Respectful and not flashy – Gwyneth Paltrow’s courtroom look is a lesson in understated chic

Paltrow's courtroom look has largely centred on soft-power dressing
Paltrow's courtroom look has largely centred on soft-power dressing
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Appearances matter. Particularly courtroom appearances. It’s a point illustrated this week by Gwyneth Paltrow – the Oscar-winning actress- turned-wellness guru is on trial in Utah.

Paltrow, 50, is pitted against Terry Sanderson, 76, a retired optometrist, into whom she allegedly crashed in a ski-slope hit-and-run at the luxe Deer Valley resort in 2016.

You’ve read about the case. Which now brings us to the clothes. In the pantheon of courtroom fashion greats, Paltrow is holding her own with a deliberately demure approach.

She isn’t doing power dressing in the traditional sense – rather, it’s about soft-power dressing. It’s a timely move, with the return of television’s Succession, and a disarming play, which makes her look chic and wealthy, but intentionally soft. One can always look innocent, regardless of whether you’re ever proven guilty.

On Wednesday, she took to the stand in a belted ‘Bennett’ cardigan by her own Goop ‘G Label’ collection
On Wednesday, she took to the stand in a belted ‘Bennett’ cardigan by her own Goop ‘G Label’ collection

Paltrow looks respectful rather than flashy, void of garish logos. She also seems approachable – an effect she would never have achieved in a sharply tailored suit.

The trial began on March 22, with Paltrow adopting a “pure as driven snow” aesthetic – her first couple of outfits seem to have been thematically planned around cream knitwear. On the  opening day, she wore a neutral £294 Margaret Howell roll neck, clean of embellishment (Howell’s is an understated brand, also seen on Cate Blanchett’s character in the film Tár).

Paltrow wore a £294 Margaret Howell roll neck on the opening day of her trial - AP
Paltrow wore a £294 Margaret Howell roll neck on the opening day of her trial - AP

On day two, she took to the stand in a belted “Bennett” cardigan by her own Goop “G Label” collection, priced at $595 (£480). It would surely be a shame not to indulge in just a little self-promotion? The images of her defending herself were bound to be projected worldwide – Paltrow is nothing if not business savvy.

As the trial has gone on, the drama has been upped in subtle ways. Paltrow’s colour palette has moved through earthy green and brown tones, to expensive grey, and landed in a more “serious” black and white monochrome – more sharp collars, less soft necklines.

As the trial has gone on, Paltrow’s colour palette has moved from earthy tones to a more ‘serious’ black and white monochrome look - Rick Bowmer
As the trial has gone on, Paltrow’s colour palette has moved from earthy tones to a more ‘serious’ black and white monochrome look - Rick Bowmer

She swapped her brown lug-sole Celine boots (£890) for a Wednesday Addams-worthy pair of Prada’s Monolith stompers (£1,150). But most telling is the jewellery – having started the trial wearing virtually none, Paltrow stepped into court on day three wearing a hefty gold heart necklace by Foundrae. Hers is a custom design, but a near identical version is currently on sale on Paltrow’s Goop website for $25,150 (£20,405) no less. The message? That the $300,000 being sought by the accuser is pocket change to Paltrow, and she intends to settle this in court on principle.

The semantics offered up here feel different to the campy courtroom fashion that we witnessed in 2022 at the Wagatha Christie trial – Rebecca Vardy’s high-court vamp against Coleen Rooney’s brown-eyed doe in head girl blazers.

Nor is Paltrow’s approach anything like Naomi Campbell’s courtroom looks (she famously dressed in Alaïa, and did her community service in 2007 in a Dolce & Gabbana ballgown). Some celebs in trouble have been known to hire styling teams to curate their looks – see rapper Cardi B, who arrived at a 2019 New York tribunal in a feathered cape, carrying a range of Hermès Birkin bags.

On the opening day, she wore an olive green coat and Annie Hall trousers that look Max Mara-esque, in a soft wool herringbone - Alex Goodlett
On the opening day, she wore an olive green coat and Annie Hall trousers that look Max Mara-esque, in a soft wool herringbone - Alex Goodlett

One wink-nudge detail of Paltrow’s outfit that shouldn’t be overlooked is the glasses. When being sued by a retired optometrist, why not showcase a range of retro frames? She’s done 1970s aviator spectacles in the courtroom, mirrored Ray-Bans to come and go, and carried thicker perspex reading glasses too – perched on her nose as she jots thoughts into her leather-bound Smythson notebook.

Paltrow is not in her usual habitat; the tranquillity of her Montecito mansion swapped for the blandest of Middle-American courtrooms. I doubt that she’s holed up in a Travelodge for post-match analysis at the end of each session, but one still imagines that all that cashmere is providing some home comfort.

With only a few days to go, it will be interesting to see what finale looks Paltrow has packed into her suitcase – the world awaits, as eagerly as for the verdict.