The 2019 Emmy Awards Red Carpet Ranked Best To Worst

Orange Is The New Black actress Laverne Cox didn't show up to the Emmys purple carpet just looking to make a fashion statement — she wanted to make a political statement, too. Every piece of her outfit, from her rainbow acrylic clutch to her choice of arm candy, was calculated to speak out about LGBTQ rights. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cox paired her lavender and black Monsoori gown with a custom Edie Parker clutch that was emblazoned with the words "Oct. 8, Title VII Supreme Court." On that day, the Supreme Court will hear the cases of Donald Zarda and Gerald Bostok, who were allegedly "fired from their jobs for being gay," and Aimee Stephens, who was allegedly fired for being transgender. Title VII, which is the part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prevents discrimination on the basis of sex, but has been subject to various interpretations within the U.S. Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court will essentially set the precedent on whether or not Title VII applies to sexual orientation and gender identity.

"Maybe it's about raising awareness so everyone knows that our lives are in danger," the actress told E! News. "A lot of people aren't talking about this case, and it has implications for the LGBT community."

Cox, who was nominated for outstanding guest actress, walked the carpet with ACLU attorney Chase Strangio, who's representing Stephens in court.

At the 2019 Emmy Awards, all eyes were on FX's Pose. The Ryan Murphy and Steven Canals-created series, which explores the subculture of New York's LGBTQ ballroom scene during the late '80s and early '90s, had a whopping six nominations, according to Entertainment Tonight. The show also made history. Remezcla reported that the series features "the largest cast of transgender actors" out of any show ever created in the United States. Buzzfeed also revealed that behind the scenes, Janet Mock and Lady Jay became the first transgender producers to receive Emmy nominations, and Canals became "the first Latinx producer to be nominated for a drama." According to the Los Angeles Times, Billy Porter, who plays ballroom emcee Pray Tell, also became "the first openly gay black man to win the lead actor in a drama category." That's a whole lot of (much-needed) firsts.

In an interview with Deadline, Canals admitted that his series "was conceived as a way for LGBTQ people of color [to] occupy space unapologetically on television." That it did, and it's finally being recognized for it. He also channeled this unapologetic loudness with his look on the purple carpet. Ain't no one saying sorry about having not one, but two, trains of sequins trailing behind them. Canals clearly drew from the camp and over-the-top glitz seen in some of Pose's most outrageous fashion with his fresh take on a tux. 

Charlie Barnett has had a busy year. While most actors opt to film a single TV series and maybe — maybe – do a small supporting role or cameo elsewhere, Barnett did four seasons of four different shows. The actor joined up with the final season of Arrow, and had starring roles in Netflix's Tales of the City and the Lifetime psychological thriller You. On top of that, he saw major success alongside Natasha Lyonne in Russian Doll, which landed 13 nominations. 

On the Emmys purple carpet, Barnett's star power was quite apparent. The actor opted for a sharp, polished suit with a subtle but edgy star print. He completed his look with a gold St. Jude Children's Research Hospital pin. According to The Hollywood Reporter, these were given out by the Red Carpet Advocacy agency, who wanted to "honor September's Childhood Cancer Awareness Month." The agency also created the Time's Up pin that was spotted all over the Golden Globes red carpet in 2018.

At the 2019 Emmy Awards, red and pink color-blocking rose up from the depths of Hollywood's forgotten awards show trends and emerged in all its mismatched whimsy on the purple carpet. We saw it on Taylor Swift at the Grammys in 2016. We saw it on Emma Stone at the 2014 Met Gala. Now, we're seeing it on stars like Susan Kelechi Watson, Marisa Tomei, Mandy Moore, and Taraji P. Henson. This time around, the look is way less streamlined and paired with exaggerated, puffed-up sleeves, draped chiffon and other stand-out detailing — and there's no better way to ramp up the camp in this look than by drawing from 2019's Met Gala.

Henson, who presented during the ceremony, owned the Emmys purple carpet in her custom pink and red Vera Wang dress, but it was never actually meant for this awards show. She initially planned to wear it to the Met Gala, but had to skip out to attend a funeral. The star told Variety that she had to "un-camp" the look, which originally had a train "three times as long" with butterfly embellishments, but there was one part she didn't remove: the cape. Not all heroes wear capes, but Empire's Cookie definitely pulls one off.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge pulled the prime upset of the 71st Annual Emmy Awards. The Fleabag creator was up against Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was expected to take home her seventh Emmy in a row for best lead actress in a comedy series. According to The New York Times, Louis-Dreyfus was on-track to beat the record for most Emmy wins for acting, but not on PWB's watch. Waller-Bridge, who was nominated for her work in both Fleabag and Killing Eve, ended up taking home statuettes for three of her five nominations.

"Fleabag started as a one-woman show at the Edinburgh Festival in 2014, and the journey has been absolutely mental to get here," she said during her acceptance speech (via the New York Times).

Compared to Waller-Bridge's impressive win, her Emmy look fell a little flat. Sure, she was absolutely stunning in the glittery Monique Lhuillier gown, but it didn't cause anywhere near the stir as the infamous jumpsuit she donned in Season 2 of the now-award-winning series of her own creation.

It's hard to categorize Gwendoline Christie as the best dressed or the worst dressed at the 2019 Emmys. If Rihanna stunned by cosplaying the Pope at the Met Gala, could we possibly criticize Christie for proving that — in the words of Ariana Grande — God is a woman? When your series is nominated for 32 awards, you can kind of do whatever you want. 

According to Page Six, Christie's look came from Gucci's cruise 2020 collection. She finished it off with a tiny Game Of Thrones Easter egg. The red draping was pinned with a gold lion brooch that had a blue gemstone in its mouth. As fans know, lions are the mark of the Lannisters, and Brienne was head-over-heels for Jamie Lannister. Tarth, Brienne's homeland, is also known as the Sapphire Isle. Does this mean the couple got the fairy tale ending they deserved? We need something after that finale.

Brienne achieved her dreams of becoming a knight, despite being a woman. In real life, Christie was also the one who made her dreams of an Emmy nomination come true. She submitted her own name for consideration, and opened up to People about why she decided to be her own cheerleader. "For everything she represents in terms of women, I wanted there to be the possibility of the opportunity. And for me to feel like that's how I was honoring saying goodbye to this character," she said.