It's the Academy Awards, baby. The ceiling is literally caving in! Billie Eilish is *gasp* not wearing Gucci! J. Lo isn't there and had a casual dinner instead with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle! There's truly a lot going on and it's barely started. Also happening tonight? The stunning red carpet looks, duh, including Natalie Portman's gorge Dior gown with sheer insets, gold embroidery, and a badass-looking cape. Like, you can't NOT love this whole ensemble.
And while I'm waiting for the moment that she dramatically whips off the cape, there is actually an amazing detail about it: It features the names of women directors, which are subtly embroidered along the trim. We stan a supportive queen. Here's a close up:
While it can be a tad hard to read (that cursive is beautiful though), here are some of the names listed with the movies they directed:
- Greta Gerwig, Little Women
- Lorene Scafaria, Hustlers
- Lulu Wang, The Farewell
- Mati Diop, Atlantics
- Marielle Heller, Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
- Melina Matsoukas, Queen and Slim
- Alma Har'el, Honey Boy
- Céline Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire
In sadly unsurprising but still outrageous news, there were no women directors nominated this year even though there were so many incredible ones to choose from?! It boggles the mind. If you can remember, Natalie also had a viral moment at the 2018 Golden Globes when she presented the "all-male nominees." I'll just drop the video in case you wanna watch the epic moment again because it was truly a gift.
So I'm here for this much-needed shoutout and reminder of how the Academy has a long way to go to improve gender equality (and just diversity in general?). "I wanted to recognize the women [directors] who were not recognized for their incredible work this year in a subtle way," she told LA Times reporter Amy Kaufman on the carpet. And, wow, did she deliver.
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This article originally appeared on Cosmopolitan.com. Minor edits have been made by the Cosmo.ph editors.
