SNL has never been a show that puts fashion at the forefront. While hosts let their personal style shine during the monologue and goodnights, the entire point is to watch even the most self-serious celebrity hosts tap into their silly side—and with that usually comes equally silly costumes. (See: the ever-chic Bad Bunny in a full Shrek costume, and Ayo Edebiri as Solomon, a bisexual, Jordin Sparks-singing middle school boy.) Lately, however, celebrities and their stylists have found a way to game the system—by turning their weeklong rehearsals into a runway.
Perhaps the most pronounced example of this phenomenon has been Sydney Sweeney, who hosted the March 2 episode with musical guest Kacey Musgraves. SNL has long been considered an honor—a real sign of “making it.” But in hosting, they are required to submit to a week of long rehearsals, writing sessions, and pre-tapes. What we’ve heard from the show’s alumnae paint an unglamourous picture. (Anybody who knows John Mulaney’s Mick Jagger story will surely agree.) But Sweeney turned out looks for rehearsals that would have been just as (if not more) likely seen at a fashion show.
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Sweeney’s stylist, Molly Dickson, outfitted the star in a host of luxury pieces that spent most of the time inside 30 Rock. On one day, she wore a black leather Supriya Lele romper with a Givenchy bag and Alexander McQueen pumps. On another, she opted for a navy blue Bottega Veneta skirt set with a Miu Miu bag.
When it came to Edebiri’s turn to host, she also showed up to rehearsal dressed to the nines, styled by Danielle Goldberg. On one occasion, she wore a Bottega-heavy look, showing off the house’s tromp l’oiel leather techniques. Dakota Johnson, who hosted in the lead up to Madame Web, toted her $8,000 Andiamo bag to rehearsals while wearing a long fur coat. Jennifer Lopez, who was Edebiri’s musical guest, also got the memo, wearing grand outfits from her floor-length fur and Himalayan Birkin, to a baby blue cape and mint green opera gloves.
While this may be a newer turn of events, it’s also unsurprising that so much effort goes into these rehearsal looks. It’s obviously not a new suggestion that women are bound by social convention to be polished and put-together. But it seems especially noticeable at SNL, a bastion of goofiness where hosts are supposed to let their guards down. Is the chasm widening, or are we just in a new era where social media’s sense of immediacy forces celebrity stylists to fashion their clients for any moment they could be seen, no matter how granular?
