Beauty went back to the basics on Monday night at the 2026 Gotham TV Awards in New York City, where A-listers, producers, writers and entertainment industry denizens gathered outside Cipriani Wall Street, swapping Old Hollywood glamour for a quasi-street style take on hair and makeup in the form of everyday coquette hairdos, natural textures and bare but contoured lips.
Ahead, WWD takes a closer look at the top three trends favored by Rachel Sennott, Kerry Washington, Chase Infiniti, Sarah Pidgeon and more.
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Coquette-core
Coquette-core seems to finally be back on the upswing after its steady descent in recent years — this time with a softer, subtle approach. Taking home the Breakthrough Comedy Series award for “I Love LA,” Sennott exampled the modern interpretation on Monday night, brushing and clipping her bangs back toward the crown of her head with a flat black satin bow. Styled by Sami Knight, the hairdo harked back to early 2000s trends seen on Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus and the rest of the Disney Channel gang.
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Elsewhere on the carpet, Brittany Snow played with a powder blue ribbon, tying her blond hair in a loose pony à la Gwyneth Paltrow behind her back. The resulting aesthetic wasn’t the performative coquette-core that burgeoned in 2022 and 2023, where women wove ribbon through braided pigtails over Peter Pan collars.
Controlled Curls
A curl-aissance has been rising for some time, and last night’s red carpet is proof the movement is only getting stronger. Infiniti — one of the next-gen leaders in the curl comeback and this year’s Outstanding Lead Performance in a Drama Series winner — tapped her trusted stylist Coree Moreno to help define and control her coils on Monday night, using the Latina-owned hair care brand, Rizos Curls. “The goal was to create a soft, elongated curl pattern with volume, shine and movement while maintaining the integrity of Chase’s natural texture,” Moreno said in an official statement.
Accepting the Spotlight Tribute, Washington sported a similar hairdo, embracing her own coils with the help of celebrity stylist and Curl Queen founder Nai’vasha. Keeping the integrity of her texture and the shape intact, Nai’vasha parted Washington’s hair down the middle and glossed the ends.
Contoured Lips
Nina Park’s contoured lip technique is quickly becoming the fad of the year, with everyone from Emma Stone to Zoë Kravitz donning some version of it on the carpet. Monday night’s gathering saw the Pidgeon, Lili Reinhart and Odessa A’zion take on the overlined aesthetic with taupe undertones. The finished look is meant to resemble post-meal lip liner, accentuating the shape of the mouth without the harsh lines of fresh product.