Got super curious after seeing some Instagram posts yesterday about who nails red carpet looks better. Thought why not actually compare Elle Fanning to a few others? Grabbed my laptop while my coffee was still hot.
Starting the deep dive
First thing, I needed examples. Just opened Google Images and started searching like crazy. Typed in “Elle Fanning best red carpet looks” and scrolled for ages. Clicked so many pictures. My browser had like 20 tabs open. Then did the same thing for a few other actresses everyone always talks about – think big names like Emma Stone, Zendaya, and Saoirse Ronan. Wanted recent stuff, mostly from the past two years. Saved a bunch of pictures right onto my desktop. Halfway through, my cat jumped on the keyboard, nearly deleted everything. Typical.
Getting way too organized
Felt messy just staring at a folder full of pictures. Made a dumb little spreadsheet (always do this, it helps my brain). Put the names across the top: Elle, then the others. Down the side, wrote random categories I thought mattered: “color”, “fit”, “weird factor”, “hair match”, “overall vibe”. Didn’t want super fancy scoring, just my gut feeling out of 10 for each. Went back to the photos and started judging. Btw, I was eating cold pizza this whole time.
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What I focused on:
- How weird or unique the dress was (points for bravery!)
- Did the color actually look good on their skin?
- Did it fit properly? Or was it bunching up weird?
- Hair and makeup vibing with the dress, or fighting it?
- Did it just look like a typical celeb dress, or actually memorable?
Annoying patterns I spotted
Doing this seriously made me notice things I normally just scroll past. Like, how safe so many big stars play it. Saw a ton of sleek black dresses, very elegant, very… blah. Fine, but boring. Zendaya had a couple crazy-cool ones I remembered instantly. Emma Stone usually looks great but classic. Saoirse Ronan surprised me with one super bright yellow thing I loved. But Elle? Man, this girl loves taking risks. Found pics of her in these giant puffy sleeves, feathers, neon colors, weird textures. Some looked like they came straight out of a cartoon! My spreadsheet kinda went wild on her “weird factor” scores.
The actual comparison mess
Totally got sidetracked obsessing over details. Spent way too long staring at necklines and shoulder pads. Had to force myself back to the scoring. Added up my silly points for each look across the categories. Not gonna lie, Zendaya often got super high for overall vibe and fit. She knows how to wear a dress. But Elle? She kept winning on “memorability” without trying. Even when the dress was honestly a bit much (lookin’ at you, giant lilac puffball), I remembered it days later.
What I ended up thinking
After all that clicking, judging, and cold pizza, here’s the thing: Elle Fanning might not always be “perfect” like some stylists want. But she wears things absolutely nobody else would dare touch. While others often look beautiful, Elle looks interesting. She wears clothes that feel young and kinda weirdly joyful. Found myself giving her higher points for just being fun, even when another dress was technically more “flawless”. Also, she makes pale pink and lavender look like power colors, which is weirdly impressive. So yeah, depends what you want – safe elegance, or someone who makes you stop scrolling and actually look? For the second one, Elle kinda wins my weird spreadsheet experiment. 🤯
