By Michelle Yeo
If the ongoing and seemingly never-ending Wicked press tour is any indication, the method dressing trend isn’t cooling off anytime soon. So, what is method dressing? Basically, it’s when actors dress in the theme of their own cinematic universe for their film or television project’s red carpets and press opportunities. The aforementioned Wicked press tour is a perfect example of this as Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have consistently been channeling Glinda and Elphaba respectively in their respective princessy and witchy looks.
The women of Wicked may be the most recent examples of method dressing but they’re certainly not the only ones who have jumped on the trend. Jenna Ortega has also embraced it on her recent Beetlejuice Beetlejuice press run, working with her stylist Enrique Melende to choose fits that represented the gothic aesthetic of the film as well as its 1988 original through pin stripes and a black and white palette. The actress also embodied her character Wednesday Adaams’ dark energy when promoting her Netflix series Wednesday back in 2022, specifically with her choice of a black Versace slip dress paired with a veil.
Blake Lively is another method dressing enthusiast. The actress wore a custom Versace catsuit inspired by her character Lady Deadpool to the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere earlier this year and she leaned heavily into suiting, the sartorial choice of her character, when promoting her film A Simple Favor back in 2018. Blake also chose florals for summer multiple times while promoting the film It Ends With Us in which her character is not only named Lily Bloom, she’s also a florist. Although Blake was criticized for making light of a film that dealt with themes of domestic violence. Method dressing has its time and place, it seems.
Halle Bailey joined in on the trend while promoting the live action The Little Mermaid movie this past Spring. A particular standout moment was her shimmery Valdrin Sahiti gown that was giving shiny mermaid vibes. At the film’s London premiere, she chose a Miss Sohee beaded gown with a seashell motif paired with a headpiece that was a glamorous take on a traditional swim cap.
But the ultimate, undisputed, unrivaled Queen of method dressing has to be Zendaya. She and her stylist Law Roach have taken it to the next level on multiple occasions. First embracing the trend in 2017 while promoting The Greatest Showman, Zendaya turned up to one premiere looking like an ultra glam ringmaster in a Ralph Lauren red silk tuxedo jacket paired with a crisp white dress shirt. In 2021, while promoting Spider-Man: No Way Home, Zendaya went full webslinger in a cobweb inspired figure-hugging Valenino gown. Zendaya and Law really kicked it up a notch when it came time for the actress to promote Dune: Part Two earlier this year. Whether she was paying homage to her own character in a two-piece midriff baring Louis Vuitton, to channeling costar Timothee Chalamet’s character in a custom Torishéju Dumi, Zendaya was serving on red carpets all over the globe. But the real standout of the press tour came in London when she went full futuristic sexy cyborg in a silver robot bodysuit from Thierry Mugler’s Fall/Winter 1995 couture collection. Zendaya and Law once again understood the method dressing assignment when she was promoting the romantic sports film, Challengers. From tennis whites and tennis shoes to tennis dresses and shoes with literal tennis balls on them, Zendaya embraced the method madness. And it’s not even for her own film projects that Zendaya dresses method, she also wore an Olympic rings inspired shorts jumpsuit to the Paris 2024 Olympics this summer and went full-on Cher impersonator in Bob Mackie when she helped to induct the legend at the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
While method dressing has been ubiquitous as of late, it’s not necessarily a brand new phenomenon. One of the earliest instances of the trend dates back to 1992 when Geena Davis turned up in a baseball inspired Nicole Miller dress to the Los Angeles premiere of A League of Their Own.
But, of course, the zenith of the method dressing trend came during the press tour for Barbie last year. At every photocall, red carpet, promotional event, Margot Robbie channeled the legendary Mattel doll, not only dressing in Barbie’s signature pink for many appearances but also recreating many of her iconic costumes whether it be the bubble gum pink Vivienne Westood look paired with fur off the shoulder collar inspired by the 1960 “Enchanted Evening” doll, the polka dot Valentino dress which was a nod to the 2015 “Pink and Fabulous” doll or the Versace pink business suit paying tribute to 1983’s “Business Executive” Barbie, Margot fully transformed herself into Barbie for months.
Whether the method dressing trend will go beyond the Wicked press tour remains to be seen but if it does, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo will have plenty of chances to go method once again when the second part of the film is released next year.
