Daisy Edgar-Jones has been in the public eye for a few years now – since the hit show Normal People made her a star overnight – but when it comes to the daunting prospect of dressing for the red carpet, the actress says she is only just finding her confidence. But, if last night’s look is anything to go by, she is well on her way to being one of the best-dressed stars in Hollywood.
For the London premiere of her new movie Twisters, Edgar-Jones wore a custom black-and-brown corseted gown by Vivienne Westwood with chunky gold jewellery by Cartier, in the form of the Grain de Café collection, pieces in 18k yellow gold and diamonds, which take their inspiration from coffee beans. The jewellery provided the perfect accessory to the look, which was put together by stylist Dani Michelle (who also looks after Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner), while the whole concept also nodded to the film – a more subtle take on method dressing if you will.
“Daisy really wanted to capture the earth’s elements of the film stylistically, and the swirling drape of this Westwood brown gown felt a nod to Twisters so perfectly for the premiere,” Michelle tells us. “Daisy loves fashion. She sees the art in dressing, and has been inspired by all of the designers we are working with on this press tour; seeing their craft and embodying the moment.”
Below, see what Edgar-Jones had to say about her big red-carpet appearance, what she loves about dressing up and where she gets her style inspiration.
Please talk us through your look for the Twisters premiere – what drew you to this particular outfit and what did you want to convey with it?
“I am so excited about my dress tonight – it’s Vivienne Westwood, and it’s so beautiful. It’s corseted and very flowy and such an amazing shape. I’ve been working with my stylist Dani for a while now and I have been loving the looks we’ve been pulling. It’s very Vivienne and very London and feels like a true premiere dress, so I am really excited to wear it.”
Have you ever worn one of her corseted gowns before?
“I don’t know if I have actually, I think this is my first time. When I tried it on, I realised how amazing they are. It’s so easy to pose in because the dress does all the hard work for you. When I was trying it on, it was in the couture section where they fit wedding dresses, so it was amazing to see the rows of Vivienne Westwood wedding dresses. I was like, ‘Wow, this is pretty cool’.”
What makes Vivienne Westwood and Cartier such great fits for you and your personal style?
“I feel so lucky to be wearing Cartier jewellery, everything is so timeless and beautiful, and I think that Vivienne’s style is that way too. It’s also just so effortless – and I love how they work together for this look, the chunky gold with the fabric of the dress. I think it’s such a great pairing. I love Cartier, I just think their jewellery is so gorgeous and I can’t believe I am getting to wear it tonight.”
How involved do you tend to be with the styling process?
“I am really enjoying becoming more sure of what I feel good in and what I want to wear – and Dani is amazing. She really can read my mind and she is so good at understanding what I am feeling or wanting; she just knows in essence what is going to work. So, yeah it was a real collaboration tonight – Dani really wanted this chocolate brown fabric and she thought the colour would be fun to play with, and I really wanted the bust to have lots of drapery and be really flowy. The film is about wind and natural weather so I wanted the dress to feel lightweight so it could flow. When I tried the dress on Friday for the first time, I was overjoyed because it was exactly how I imagined it.”
Has your style evolved over the years?
“Definitely – I wish I could tell my younger self, who just wore any old thing in the wardrobe on Zoom, that those pictures would be on the Internet forever. I really love dressing up, I love fashion and playing around with style, and I think I am becoming more and more confident with pushing it but still feeling like myself. Dani always tries to go for the effortless, cool style and that’s what I always want to achieve, that feeling of you wearing the clothes, rather than the clothes wearing you.”
What has been your most memorable fashion moment in recent years and why?
“I feel tonight might be that. I also wore a Gucci dress to the Vanity Fair Oscar party last February and it was this bejewelled, sheer dress and I just loved that. I felt so amazing in it. I love Gucci, I wear a lot of Gucci and I love Sebato [De Sarno]’s new look. I wore this leather two-piece to the cruise show a couple of months ago and I loved that – it had this amazing flowy scarf that went with it.”
Whose style have you always admired and why?
“I have always been a big fan of Alexa Chung – she always looks so effortless, she always has the best pair of jeans. I also think Dakota Johnson’s style is gorgeous and I am a big fan of what Dani does with Kendall [Jenner] and Hailey [Bieber] – basically everything she does with all of her clients, that’s why I wanted to work with her. And also, I love Ayo Edebiri, her style is so fun.”
Do you enjoy getting dressed up?
“I really enjoy getting dressed up – clothes really inform so much about how you feel and present yourself, so I love the red carpet, but I also spend a lot of time in London Fields on Broadway Market just looking at what everyone is wearing there and then trying to remember what they did and recreate it in my own way.”
What is your ideal getting-ready set-up?
“Music is key – any silence really gives me the willies – so I want to have very fun music on. I want it to feel relaxing and joyful, and to have lots of time in case there are any last-minute disasters with a contact lens, which often happens. And I just love having good people around. I am so lucky to work with such a great team, so being able to have a laugh and a natter really helps.”
Fashion has a reputation for being frivolous, but why does what we wear matter?
“If I think about wearing Vivienne Westwood tonight – she so epitomises a particular time of the punk culture of London, and I think it’s amazing how fashion really marks a time period. It’s a way of really making you feel like you belong. It’s a great tool of self-expression – so as long as you feel like yourself and that you’re on your own path with it, then I think it is a great way of expressing yourself.”
