The 2020 Academy Awards, eh? What a show it was! Bong Joon Ho's Parasite wiped the floor with the competition. Timothee Chalamet came dressed as a cool Prada-fied mechanic, and Renée Zelwegger won best actress for *checks notes* Judy, a film that some people watched. Taika Waititi raised his eyebrow a lot, Joaquin Phoenix won the award that everyone knew he was going to win (has anyone checked on Jared Leto?). Brad Pitt's hair! Laura Dern! Laura Dern's Hair! Bong Joon Ho making two of his Oscars kiss!
Aside from a few notably ostentatious exceptions (Elton John in fuchsia velvet Gucci, Michael B Jordan in a hot pink Berluti suit and Spike Lee in a regal purple homage to Kobe Bryant), it was also an evening marked by lots of great and, when it comes to Hollywood anyway, surprisingly regular black suits.
After a five-year cycle of loud, bright, statement-making, cinched-waisted and harnessed-in tailoring on both runway and red carpet, it feels like we're in something of a cooling off period before the next 'out-there' wave of menswear inevitably begins. The recent European shows proved that – wait for it – the suit as an object of high-fashion desire is back. The diamante flourishes, giant trousers and graphic logo fetishisation, the meat and glittery potatoes of the 2010s-era post-awards show fashion chatter, has given way to well-cut black dinner jackets with satin shawl lapels and white tuxedo shirts. The trousers were straight-cut and finished just above the shoes, which were mostly black patent leather Oxfords. It was all so, well, sane.
Time is a flat circle: life, death, taxes, James Corden somehow finding a way to be involved in a Hollywood event, Keanu Reeves frozen in youth, the black suit coming back into fashion.
Anyway, here are some of our tuxedo highlights from the night.
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