At the Oscars after-party, stars slip into something more sensual

By Leah Dolan, CNN

(CNN) — The Oscars red carpet is typically viewed as the apex of awards season dressing. What the stars wear to the Dolby Theater in March is the culmination of months of business negotiations between talent agencies, stylists and fashion houses, generating millions of views for brands and, when successful, can cement an actor’s relevancy in a fast-moving industry.

But after the hard work is done — the contracts signed, the photos published, the designers tagged — celebrities can loosen the proverbial tie and slip into something more, let’s say, comfortable.

Once the Academy Awards wrapped up on Sunday evening, stars poured into the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (where the famed Vanity Fair after-party moved to this year for the first time), several wearing clothes that were sexy, strange and practically R-rated. It was like a fashion watershed. If the Oscars delivered variations of “tradwife” dressing — think Old Hollywood glamour, with enough embroidered flowers to fill a meadow and dramatic, full silhouettes of a bygone era — then the after-party hinged on 21st century sex appeal.

Last year’s best actress winner Mikey Madison arrived in a dress that seemed to capture the moment of getting undressed. The champagne-colored skirt was ruched at the hips, as if the top-half had been seductively unzipped and shunted down to expose her black mesh corset. Jeff Goldblum and his wife Emilie Livingston, who wore a pair of tights and a thong leotard from the Californian label ERL Artisanal, looked like they had gotten lost on their way to a different kind of party as they seductively posed for photos, both wearing a draped fur boa.

Renate Reinsve swapped out her minimalist, 90’s-style Louis Vuitton gown for a peek-a-boo second-skin mesh dress, also by the brand. While “Heated Rivalry” co-stars Connor Storie and Hudson Williams each wore a transparent mesh blouse that exposed their chests, Storie paired his with a fur stole. In lieu of a top, Suki Waterhouse wore two peacock feathers, designed by Tamara Ralph, rendered in gold crystal — the glittering tendrils just about protecting her modesty.

In recent years the after-party has been giving the Oscars red carpet a run for its money when it comes to fashion. Here, the outfits felt less prescriptive and more expressive, as A-listers who may feel hemmed-in by the traditional glamazon gowns and suits expected at the Academy Awards seemed to let their hair down. Stars might feel emboldened by the fact the event isn’t televised (although it is livestreamed on YouTube and VanityFair.com), so celebrities needn’t worry about wardrobe malfunctions broadcast to the tens of millions of TV viewers, or having their more risqué looks dissected live by red carpet critics. Similarly, the larger guest list means there are more attendees up for causing a stir with their clothes. The result not only tends to be sexier, but outfits that are generally a bit wackier.

Anya Taylor-Joy, for example, was one starlet who opted for the unexpected. Instead of an ethereal floor-length frock, Joy looked like a theater performer of a different time in a short black playsuit from John Galliano’s Fall-Winter 1994 collection for Dior and headpiece that resembled a neatly propped-up ribbon. Julia Fox, a deft hand at selecting conversation-driving outfits, wore a surrealist Viktor & Rolf gown whose exaggerated shoulders gave the dress an “Alice in Wonderland” edge — as if Fox had been snapped shortly after chugging the shrinking potion labelled “Drink Me.”

But it was perhaps Cara Delevingne’s naked dress by Thom Browne that best summed up the energy at the after-party, with its subversive trompe l’oeil print featuring a man’s torso in red, black and white crystals. It was silly, sexy and — most importantly — something you wouldn’t see at the main event.

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