Red Dresses, More Pants!, and Real Life BFFs at the Girls Premiere

The women of Girls and friends commenced the Season 4 premiere party last night at Manhattan’s Museum of Natural History, where they feted their fabulous lives in the best room in New York, the deep sea one with the giant whale. Who wouldn’t want to party with the whale? While the events team deserves a high five, though, we’d like to have a word with some stylists.

The Girls black carpet was on the whole pretty casual, a no-pressure event fit for a television opening on a Monday (or, alternately, a super-fancy party at somebody’s dump apartment in Greenpoint). I like writer/director Desiree Akhavan‘s look a lot because it seems totally intuitive to her personal style, and not fussy at all—she threw on a perfectly fitting pencil skirt, a bright swipe of lipstick, and kept it moving, chic and cool.

Community‘s Gillian Jacobs looks kinda the most trad red-carpety of most attendees, though she was still fairly casual—clean and polished, a teatime look. Janet Mock, too, is excellent at looking flawless and effortless at the same damn time, her simple black dress gussied up with a simple chain belt and LEG, hi, put her on the inspiration board with Angelina and J.Lo. Zosia Mamet, who in case you didn’t know plays Shoshanna on HBO’s Girls, has maybe never looked chicer (or shinier!) in a red leather Alexander McQueen frock. I wonder if local news outlets will look at this photo and invent a scandal about how she is flashing “gang signs.” No really, though, what is going on with her hands? Maybe 13 years is the amount of time she’s been waiting for this dress to come into her life.

There was not a lot of in-between, here, and to be honest, no one was egregious in their fashion offenses. It’s just easier to not fuck up with semi-casual than with formal. Saturday Night Live’s Cecily Strong found a form-fitting, ’90s style dress that works for her (though it is a bit bandage-y), but ixnay on the footwear, her legs look like they’re disappearing into a gelatinous pool of black ink. Fashion designer Erin Featherston emerged from hiding to show us that her personal style has not shifted one bit, in a frickin adorable schoolgirl look that is perfect for her because she is just so frickin adorable.