Yahoo Lifestyle Our fashion editors pick the 10 best-dressed women of 2024
When it comes to celebrity fashion, there is much that will be remembered about 2024. From the on-stage style of our favourite female pop stars to some incredible commitment to press-tour method dressing and some breathtaking vintage moments on the red carpet, plenty of looks will go down in fashion history. This, alongside great street style and front-row fashion – and the adoption of some unforgettable and very influential trends – has made for an excellent year in A-list style.
Nicola Coughlan, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Ambika Mod were among the names to really put themselves on the fashion map in the last 12 months, while industry veterans Zendaya, Sienna Miller and Bella Hadid continued to impress.
Below, in no particular order, we round up our 10 best-dressed women of 2024.
It was Nicola Coughlan's year, of that there is no doubt. The actress took centre stage in the latest season of Bridgerton – and her press tour wardrobe was unmatched. With the help of her stylist Aimée Croysdill, Coughlan perfectly executed method dressing with just the right amount of regency style peppering her red-carpet ensembles, which included custom looks by Richard Quinn, Stella McCartney, Danielle Frankel and Rodarte.
Long after the tour, Coughlan continued to excel on the red carpet, making a real name for herself and topping every best-dressed list going. Some of our highlights include her sculptural Gaurav Gupta gown for the Fashion Awards, the silver sequinned Prabal Gurung design seen at the Emmys, and the beautiful black Dior gown that she wore to the Time 100 Gala.
2024 was the year that Kelly Rutherford became queen of the front row. After mastering a comeback into the public eye with her impossibly chic lift selfies in 2023, the actress took the fashion world by storm this year and was spotted front row at the likes of Dior and Tommy Hilfiger, as well as at Simone Rocha's couture collection for Jean Paul Gaultier – where, in a viral moment, she sat alongside Kylie Jenner in a complementing ensemble.
Known for her exquisite taste and commitment to Quiet Luxury, Rutherford has amassed a huge following of fans who are desperate to emulate her chic looks. From ladylike skirt suits to slinky Roksanda gowns, she never puts a foot wrong, and it's all down to avoiding those passing trends.
"I’ve always had a sense of what I thought looked good on me and what I’m comfortable in," she told us of her style. "But I’ve also always been open. I’ve never really been into trends; I tend to like things that last and that feel timeless in a way – that’s what appeals to me on most levels in my life." Hear, hear.
Awards season now feels like a long time ago, but a number of the red-carpet looks are so memorable that they are still front of mind – and more than a few of these were courtesy of Hunter Schafer.
First up was the Golden Globes, where Schafer proved once again that she and Prada are a match made in sartorial heaven. The actress wore a translucent gown by the house which featured a dramatic train of gauze-like fabric; it was arguably the best look of the night. Over the next few months, she turned heads in a number of other standout looks – we loved the black Bottega Veneta gown she wore to the Oscars after-party, the velvet Schiaparelli she wore to the brand's show, and the high-shine Armani Privé dress that took pride of place at Cannes.
It was a career-making 12 months for Ambika Mod, who had a breakout year on screen, but also on the red carpet. The actress starred in Netflix's One Day and quickly became a fan favourite, as well as a fashion-designer favourite; she formed a particularly close working relationship with Jonathan Anderson, who decked her out in his namesake brand and Loewe on multiple occasions.
Our favourite looks? The head-turning floral design she wore to the Fashion Awards earlier this month and the vintage-inspired monochrome gown she wore to her very first Met Gala, both courtesy of Loewe.
The last few years have seen musicians really step it up with their on-stage style, and 2024 was the year of great girly pop fashion with Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX, Taylor Swift and Chapelle Roan dominating the headlines – each with their own distinct personal style. When it came to her ultra-feminine pin-up girl look, no one had more fun than Carpenter, who embraced sequin leotards, corseted mini dresses and platform sandals.
Some of the singer's best moments included a vintage orange Roberta Cavalli mini dress, a bejewelled Ludovic de Saint Sernin leotard, and a yellow custom Frolov design. On the red carpet too she stuck to her distinctive saccharine style, wearing bombshell looks by Oscar de la Renta, Gucci and Balenciaga.
OK, every year is Zendaya's year when it comes to fashion, but 2024 was particularly good. As method dressing reached fever pitch, the actress and her stylist Law Roach continued to lead the way, injecting some unexpected humour into the red carpet and creating some truly one-of-a-kind fashion moments.
Perhaps her most memorable red-carpet moment of the year was at the London Dune 2 premiere, where she wore the vintage Mugler robot suit from the designer's autumn/winter 1995 couture collection. She also made headlines with basically every press tour look for Challengers, embracing tennis-themed fashion in the chicest way, kickstarting yet another fashion trend in the process. Meanwhile, she kept things classic and elegant for the 2024 Oscars in Armani Privé and stole the show at the Met Gala in two looks, the first John Galliano for Maison Margiela and the second a vintage dress from the designer's archive. Perfection, perfection, perfection.
Whether method dressing continues to dominate in 2025 remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure, it was the only way to approach a press tour in 2024. We saw examples of this across the board, but it really reached its height with the enjoyably over-the-top Wicked promo tour at the latter end of this year, as Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande embraced their characters for every single red-carpet premiere, photocall and interview.
Rivalling Margot Robbie's Barbie efforts in her level of commitment, Erivo wore a series of Elphaba-inspired ensembles, from bright green Louis Vuitton to sculptural Schiaparelli and a very unique Thom Browne gown.
Daisy Edgar-Jones has been in the spotlight for a few years now, but 2024 was the year she really came into her own, style-wise. The actress – who started working with Dani Michelle, the woman behind Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's best looks – forged a path as the new 'It' girl to watch, both on and off the red carpet.
Edgar-Jones' most impressive look came on the Twisters press tour when she wore a beautiful black-and-brown corseted dress by Vivienne Westwood. She also donned ensembles by Gucci, Coperni, Chloé and Victoria Beckham over the months, and proved that she can pull off pretty much any aesthetic.
A dream style duo was born.
When it came to off-duty fashion, Bella Hadid was the one to watch, particularly when it came to embracing the biggest trend of the summer: cowgirl. Searches for western-inspired fashion were up massively by spring of this year as shoppers embraced rodeo hats, cowboy boots and everything Wild West once again. Of course, the influence also had a little something to do with Beyoncé and her much-talked-about country album, but when it came to street-style, Hadid's new look had everyone turning heads for months.
Whether it was her boots and Daisy Dukes or her much-coveted suede handbag, Hadid embraced a whole new look for 2024, and we couldn't get enough.
Another major fashion trend that had a huge comeback in 2024 was boho – and much of this was down to Chloé's revamp with the arrival of new creative director Chemena Kamali, and Sienna Miller's embrace of the trend. Of course, the actress was the poster-child for boho fashion in the Noughties and she was once again all about the flowing dresses, ruffles and wedges.
The actress almost exclusively wore Chloé on the red carpet this year, and she made a splash with each and every look. Meanwhile, an off-duty Miller wore her own collection for Marks & Spencer causing it to be one of the most popular high-street collaborations of the year.
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