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The 20 Best- and Worst-Dressed Celebs at the 2026 Emmys

Tom + Lorenzo are here to discuss the hits (and misses) of the 2026 Emmys red carpet.

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Three women in elegant evening attire at a red carpet event, showcasing glamorous styles and confident stances.
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It’s Emmys night, the time when all of your favorite TV stars ditch their characters’ workday togs for the chance to work some true drop-dead glamour. Thanks to the efforts of hardworking stylists and fabulously opinionated fashion commenters, it’s rare to see any true style disasters at the Emmys anymore, but bless their hearts, some of these folks really tried to bring back the old ways.

Here are our picks for some of the best looks of the night as well as some of the most unfortunate ones.

Louisa Jacobson in Tom Ford

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The star of The Gilded Age has been adopting a slightly edgier look in the past year, presumably to put some distance between herself and her prim Victorian character but also maybe to set herself apart from her mother, Meryl Streep. It really works for her. The suit is sharply stylish on her and we love the little waves in her hair.

Shailene Woodley in Balenciaga Couture

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The Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (for her role on Paradise) winner doesn’t seem all that concerned with delivering a sickeningly fabulous moment in response to ex Aaron Rodgers’ recent nasty comments about her. Rather than choosing a Revenge Dress for this moment, she opted instead for this insanely awkward set of choices. We could almost respect it, except the outfit is awful.

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Emmy Rossum in Julie de Libran Couture

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The star of Furious has been working those curls like crazy lately, adopting a more dramatic style overall. It’s really been working for her, especially here, because we think she looks fabulous even though we kind of hate the dress. There are too many tiers in that skirt, and we hate the lace trim and straps, but her hair and makeup look amazing.

Cynthia Nixon in Issey Miyake

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The star of The Gilded Age ditched her bustle and served up a chic high-fashion moment worthy of Miranda Hobbes on her best day. We love this for her. She does really well with dramatic shapes and unusual details. The color looks amazing on her. The pleating is stunning. Our only quibble is with the shoe choice. We think a darker color was called for.

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Megan Stalter

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What can we say? We can occasionally be grumpy about stunting on the red carpet, but the Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series nominee (for her role in Hacks) simply isn’t the kind of girl who’s going to deliver a high-fashion moment or take any of this too seriously. How can you not laugh? No one’s ever going to forget the time she came to the Emmys dressed as an Emmy, and that’s the whole point.

Selena Gomez in Louis Vuitton

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The star of Only Murders in the Building wasn’t nominated this year, but she’s a longtime pro who knows good and well that you show up looking like a winner anyway. This is a head-turner of a dress and we like that the jewelry choices were kept subtle. You really don’t want to be fighting with all that gold. Her hair looks fantastic.

See more of Selena’s look

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Kristen Bell in Alberta Ferretti

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The star of the Outstanding Comedy Series nominee Nobody Wants This opted for a dress that embodies her show’s title. Sorry, that was mean, but we really can’t see a single thing about this design that looks good. The color is bland and the bodice is wildly over-designed, not to mention a little precious. The whole style—including the hair—just doesn’t suit her at all.

Cailee Spaeny in Miu Miu

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We’re not always the biggest fans of prominent bows on grown-up fashion, but we have to admit, this otherwise uncomplicated gown really suits the star of the Limited Series-nominated Beef. The fit is perfect, that shade of red looks fantastic on her, and we actually like the bows and the multiple straps for giving some visual interest. It’s bold, pretty, and simple in a way that’s just right for her.

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Colman Domingo in Valentino

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And now...blasphemy. No one has been singing the praises of Colman Domingo’s red carpet style as loudly or as long as we have. The nominee for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (for The Four Seasons) and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (for Euphoria) has literally changed the game for male stars with his bold, boundary-pushing choices, but the color story here is borderline clown-y and not up to his normal chic standards.

Elle Fanning in Ralph Lauren

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We kind of had to work through our feelings on this one. We tend to think that the star of Margo’s Got Money Troubles and Lead Actress in a Comedy Series nominee sometimes defaults to colors that don’t suit her or styles that feel a little underbaked for her. We were just about to talk ourselves into stating that this bathroom-y green works for her, but when we saw that long fringe train, we just couldn’t do it. Deal-breaker—for us, anyway.

