Courtcore, when celebrities dress up as “good people” in court

The year was 2002, and the trial that followed the crime was, as its protagonist demanded, highly publicized: an innocent Winona Ryder was seen in court looking as if she hasn’t broken a plate, begging for mercy and dressed in immaculate suits and white shirts. The woman she invented The grunge and who only combed her hair when she had to, has become, through the grace of her team of lawyers, a Catholic student. THE clothes did it all and the control of his gestures did the rest. If there’s one fascinating thing about nonverbal language, it’s how people sitting in the dock learn to control themselves and express themselves with minimal mimicry, which ultimately comes in handy. Everyone wants to get out of trouble and clothing, as a powerful vehicle of communication, is essential.

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March 2023. Gwyneth Paltrow appears in court in Park City (Utah) to resolve a bizarre skiing accident in which she was involved and for which she was sued: she collided with another skier and the latter not only claimed that the fault of everything belonged to the actress, but also that she left the “crime” scene without offering her help. Paltrow, in her deposition, went so far as to argue that if she moved away from her it was because the man made strange movements on her and she felt very uncomfortable. The result: Gwyneth has won the case and will receive a dollar – yes, you read that right – in compensation for the damages suffered.

The case is strange and if you look at some of the things seen and said in court – like the prosecuting attorney praising the imposing height of the actress – but in terms of fashion, the gallery of sophisticated dresses worn by the defendant has attracted so much comment that eager members of the Generation Z have not hesitated to baptize the trend: Courtcorethat is to say the ultra-stylish aesthetic that celebrities embrace in court when they have to give their best in the courtroom.

The discretion of the innocent

“Look, Your Honor, maybe it’s my fault, but I’m a good person,” is what all those boring suits, classic blazers and shirts button up to the neck. A kind of capsule wardrobes orchestrated by lawyers and consultants who may not even know what the corsagecore but they know very well how to create an illusion of respectable appearance: no bright colors, no attention-grabbing clothes, no short skirts or tight-fitting dresses or any other detail that, especially in the case of women, makes the defendant “dangerous” or “desirable”.

Dressing to go to a dance is not the same thing as dressing to go to the office, it is and it should be. There they are places where you allow yourself more freedom to be and to be seen, to take oneself less seriously and even to play at becoming someone else for a few hours; while for other places this speech is less valid. In the end it’s about that unwritten rule which says that at work you shouldn’t wear anything that steals attention from what you are saying and the concepts you want to communicate. And in court it’s exactly the same.

In the case of celebrities, however, this stylistic transformation into someone “respectable” is even more comical, as they are used to making their looks a matter of status. From the Red carpet with feathers to the defendant’s bug with buttoned up shirt.

Watch Gwyneth Paltrow with her secretary glassesher high school notebook, her inseparable bottle of water and her boring jackets is still “funny” because only a few days ago she was talking about this and that on the James Corden show dressed in an outfit made up of a tight skirt and a very short strapless top. The change is radical. But when it comes to justice, Is becoming a boring, ordinary citizen key to qualifying for a fair verdict?

I’m not famous, I’m normal

Returning to Winona Ryder, his demeanor during the trial was worthy of an Oscar. Until the topic of his celebrity was brought up. At that point she stood up, she opened her mouth and asked in a whisper to be tried like any other citizen. Her lawyers then spoke of the public snub she had suffered following the incident of the theft, including her viral T-shirt, and she lowered her chin and closed her eyes in a gesture pleading for leniency.

From Pamela Anderson dressed in black – but with the unmistakable backcombing – a Linda Evangelista in an expensive teacher’s dress, when it comes to blending in with the environment, with those boring people who take the subway every morning with their lunch in their bag and their gaze fixed, anything goes when it comes to style. Here neither stylists nor trends nor waiting list bags are of interest. Bags with waiting list to which only a select few have access. Furthermore, any suggestion that the defendant enjoys more privileges than the others, that there is more money in his wardrobe than in all the bank accounts of those present combined, may be harmful. Especially if there is a popular jury, because being envied from a distance is a pleasure, but if the envy is circumstantially in a position of power with respect to the object of his regret, things go badly. Ruben Östlund – director de Triangle of sadness – would make a hilarious movie about this interesting role reversal.

Desire = danger

We all remember the iconic incident in which Naomi Campbell she tossed a phone to her assistant. Well, even in that case there was a trial and the supermodel showed up in court with a discreet black dress that respected the defendant’s dress code only in this sense, because the dress was short and fitted. In other words, Naomi was (almost) dressed as Naomi, so you can imagine the terrible consequences of this decision. Being attractive can be very beneficial in some areas – in politics, for example, it has been proven to work – but in others it can work against you. AND if beauty is combined with fame and money, the cocktail of hate is insurmountable. In other words, that “privileged” person has to pay, full stop.

In any case, there is a difference between to be attractive and to be desirable. The former may arouse some sympathy. There are faces that are a pleasure to look at, that even generate a sense of immediate closeness (Winona’s innocent face might be the perfect example). Others, with more sensual or intimidating traits, don’t produce quite as good results. Desire is hopelessly assigned to guilt

. An inseparable combination since the beginning of time and which affects us all, even against our will. Most jurors wouldn’t know why, but wanting to inflict punishment on someone who arouses desire is an almost automatic reaction. And again, women suffer more than men in such cases. Let us not forget that many serial killers have escaped harsher punishments because they have aroused the libido of a large number of girls who in some cases have presented themselves in court to see their “idol” up close.

When it comes to style, that means be modest. Here’s why Gwyneth Paltrow resorted to the button up shirt and why Paris Hilton wore schoolgirl headbands during his court appearances in the early 2000s. All traces of sexuality, that is, of guilt, must be eliminated. Any hint of mystery, duplicity or complexity. Transforming their client into an innocent woman or girl is the mission of every trial stylist (let’s hope this profession exists, we don’t know). Eva was the one who bit into the apple and it is necessary to pretend that she didn’t feel like it at all.