Dress Like a Celebrity

Most of us don't have the same luxuries that celebrities who walk the red carpet do: stylists, high-end designers happy to provide gowns for free, an endless budget for accessories, a perfect figure... But a little bit of research will at least find you gowns that have a passing similarity to the stars' fashions, but for a tiny fraction of the cost. Here are a few of the looks I recently reviewed at the Golden Globes, along with more affordable alternatives!

  

Viola Davis' Jason Wu gown featured a deep cobalt hue, a full skirt gathering into the waist at one hip, and a single sleeve effect. Wu's gowns sell at Bergdorf Goodman for $2,000 to $3,000, but you can pick up this similar "Ivonne" dress from Escapexit for only $88. It features a full, pleated skirt gathered into an open ring at one hip, and a single-shoulder bodice, in a similar cobalt blue.  

 

Ana de Armas' strapless Louis Vuitton gown featured a dramatic silver lace panel over a black dress. Perhaps not quite so dramatic, but this strapless BCBG gown features a sheer skirt and hip-length lace panels on the bodice. A slightly different fabulous, but a much more affordable fabulous, at $194 from Amazon. 

 

Michelle Williams' Gucci gown was not a win with me, but toning it down significantly still makes for a good look. Keep the single shoulder with a frothy detail, the defined waist, and just a hint of the cascading ruffles, then bump up the color saturation a little, and you end up with this much prettier Mac Duggal gown, $498 at Nordstrom rather than Net-a-Porter's usual Gucci price tag of $4,000-$9,000.

 

Anya Taylor-Joy's long yellow Dior skirt with matching bandeau was simple and sleek, to the point of being stark. Add a little flare to the line of the skirt and a bit more coverage with the bandeau, and you have this elegantly wearable Xscape ensemble from Nordstrom's for a cool $107, several orders of magnitude less than the original Dior.

 

Angela Bassett's clinging silver Pamella Rolland halter column was striking in its simplicity: Simple halter neckline and body-hugging silhouette. Compare her look ($4,000-$9,000 for a PR gown at Bergdorf Goodman) with Mac Duggal's similar gown for only $398. 

 

Kerry Condon's simple Brandon Maxwell design is a basic black off-the-shoulder column with a fitted waist and a little visual interest in the shape of the neckline. An even better look, in my opinion, is this Xscape ruffle-topped gown for $228 at Dillard's. 

 

 

Jamie Lee Curtis wore an unremarkable black strapless jumpsuit topped with a fabulous black lace Valentino cape (which sells for $7500, not including the jumpsuit). You can find a similar cape on Etsy for $52 and a similar jumpsuit at Lulu for $66.

 

If you like the drama of Quinta Brunson's black-and-red mermaid gown by Christian Siriano (which will set you back a cool $7K or so), check out this red tulle ruffle gown from E & V's Deals - it is a deal at $210. 

 

 

It's hard to find a non-designer gown that has the same criss-cross cutouts as Jenna Ortega's fabulous Gucci gown, but the graceful chiffon bell sleeves and sweeping skirt are featured in this $238 Bella Valentina gown. But if you really love the strappiness of the bodice and the shredded look of the skirt, you might be shelling out the $717 for this Herve Leger fringe gown from Bloomingdale's. 

 

Jean Smart's Tadashi Shoji jacket dress may not have been as pricy as some red carpet looks (the short version is only $508 at Sak's or Neiman Marcus), but you can get Adrianna Papell's nearly identical version - right down to the satin lapels and twisted waist detail - for $199 at Lord & Taylor. 

 

Julia Garner's dramatic pink Gucci gown featured a corset bodice and tiered ruffles. Although a slightly different silhouette, this frothy gown from Sumintras features a dropped-waist corset bodice and multiple layers of ruffles, for $190.

 

Lily James' brilliant crimson Versace gown has a voluminous train with equally voluminous rosettes at the waist over a narrow skirt and a strapless bodice with cutouts at the waist. For we lesser mortals who would vanish into that particular dress, this lacy off-the-shoulder taffeta mermaid gown with detachable train from DH Gate gives a similar impression without devouring the wearer. And it has a reasonable $240 price tag, as opposed to the $3,000-$8,000 you'd pay for a Versace at Sak's. 

 

Jennifer Coolidge upped the ante on the "little black dress" with her body-hugging sparkly off-the-shoulder Dolce & Gabbana column. You can own something similar with this Sierra off-the-shoulder dress from Windsor Store for $110. 

 

Neicy Nash's Dolce & Gabbana column was paired with a voluminous wrap that looked great in photos but must have been a pain to move around in. This purple gown from JJ's House for $158 (rather than the $2,000-$8,000 a D&G gown costs at Shopstyle) also features a sparkly panel on the bodice and has an attached capelet that looks much more comfortable and easy to manage than its designer counterpart. 

 

Elizabeth Debicki's awful Dior column was badly fitted, but it did have a lovely a-line silhouette. This rose velvet Bodycon gown is only $99 at Nordstrom and shares a similar silhouette with a deeper slit, adding visual interest with the texture of the velvet rather than a structured bodice detail.

 

Hannah Einbinder's delightfully retro strapless Carolina Herrera tea-length gown (a style that runs about $3,000-$6,000 on Shopstyle) featured a full tulle skirt and a white satin bow across the bust. This $170 little black dress from Light in the Box features a nearly identical silhouette, and anyone handy with a needle and thread could easily add a bow to the bodice.

 

Janelle James' midnight blue Safiyaa sheath with attached illusion cape had two major selling points for me: the lovely sleek silhouette of the base gown, and the gracefulness of the illusion cape. Depending on which detail you prefer, either of these dresses from JJ's House might work for you. The $121 one-shouldered column features a single trailing scarf and an a-line skirt; the $160 full-skirted version features a full illusion cape (a scarf off each shoulder) and a spangled v-neck bodice.

 

Sheryl Lee Ralph's cobalt blue sequin Aliette halter dress had a flared silhouette and a short train. This MACloth halter shares the fabulous color, sparkle, and silhouette, lacking only the short train of the original. Not bad for only $119 as opposed to $2,000-$4,000. 

Now get out there and dress like a star!