Awkwafina's Red Carpet Retrospective

2016

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Broadimage/Shutterstock (5685477ax) Awkwafina 'Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising' film premiere, Los Angeles, America - 16 May 2016 Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising - Los Angeles Premiere

This was at the premiere of "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising," a movie that I actually think is VERY underrated, but also this is obviously before Awkwafina was Awkwafina. She looks objectively cute but also this does not have the sort of point of view we'll see from her work later on. This was her film debut and I don't really remember her in it.

2018

Fun fact, my grandma had a tapestry pillow on her bed in this exact pattern. (This is sort of fun, though, and kicks off her long habit of wearing pants to stuff.)

2018, Top Shop

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Matt Baron/Shutterstock (9641478hn) Awkwafina Warner Bros. Pictures 'The Big Picture' presentation, Arrivals, CinemaCon, Las Vegas, USA - 24 Apr 2018 WEARING HIGH-STREET TOPSHOP

Top Shop! I do wish someone on her team had realized that the ankle straps on her shoes was interfering with the hem of her trousers? (This is what stylists DO.) (I mean, among other things. But it's a detail-oriented gig!)

2018

This is mostly good, but! She's quite short and you can tell sometimes when they haven't had time to get things hemmed. That moto jacket is classic, though, and this is otherwise hard to complain about.

2018

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Gustavo Caballero/South Beach Photo/Shutterstock (9776129p) Ken Jeong, Awkwafina, Nico Santos 'Crazy Rich Asians' film screening, Miami, Florida, USA - 31 Jul 2018

Here she is in harem pants with Ken Jeong and Nico Santos, in Miami, and it will probably surprise you to hear that this jumpsuit actually worked best when she was moving around. This hardly ever happens.

2018, Reem Acra

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock (9703961df) Awkwafina 'Ocean's 8' film premiere, Arrivals, New York, USA - 05 Jun 2018 WEARING REEM ACRA

This is the jumpsuit for a bride in a VERY VERY chic cult composed almost completely of apparitions.

2018, Reem Acra

This is SO excellent. It's so glam and elegant -- she does tend to dress quite modestly, but you wouldn't really notice unless you thought about it -- and the accessories are fab.

2018

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock (9782868le) Awkwafina Warner Bros. Pictures film premiere of 'Crazy Rich Asians' at TCL Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles, USA - 7 Aug 2018

She changed for the afterparty and this is VERY 80s Nighttime Soap Chic, which I enjoy. Throw a drink at someone!

2018

This feels a leeeetle bit like it used to be a throw blanket.

2018

Her embrace of color is one of my favorite things.

2018, Versace

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Michael Hurcomb/Shutterstock (9799656fj) Awkwafina iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards, Arrivals, Toronto, Canada - 26 Aug 2018 WEARING VERSUS VERSACE

I remembered this one! I don't love the aggressive branding on the shoes -- although the SHAPE of the shoes is right -- but this is very cute and perfect for a music awards show, which is what she was attending.

2018, John Paul Ataker

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Shutterstock (9858751ae) Awkwafina 'Crazy Rich Asians' film photocall, London, UK - 04 Sep 2018 WEARING JOHN PAUL ATAKER

She really DOES tend to clothing that she could throw a drink in, which is a genre I obviously support.

2018, Prabal Gurung

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Gregory Pace/Shutterstock (9878257q) Awkwafina Prabal Gurung show, Front Row, Spring Summer 2019, New York Fashion Week, New York, USA - 09 Sep 2018 WEARING PRABAL GURUNG

Very delicate and pleasant. Prabal seems like a good fit for her, too. (This was at Fashion Week.)

2018, Marc Jacobs

Mandatory Credit: Photo by MediaPunch/Shutterstock (9878925aj) Awkwafina 'A Simple Favor' film premiere, Arrivals, New York, USA - 10 Sep 2018 WEARING MARC JACOBS SAME OUTFIT AS CATWALK MODEL *9375965ab AND Xiaotong Mao

This! Is! Cute! It's also at the premiere of A Simple Favor, which is the film to which you really SHOULD be wearing your fave pants suit, so....????

2018, Rasario

I mostly -- like 85% -- like this and the other 15% wonders if it's a tiny bit too overwhelming on her?

