Last night, the annual amFAR New York Gala took place to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research. According to the charity’s website, it’s also the official kickoff to New York Fashion Week — accordingly, there were throngs of models and celebrities (mostly models) there in order to celebrate philanthropy.
On the red carpet, there was a lot of weird sleeve action going on. It was beautiful. Let’s take a look:
Robin Wright, who always looks elegant and amazing and beautiful on the red carpet, continued to do so in a sheer Kate Sylvester dress.
Karlie Kloss wore a Louis Vuitton babydoll dress with a large-yet-tasteful slit up the back and showcased her insanely long legs.
Kelly Rowland, having chosen to don a fashion sack, was drowning in fabric. I’m also not wild about the print. (Fortunately, not even a sea of floppy birch-printed fabric can diminish her beauty.)
Jane Krawowski wore a very structured emerald Zac Posen dress, looked radiant, had great hair.
Model Chanel Iman looked breathtaking in a clean, minimalistic Calvin Klein gown. She wisely kept it minimal with her makeup and jewelry as well; her only real accessory was her unbelievably shiny and beautiful hair.
These are my favorite looks of the night. Lots of people were doing a conceptual shoulderless wizard-sleeve thing, and I was very into it. Here we have Nicole Trunfio in a slinky black dress with ornate sleeves, Lily Aldridge in this gorgeous, bizarre space-age two piece gown, and Elettra Wiedemann wearing a sleek, geometric halter dress.
Different takes on sequins: Barbara Fialho embracing this year’s obsession with sheer; Daria Strokous going a refined-somber route; Hofit Golan being all edgy with exaggerated shoulders, a gaping v-neck and feathers. Get it, Hofit.
Arlenis Sosa and Atlanta de Cadenet wore the same dress, which confuses me. There was a Facebook group created so no one at my senior prom would end up in the same thing. Wouldn’t red carpet events have something like that?
Varying degrees of innerboob: Padma Lakshmi in a very elegant J. Mendel dress; Karolina Kurkova in something very similar but more revealing by Armani; but Kiara Kabukuru wins Innerboob of the Night. She looks amazing
Ladies in fur. Ok, I know that puce is like purply-pink, but I always thought that it should be the word for this gross shade of green that Liliana Nova is wearing. Olga Sorokina‘s scarf is so ugly, but she did manage to do a mullet dress well, which is a huge accomplishment. Jessica Hart looks endlessly cool in that Louis Vuitton jacket, sigh.
Here are some refreshingly interesting takes on black evening wear, some of which are more successful than others. Poppy Delevigne, big sister to Cara, ALSO wore Louis Vuitton and also looked very cool. Angelique Deng wore a perfect dress and looked perfect in it — this is the first time in a while I’ve seen black, glittery and sheer put together in a way that didn’t make me suppress a bit of a yawn. Diana Lado looks like a witch getting ready for bed, in a good way.
More weird sleeve action: Elsa Hosk looking like a sexy pilgrim; all that billowy fabric is a bit much for me. Rebecca Dayan wore a beautifully-draped dress in loveliest shade of periwinkle. Behati Prinsloo, who is engaged to Adam Levine 🙁 , wore the most scandalous black, sheer look of the night.
This is a section I like to call “WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!!!!”: Coco Rocha wore Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture and looked very edgy, but it just wasn’t working for me. Alek Wek — fun fact: Lupita Nyong’o just said in Vogue Italia that Wek inspired her before she was famous! — wore a dress that seems really interesting in theory, but was a bit ill-fitting. Crystal Renn paired her futuristic silver dress with an ugly beaded necklace, for no conceivable reason.
Michelle Rodriguez channeled Old Hollywood glamor in a vintage gown; Lindsay Ellington wore a fancy senior formal dress; Shanina Shaik wore a slip.
The ugly: some very offensive patterns on Maryna Linchuk, Melissa Bolona, and Ireland Baldwin.
Images via Getty.