By now the English actress Charlotte Rampling, 70, has little left to prove. She modeled, sang and partied as an emblem of the Swinging Sixties. She starred in foreign art house films like "The Night Porter" and in American comedies like Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories." She has spoken her mind to the press for decades. And she earned critical raves for "Swimming Pool" (2003) and now the English drama "45 Years," for which she's nominated for an Oscar. So it's to be expected that she wears what she pleases on the red carpet and doesn't employ a stylist.
"At this phase in her career, she certainly doesn't need to pick up a metaphorical megaphone and screech a statement into it every time she steps on a red ca rpet," said Heather Cocks, who founded the red-carpet commentary site GoFugYourself with Jessica Morgan. "She can just let her genes speak for themselves. It's actually very relaxing to behold."
In fact, Ms. Rampling often appears to wear favorites from her closet. "Her style is extremely crisp, unfussy and monochromatic," Ms. Cocks said. "It's almost stereotypically French, in the sense that it's all very sophisticated and nearly all black — the kind of stuff someone who's never been to Paris might imagine when they picture impossibly polished French ladies wandering around doing their errands."
Continue reading the main story The key here is classic, expert tailoring. Witness Ms. Rampling's selection of black dresses, as in a long-sleeved Stella McCartney to the European Film Awards in December, or an Hermès midi-length number topped with a vintage Chanel jacket to the AFI Fest a month earlier. "Her looks are so basic, yet so perfectly fit, that they basically transcend red-carpet criticism," Ms. Morgan said.
Ms. Rampling also knows her way around a designer sui t, such as the two different Yohji Yamamoto jacket and trouser combinations she wore to the "45 Years" premiere at the Berlinale International Film Festival and to the César Révélations cocktail and dinner in Paris. Though her choices rarely stray from black, Ms. Rampling does experiment in silhouette with modified Nehru collars, wide-leg pants and even peplums (see the Armani zip jacket with flirty peplum and coordinating pencil skirt she wore to the Academy Awards nominees luncheon this month).
And she's no label snob. She wore a black pantsuit by Loft with a white shirt underneath to a Cinema Society screening of "45 Years," and an Agnès B. pants and sweater ensemble to a Berlinale photo call. "After so many years of seeing women wearing shoes that are brutally painful-looking, in tortured sheer dresses, there is something refreshing about seeing someone dress for herself," Ms. Morgan said.
So come Oscar night Ms. Rampling is as likely to show up in a fanciful ball gown as Donald Trump is likely to shave his head. Pe rhaps she'll choose a floor-sweeping design by Hermès, like the style she wore to the EFA Filmgala. Or perhaps she'll select another perfectly elegant black piece from her wardrobe. Chances are she's not stressing about it. "Her style is immaculately unstyled in a way that we rarely see on the red carpet anymore," Ms. Morgan said.