2018

But this is sexy and dreamy.

2018

And this is like Your Stylish And Cranky Elementary School Teacher in the 80s, which is a vibe I honestly am going to adopt immediately.

2018, Cushnie

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Rob Latour/Shutterstock (10031580d) Awkwafina 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations, Los Angeles, USA - 12 Dec 2018 Wearing Cushnie

These trousers are a bit difficult and she is working it.

2019, Elie Saab

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock (10051748eb) Awkwafina National Board of Review Awards Gala, Arrivals, New York, USA - 08 Jan 2019 Wearing Elie Saab

At a later look, I'd said when I first saw it that I thought she could rock Sexy Widow, and this falls into that category.

2019, Elisabetta Franchi

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock (10055918gt) Awkwafina arrives at the 24th annual Critics' Choice Awards, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif 24th Annual Critics' Choice Awards - Arrivals, Santa Monica, USA - 13 Jan 2019

This is GOOD. SO good.

2019, Veronica Beard

Mandatory Credit: Photo by imageSPACE/Shutterstock (10073455m) Awkwafina 'The Farewell' premiere, Sundance Film Festival, Park City, USA - 25 Jan 2019 Wearing Veronica Beard

This fits extremely well, and feels right for Sundance. Embrace your winter white!

2019

NO. Let's pretend this never happened.

2019, Mimi Plange

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP/Shutterstock (10074847an) Awkwafina arrives at the 25th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall, in Los Angeles 25th Annual SAG Awards - Arrivals, Los Angeles, USA - 27 Jan 2019

Apologies for how bad this photo is; for some reason, this is the best one I had legal access to? I do not know why she's doing the Sorority Squat here. But this dress is fine, I promise. The color is super.

2019, Dsquared2

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Christopher Polk/Shutterstock (10113255cl) Awkwafina 91st Annual Academy Awards, Arrivals, Los Angeles, USA - 24 Feb 2019 Wearing Dsquared2

I LOVE this and stand by that, although someone needs to run up and pull her blazer down a little for the photo. Fancy pants for the Oscars need to happen more often!

2019, Altuzarra

Mandatory Credit: Photo by JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (10229716cs) Awkwafina and designer Joseph Altuzarra (R) arrive on the red carpet for the 2019 Met Gala, the annual benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, in New York, New York, USA, 06 May 2019. The event coincides with the Met Costume Institute's new spring 2019 exhibition, 'Camp: Notes on Fashion', which runs from 09 May until 08 September 2019. 2019 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA - 06 May 2019

This is also VERY delightful. (This was the year that the theme was "camp," and I suppose the shoulders count?)

2019

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock (10303503g) Awkwafina 'The Farewell' film premiere, Arrivals, BAMcinemaFest Opening Night, New York, USA - 12 Jun 2019

We need a word for "I think I'd love it in person but it doesn't photograph fantastically."

2019, J.Mendel

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Rob Latour/Shutterstock (10456674ex) Awkwafina Governors Awards, Arrivals, Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, USA - 27 Oct 2019 Wearing J. Mendel

This is a teeeeny bit mumsy, I think.

2019, Tibi

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Rob Latour/MPTF/Shutterstock (10462151ac) Awkwafina 8th Annual 'Reel Stories, Real Lives' Event Benefiting MPTF, Arrivals, Los Angeles, USA - 04 Nov 2019 Wearing Tibi

Obviously this is A TREAT, though.

2019, Monique Lhuilier

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Matt Baron/Shutterstock (10469129br) Awkwafina 4th Annual Patron of the Artists Awards, Arrivals, Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts, Los Angeles, USA - 07 Nov 2019 Wearing Monique Lhuillier

Ah, yes! This is where I'd originally had my Sexy Widow brainwave.

2019

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Broadimage/Shutterstock (10473594i) Awkwafina Charlize Theron's Africa Outreach Project Fundraising Event, The Africa Center, New York, USA - 12 Nov 2019 Green Suit, Jacket, Trousers

This is good! I've come to a place of acceptance that I always want to see a tiny sliver of shoe and other people want the hem to hit the floor exactly and never the twain shall meet.