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Florence Pugh in Vivienne Westwood

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The star of the upcoming East of Eden series is pregaming for next year’s Emmys and we respect the flex. We also love this look for her. While we can’t say we’re totally behind those arm-restrictors (can’t really call them sleeves), we just adore this pastel throwback glamour for her. Love the sloppy bun and the candy-colored necklace. To borrow an appropriate throwback word that we wouldn’t otherwise use, she looks downright scrumptious.

See more of Florence’s look

Quinta Brunson in Christian Cowan

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The Abbott Elementary star and perpetual Lead Actress in a Comedy Series nominee showed up looking like she just survived some sort of natural disaster. We admit to being biased because we almost never like fashion with deconstructed or degraded details, but this really is a poor choice for her, if only because that sheer panel is doing terrible things.

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Chase Infiniti in Louis Vuitton

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The Testaments star and Lead Actress in a Drama Series nominee never fails to come out strong on the red carpet. She likes her fashion dramatic and on a high difficulty setting. The color looks stunning on her and the fit is flawless, but this sure isn’t a dress for hugging or sitting. We love how her hair balances out the shape of the skirt. The light jewelry touches were exactly the right way to go.

See more of Chase’s look

Zendaya in Prada

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The Euphoria star and Lead Actress in a Drama Series nominee closes out an amazing summer at the box office by reminding everyone that she’s also a big-time TV star. This is absolutely gorgeous. It’s literally dripping with the kind of glamour she could work in her sleep, and we love the softening detail of the pink sheer framing the bustline. Her hair is the perfect styling choice for it, complementing the dress but not fighting with it. The makeup is flawless.

See more of Zendaya’s look

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Taylor Deardon in Naeem Khan

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One of our favorite kinds of red carpet “stories” is when an actor who becomes famous playing a character who isn’t particularly glamorous gets the chance to unleash the glam once the acclaim starts coming their way. The star of The Pitt and Supporting Actress in a Drama nominee looks fantastic in this gown not because it’s trendy or edgy or even all that exciting. It’s because she’s perfectly suited to it and also flawlessly styled.

Nicole Kidman in Chanel

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The Margo’s Got Money Troubles and Lioness star served up movie star glam in this sculpted gown with a dramatic neckline detail. We like it because it has just the right balance of streamlined and fussy. The white is dramatic on her and the black pumps make a smart bit of visual punctuation for the look. We just hate that hem length.

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Denee Benton in Cong Tri

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Nobody in The Gilded Age cast got as far away from the bustles and corsets this night as Denee Benton, and while we support her body-serving efforts, we just can’t say we’re feeling this design. There’s nothing particularly wrong with the skirt, but the top makes her look like she’s in a photo that’s being censored. Hair and makeup are gorgeous, but she definitely could’ve used some bolder jewelry here.

Sarah Pidgeon in Chanel

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The Lead Actress in a Limited Series nominee (for Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette) opted for a dreamy, semi-whimsical style that feels a little fresh and unexpected for an awards season red carpet. While the color looks beautiful on her and the drape of the gown is sublime, all of that foofaraw hanging off the front and the back either makes the look for you or totally ruins it. We think it’s gorgeous. We also think the necklace wasn’t needed.

See more of Sarah’s look

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Michelle Pfeiffer in Saint Laurent

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The Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series star (for Margo’s Got Money Troubles) and bona fide screen legend never has to work too hard to deliver pure elegant chicness on the red carpet. It helps that she’s got a longstanding relationship with Saint Laurent and the house always does right by her. This is effortlessly chic and low-key glam. Love the touches of gold. She doesn’t need much and she never has to try too hard. She’s Michelle Pfeiffer, after all.

Ayo Edebiri in Chanel

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The star of The Bear and nominee for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series has really come into her own on the red carpet in the last couple of years. She’s gotten very good at combining her own comedy-based preference for goofy styles with the kind of high-fashion elegance required for the kinds of red carpets she finds herself on most often. While we could do without the floppy bows, we love this for being bold and fun but also chic.

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