Is The Red Carpet Over?

The Time’s Up movement changed not only how we see women in Hollywood but how we talk about fashion

- Eric Wilson

On the subject of men whose past behavior warrants reexamining in this new era of accountability in Hollywood, there’s one who may be due for a reckoning of a different sort. That would be the man known professionally as Mr. Blackwell.

For nearly 50 years, until his death in 2008, Richard Blackwell—a former evening wear designer and onetime actor who became famous as an acerbic critic of fashion— published a satiric worst-dressed list that skewered women in harsh terms. He called Barbra Streisand “a masculine Bride of Frankenstein” and once said Meryl Streep looked like “a gypsy abandoned by a caravan,” to give you some idea of insults that, at the time, were treated as harmless dish. “I merely said out loud what others were whispering,” Mr. Blackwell said, arguing that it wasn’t his intention to hurt anyone’s feelings, just “to put down the clothing they’re wearing.”

But in many ways Mr. Blackwell and his colorful quips were precursors to a culture of red-carpet cattiness that flourished over the decades. From the late Joan Rivers and the Fashion Police to gimmicks like the Mani Cam and Glambot, the pageantry of awards season has turned into a form of blood sport. For years there have been protests and plenty of pushback against the inherent sexism of judging women (but rarely men) for their looks, yet very little has changed. Until now.