Every time we contemplated 2020 retrospectives, they were… you know. Grim. Uninspired. And frankly, we needed more of a break this year than a compiling a cavalcade of slideshows would afford us. Besides which, as we covered earlier today, 2020 was an entire YEAR of retrospectives, and we rounded up some of your favorites there. But, can we interest you in some of the best of the ones we’ve done in earlier years? Because there ARE some juicy ones. So consider this like a mega throwback Fugs & Pieces, but of our OWN content.
For example, in 2019, we took a look back at what really seemed to be a defining year for Christian Siriano on the red carpet, as well as for Billy Porter, whose extravagance and panache I truly, truly miss right now. Our Worst of the Year had a naked and non-naked category, and the cover photo of our Best slideshow is Celine Dion at the Met Gala. You may have forgotten that Lupita Nyong’o had a really colorful year and Shailene Woodley had a really wacky one, and former Fug Madness winner Keke Palmer turned it around, and there was a Sexy Tootsie contest.
In 2018, we did a retrospective of the gorgeous and divine Thandie Newton, plus a tribute to the fashion years of Donald Glover and Timothee Chalamet on the menswear side and Angela Bassett and Michelle Yeoh and Blake Lively — who had her huge A Simple Favor fashion year — repped the ladies. We also gave you a bunch of pictures of Henry Golding because it’s just what the world needed, and saluted the HIGHLY entertaining PR hustle of Kristin Chenoweth and Brooke Burke.
In 2017, we looked at Celine Dion’s clothes pre-Law Roach, and then after she hired him to reboot an image that has since grown and flourished even though they no longer work together. We managed a Harry Styles compilation, celebrated Issa Rae’s emergence as a style star, and scratched our heads at Diane Kruger’s choices. We also looked at a bunch of the brands’ years-in-fashion collectively, to see whether it was as good or bad as we remembered: Louis Vuitton, Dior, Monse, Armani, and Oscar de la Renta.
Some of our most important work of all time happened in 2016, and that is: Every single thing Patsy and Edina wore in Absolutely Fabulous. Also, the best looks included Lupita in glorious lavender, and we had THREE posts for the worst: walking around town, sheers, and non-sheers. Our retrospectives were of Emma Stone, Common, the delightful noted kook Parker Posey, and the world’s introduction to Yara Shahidi.
In 2015, we looked back at the Year in Fashion of Taraji P. Henson, Elizabeth Banks, and Jennifer Lawrence, who was done wrong by her Dior contract. Chloe Sevigny’s year also went under the microscope, and among the Best dresses was Samira Wiley in bright pink at the Emmys. The worst kicked off with Gwyneth in a hilarious ruffled jumpsuit and continued into the Sheers division.
Remember when Blake Lively had a lifestyle website? Its purple prose reminded us of the J. Peterman catalogue, so at the end of 2014 we made a quiz that wondered if you could correctly ID which quotes came from which source. This one still makes me laugh and scratch my head, all at once. We also did a Beyonce retrospective, in which it’s revealed she once wore a belt that misspells “Bootylicious.” Taylor Swift got a retrospective and a full look back at all the GREAT stuff she wore while scampering to and from her house and the gym. There were a LOT of naked dresses.
That’s a decent amount of reading material for while you’re marinating in the promise of 2021. Thanks so much for sticking with us in 2020 — onwards and upwards!
