Dressing for success took on historical significance for Taraji P. Henson and Viola Davis on Sunday night’s Emmy red carpet.
Both knew going in that if one of them were to take home the Emmy for best actress in a drama, she’d become the first African-American woman to ever win the award. So the dress had better withstand the passage of time and trends. That may be why they chose to wear black (Henson in Alexander Wang) and white with black (Davis in Carmen Marc Valvo).
For the rest, the implications of what they wore were more fleeting: Social media shares. Trending topics were plunge-front bodices, pink with black, off-the-shoulder silhouettes, bobbed hair and pant suits.
Risks were taken, including the wearing of chartreuse (Padma Lakshmi) and canary yellow (Taylor Schilling). And there was uncharacteristic transparency in red-carpet banter with age, weight and transgenderdom.
It was the most exciting red carpet we’ve seen in years, with too many favorites to count.
Eric Charbonneau/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images
Never has rainbow color looked so fashion-forward as on Jaimie Alexander in Armani Prive, who said the high neck and long sleeves obscured tattoo residue from “Blindspot” filming. 
