The 67th Annual Emmy Awards: Hits and Incomprehensible Misses

Disclaimer: The views represented in this article reflect those of the individual writer and not Her Campus uOttawa.

This is the era of television. With groundbreaking shows like Orange is the New Black, Game of Thrones and How to Get Away with Murder giving films a run for their money and something the box office has a legitimate reason to be worried about. This year the 67th Emmy Awards celebrated some of the greats. But as Amy Schumer said “Let’s not forget what tonight is really about, celebrating hilarious women and letting the Internet weigh in on who looks the worst.” I aim to please, so here are the best and the worst of the Emmy Awards.

This year there was a mix of clean lines and silhouettes, edgy fabrics (along the lines of a very well put together ABC party outfit) and of course those that only fall under the category of regrets.

Scandal watchers rejoice! Kerry Washington shone on the red carpet with her edgy metallic number. I’ll be honest, upon first glance it reminded me of those cheesy disco balls hung up at grade 8 dances, or the tin foil that you wrap your leftovers in. But upon further inspection I grew to like it. The shoulder pads and the lower part of the skirt make it different and eye catching. Olivia Pope never fails to impress.

Lady Gaga seems to have turned it down several notches from her appalling outfits of the past that could only be described as semi wearable, very abstract modern art. She presents herself in a smashing sleek black number. Now we are all looking at her for all the right reasons instead of wondering about the timing of her next psychiatric appointment.

Prada stole some inspiration from King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table for this dress. But even with the (thankfully) brief nod to the medieval times, Claire Danes looks absolutely stunning with this sequined number. She keeps it simple with minimal jewelry and allows the dress to make the statement.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the talent that Canada has to offer. *insert cheesy jokes about maple syrup and using polar bears as public transportation here * We’ve heard them all. But seriously, Orphan Black’s Saskatchewan born Tatiana Maslany is a knockout in this white suit. The deep V and the crisp fit are working to her advantage while the minimal accessories keep the whole look clean and simple.

Just three words are needed to describe Matt LeBlanc: How you doin’? Clearly Matt has still got it, looking impeccable in a classic black suit and white collared shirt ensemble. While it does take a special type of effort to mess up the shirt-jacket-pants combination, some men still manage to do it, so for that we thank Matt for setting a good example for men everywhere.

Ariel Winter can count herself among the elite club of the “Ladies in Red” along with Morena Baccarin and Laura Prepon. The sleek silhouette sets off her beautiful curves while the asymmetrical neckline keeps it interesting.

It was refreshing to see Maisie Williams looking clean and girly in a pink strapless number compared to her character Arya Stark from Game of Thrones. While points are awarded for the pockets they are quickly retracted as the eye meets her shoes. While fun and funky, there’s a rabbit out there somewhere who is very cold and thinking that the shave wasn’t worth all the free carrots.

Teyonah Parris clearly got lost on the way to audition for the sequel of 101 Dalmatians. The black and white combination is poorly done here, and the ruffle neckline is the icing on top of the cake we don’t want to eat. The square sequined belt in the middle does little to distract our eyes from the sheer amount of dress that we are presented with. Teyonah best be vigilant for Cruella DeVil if she plans on ever wearing this again. 

Take a deep breath here as we try to decode the thing that is Kathyrn Hahn’s dress. It shows the classic “which material should I choose?” conundrum, but instead of sacrificing one for the other the grave mistake of “both” is chosen, which note – was not actually an option. The majority of the dress is actually relatively (relatively being the operative word) nice with its figure hugging shape and luxe velvet material. But cut to the front of the dress and it looks like the tops of grandma Fran’s curtains were quickly sown on the front to hide a large stain of some sort. While I’m sure grandma Fran was happy to help, the dress goes from bad to worse and the meeting of the two vastly different materials pushes it past the point of no return.

Heidi, Heidi, Heidi. Some people say that there are a certain few that walk among us that could make anything look good. This yellow monstrosity quickly shatters that theory reducing it to a few mismatched words and shameless idealism. Breaking it down piece by piece (which seemed to be the same approach the designer took) the whole thing is a visible cacophony of fabric. The leaves on one side paired with the fringe on the other appear to be in an uneasy compromise that literally leaves them meeting in the middle. The back and forth sleeve-no sleeve look is burning my retinas. And finally the yellow toned fishnet material ties the whole thing up into the hot mess that it is.

Last but not least, one of the reigning Queens of comedy Amy Poehler – even though she started off the night in a sleek Micheal Kors design she finished it in a grey hoody and sunglasses. Hold yourselves down on this one, although hoodies may not be the norm for award shows, I appreciate how far she is willing to go for a good joke. If we are being completely honest the whole audience was green with envy looking at how comfortable she was as they pulled up their dress for the millionth time and loosened their choking neckties.

This year’s Emmy Awards was definitely a memorable one with Jon Hamm coming on stage to accept his award in a way that makes us believe that he is significantly more agile than he looks, Viola Davis being the first black woman to win “Best Actress in a Drama Series” and Amy Poehler and Amy Schumer uniting to make the undeniable force that is AMY 2.0. The fashion was impressive, and while the misses missed the target by measurements that are too large to fathom, I think it’s safe to say there were more hits. And now we wait until next year when Amy Poehler and Amy Schumer host the entire show in hoodies and sweat pants and another celebrity decides to give us their personal password to an online movie streaming website (thanks Andy)!

Sources, 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

• Amy Poehler
• emmys
• fashion
• game plan
• hot mess