No Sides? No Problem

Paltrow, at the Oscars, showed, in her silhouette, what it takes to hold it together

Who won the Oscars is for movie nerds. For the rest, Academy Awards is a spectacle. Sheer fashion theatre – where stars flaunt brand identity, and nominees conceal nerves, in all manner of dress. For Hollywood, there can be nothing worse than the audience forgetting what you wore. Better to be roasted by the internet, than not be noticed at all. And so, this year, the star of the show was no nominee, meh, but 53-year-old Gwyneth Paltrow, in a strapless minimalist ivory Armani dress – with cutout sides – on stage as presenter. The dress’s opening was covered by sparkly mesh fabric, or was it tulle pants – it mattered not. Because, for all purposes, it had no sides, and was held together by sheer stardom, a striking silhouette.

Paltrow returned to cinema after nearly a decade, having stepped back to focus on her wellness-lifestyle business. In interviews, she has said she was “very, very rusty” and “petrified”, when she first arrived on the film set of her comeback film, Marty Supreme, doubting even her ability to act again. The cutout sides highlighted that precarity. Yet she was seamless with confidence as she walked, moved, sat, climbed stairs – giving internet, even more moments of, ooh, was that almost a wardrobe malfunction, or was it deliberate?

And that’s just what holding it together is all about. To keep going when a moment can turn messy, even overwhelming. Not about never falling apart, but to get a grip on response, boardroom to stardom, relationships to family life. Yawn? Not quite. It’s the power of personality. Of ability to make a statement without a word. Of endurance, fitness. Paltrow’s dress was strategy, not drama. No ruffles, no cleavage, no trains, no gold, no glitter, just announcing that, nerves or not, hold it together. And you will be the force to reckon with. 

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