Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Three years ago, on a fateful night in mid-November, two women in media walked into an early screening of Knives Out. They didn’t know each other, but they sat side-by-side, ready to take in the buzzy new movie from director Rian Johnson. They were enjoying the movie—the twists and turns, the A-list cast, the ridiculous accent used by Daniel Craig—when, suddenly, Chris Evans appeared on screen in a cozy, well-loved, cream-colored, cable-knit sweater. One woman gasped, and whispered, very softly and tenderly, “Sweater.” The other heard her, chuckled to herself, and resolved to tweet about it for social clout after the film.
That, dear reader, is the story of how Nicole Gallucci and I, