Jodie Turner-Smith in Gucci

We begin with one of the more wan looks of the year, a Gucci that I just do not like at all, both for the dingy color of the lace and the peekaboob. This dress is fighting Jodie's natural wow factor SO HARD and it's a credit to her that it doesn't look worse.

in Gucci

However, I have to give it to this as her worst dress of the year. We're only two slides into 31, and I'm comfortable saying it. Talk about fighting the hot. EVERYTHING here is putting up a fuss, and she's being cool and composed and confident amid a sloppy pile of stitching and seams. The color is all we've got.

However, please enjoy the way Pacey is giving her the HOT DAMN, YOU ARE DELICIOUS facial expression. One reason I miss their red carpet appearances is that he always seemed thoroughly dazzled.

in Gucci

I think this was a twenties-inspired Gucci for the Met Gala's "America: An Anthology of Fashion" exhibit, and as naked as it is, it's also stunning and looks like it was born in her body (it probably was, in fact).

And once again, the BEAMING from them both.

If you told me they were quietly re-reciting wedding vows to each other in this photo, I'd believe it.

in Gucci

Well, listen. I would absolutely want to attend this circus, but I would also absolutely say to myself under my breath during the show, "I don't believe in the ringmaster's shirt."

in Casablanca

This is... as chic as a translucent ombre suit can be. Your mileage may vary on whether such a thing is possible in the first place. It marked her first non-Gucci outing of the year; she really used the Venice Film Festival to flex her muscles.

in Raisa Vanessa

This feels like it could at least be a COUSIN to her Guccis. It's really fun, even if it also kind of gives her Muppet hands.

in Gucci

Reader, I screamed, and not in an enthusiastic way. This has an '80s Madonna edge by way of Agent Provocateur.

It's festive, but... not for September, particularly. I cannot lie, this is a mess for me. But what's interesting from a styling perspective is that later on...

in Gucci

... she referenced that color story, the green and red, without echoing it. They almost look like before and after photos, like, "Here's what Jodie THOUGHT she should wear, and here's what the stylists said." This is glamorous. And as much as I pick at Gucci, I don't dislike all of them; this is a very good one.

in Et Ochs

I mean... as a nightie, okay? It isn't even really covering her chest properly.

in Christopher John Rogers

But this is SPECTACULAR. It's RESPLENDENT. I love it that much.

What a dream. Compare this to the dopey design and tailoring of the first two dresses.

in Balmain

This dress looks like an angry sea creature and I won't hear otherwise.

in Elie Saab

Aspects of this remind me of what Gucci was circling with the first blue outfit, but it's more carefully done. There are a lot of seams and elements here, put together well by the designer and packaged well by JTS and her stylists.

in custom Harbison

She is making blue and black work! This is so interesting, and absolutely does feel custom. Which it SHOULD, because it is. It just doesn't always work out that way.

in Harbison

She's wearing this ridiculous dress well. But it IS ridiculous. It's like someone sabotaged it and she just slapped on a tube top and kept going. Which is, in spirit, The Best of Regina George, I guess.

in Christopher John Rogers

Yes, yes, yes.

in Gucci

This was for a Gucci event, so she returned to the mothership. She looks beautiful.

in Siriano

I was SO EXCITED for Christian that he got to dress her, and SO BUMMED that it was one of his worse efforts. She's like a glamorous mummy attending a high society embalming.

in Alfredo Martinez

I wonder if this would work for me if it fit her chest properly, and we took off the neck bow. WE WILL NEVER KNOW. She is ALMOST not quite selling this? It might just be that I got a weird photo.

That is way more denim than a person needs at one time, but honestly, I like this whole thing better than the previous slide?

in Balmain

That sound you heard is C3PO's circuits exploding.

in Christopher Kane

Better than it has any right to be.

in Gucci

This was Too Much for some folks, but I love it and I think tying her hair in was the right choice.

in Gucci

Something about this has a whiff of a t-shirt they're selling at, like, the airport in Nassau or Miami or something.

in Zuhair Murad

OOOOH. Sparkly. A magpie's next.

in Ashi Studio

She's been having a lot of color fun with her head-styling, and I like that, but the green MIGHT be detracting a little from the great dress. The top looks like a pain in the neck, or the arms possibly, but the skirt is gorgeous.

in Gucci

THIS is a dream.

This is delightfully OTT. I would love to show up at a party in this, knowing it worked.

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - DECEMBER 02: Jodie Turner-Smith attends a photocall during the Red Sea International Film Festival on December 02, 2022 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by for The Red Sea International Film Festival)

This is... a bummer. But it led to...

in Gucci

THIS, which was splendid. She closed out the year in this as she hosted the British Fashion Awards. Definitely take a look at the British designers she wore inside at the event. I'm still sad she didn't wear one on the RC as well, but at least they were represented. And I can see why this was tough to resist. It's perfect. And it's a fabulous way to get us excited for what might come from her in 2023.

The Year in Jodie Turner-Smith: Big, Bold, and Beautiful

And frequently BANANAS.