Mara, and you can totally tell.

  24. JanetDR says:

    I think Vanessa would have looked better if she had let Frances McDormand do her styling and I’m more serious than joking.

  25. MsIam says:

    The first dress has too much of a curtain vibe for me, but the colors do look pretty together. Its just too much fabric for me. I like the second dress but it seems ill fitting around the bust? And that washed out pink is a hard color to pull off, maybe in baby clothes?

  26. Meg says:

    Oh emerald played Camilla in the crown of course i thought she looked familiar
    Loved Promising young woman, and her saying at 10 she thought zach morris would’ve played a bigger role in her life by now lol

  27. Amando says:

    Kirby looks awful. I would have never guessed that was her. The hair color, the makeup, the dress… the worst. She’s too beautiful to be styled so badly.

  28. Katebush says:

    Vanessa Kirby made me sad looking at her here. She was so gorgeous as Margaret in the Crown.
    Here she has no spark and look emancipated.. way worse than Carey Mulligan .. what’s going on?! Why does everyone need to be so thin I hate seeing celebrities diet themselves into former shadows of themselves