Margot Robbie's recent award show outfits earn criticism

Australian actress Margot Robbie has played iconic roles like that of Sharon Tate in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and most recently DC’s Harley Quinn in “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey,” which is now showing at Rutgers Cinema. 

Robbie’s film breakthrough on a global scale was in 2013 when she starred in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. Robbie, in 2017, also produced and acted in the titular role of figure skater Tonya Harding in the dramedy “I, Tonya,” which she received a nomination for at the 90th Academy Awards in 2018. 

One of her most exciting upcoming projects includes playing the lead in a live-action Barbie film written by filmmaking power couple, Greta Gerwig of “Lady Bird” and Noah Baumbach of “Marriage Story.”

Robbie has been lauded for not only her amazing acting chops but also for her beauty and impeccable sense of style. As a brand ambassador for luxury French fashion house Chanel, Robbie is held to a higher standard of style in the modern fashion world. Interestingly, she was the last brand ambassador to be hand-picked by the late fashion icon and creative director of Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld. Other Chanel muses include Cara Delevingne, Lily-Rose Depp, Keira Knightley and Blake Lively.

The actress is styled by New York-based celebrity stylist, Kate Young. Young has been a member of the elite professional index of people shaping the trillion-dollar contemporary fashion industry, Business of Fashion 500, since 2017. Young started off in the industry as an assistant to Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour in the late nineties. She now styles other Hollywood It Girls like Dakota Johnson, Sienna Miller and Selena Gomez, who is the face of established fashion brands like Louis Vuitton and Coach.

Unfortunately, the 2020 awards season has been particularly rough for Robbie on the red carpet.

Academy Awards 

For this year’s Academy Awards, Robbie donned a strapless dark navy-blue vintage Chanel dress, which was adorned with a jewel and tassel pendant. While she was commended for going the vintage route in a world that has an increased focus on stylish sustainability, the overall look was underwhelming.

While she oozed old Hollywood glamour with her wavy, side-parted hair and a bright red lip, the dress itself didn’t quite live up to the person wearing it. The dramatic sleeve-like structures did not distract from the dress’ disappointing construction. 

Robbie was a nominee in the Best Actress in a Supporting Role category for her work in “Bombshell.” A winning moment at the Academy Awards for her and fans all around the world was when she was photobombed on the red carpet by wholesome heartthrob Timothée Chalamet of “Little Women.” Chalamet was also dressed quite strangely in a head-to-toe navy Prada outfit that generated some hilarious memes online.

2020 Golden Globes

Robbie was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2020 Golden Globes. Her Chanel-couture ensemble seemed almost too effortless. The bifurcated gown consisted of a plain white skirt with pockets, a functional feature that I respect and admire in a dress, and a beaded bodice. The embroidered top took approximately 225 hours and 4,750 multicolored sequins and beads to create.

The effort and craftsmanship it took to make the dress were undermined by an ordinary skirt with average hair and makeup, which were supposed to complement the clothing in actuality.

2020 Screen Actors Guild Awards

Last but certainly not the least is Robbie’s tiered and tired-looking plaid gown from this year’s Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. While her looks at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes were lackluster and uninteresting, they were still somewhat tasteful and mostly fell short in reflecting Robbie’s stellar presence on and off-screen.

The dowdy Chanel dress from the SAG Awards was a major fashion faux pas. The halter neckline and silhouette of the skirt was unflattering, the fit was off and the belt and neck piece made for a confusing cocktail of unnecessary accessories.

Chanel obviously can do and has done better red carpet looks, including Robbie’s simple but stunning white gown from the Academy Awards in 2018. Her dramatically-sleeved haute couture Spring/Summer 2019 mermaid dress from the 2019 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards was sketched by Lagerfeld himself and did justice to the actress, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Mary Queen of Scots.” 

The pattern seen with the actress’ most recent fashion choices can be tied to the supposed limitations of working with a brand you are contractually affiliated with.