When it came time to settle on an outfit to commemorate the start of awards season, Margaret Qualley looked to Old Hollywood—along with her best friend, Lana Del Rey—for a bit of sartorial inspiration.
The actor was nominated at the 2025 Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy for her role as Sue in the body horror film The Substance. The Coralie Fargeat–helmed feature, which Qualley stars in alongside Demi Moore, has dominated the cultural conversation since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last year for its unabashed approach to unattainable beauty standards and the societal pressures surrounding aging. The two stars instantly went viral during the televised ceremony when they presented an award together, sending social media into a flurry to see Sue and Elisabeth Sparkle side by side once again. It’s safe to say that The Substance is already a certified modern feminist classic.
“I mean, it all feels totally surreal,” Qualley tells Harper’s Bazaar of her Golden Globe nomination. “To be nominated tonight alongside these incredible women is such an honor, and sharing this night with Demi makes it all the more special. She is the most deserving, and I truly wouldn’t be here tonight without her.”
To mark her second time attending the Golden Globes as a nominated actor, Qualley of course partnered with Chanel for a delightfully retro look. She opted for an embroidered white silk dress with tulle ruffles that was embellished with a black embroidered bow belt encrusted with sequins and crystals. The gown included over 7,000 different embroidered elements and took over 400 hours to be made. To accessorize, Qualley wore a plume headband of singulière head jewels with 18 karats of diamonds, along with tweed pearl and diamond earrings and a matching ring, courtesy of Chanel High Jewelry.
“My brilliant stylist, Patricia Villirillo, and I worked with Chanel to create this look and were really inspired by Old Hollywood glamour and glitter, and I’m so in love with it,” Qualley shares. “Chanel has always been such a champion of cinema, and so, to me, it just feels right to be wearing Chanel for the Golden Globes. I feel like what Chanel has always done so well is create looks and pieces for actors that are empowering and give them freedom in a way. These nights can feel so big and overwhelming, and wearing Chanel gives me a sense of security and confidence.”
Qualley’s glam for the evening also paid homage to Old Hollywood, and the actress ended up taking a suggestion from her close friend (and fellow Harper’s Bazaar cover star) Lana Del Rey for how to achieve larger-than-life screen-siren strands.
“My friend Lana suggested her friend Anna Coffone do my hair, and I’m so glad she did. Nobody does Hollywood glamour like Lana, so I’m grateful to have had a sprinkle of that,” she shares. “Tyron Machhausen, who I’ve been working with for 10 years now, did my makeup, and he might be an actual wizard.”
For Machhausen, Qualley’s glam for the evening was about achieving a “goddesslike and statuesque” look that “still had an ethereal lightness to it.”
“This look was all about the complexion. I wanted it to feel hyper-real, radiant, and polished,” Machhausen tells Bazaar. “The makeup itself was rather minimalist with soft, shimmery accents for the eyes and cheeks and an overall lit-from-within glow, like a Pre-Raphaelite painting coming to life!”
And of course, you can’t craft vintage glamour without looking to the greats, which meant one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actresses ultimately found her way onto Qualley’s mood board for the night.
“[We looked at] those photos of Audrey Hepburn holding a little deer in a gown,” she says. “And I was like … yeah!”
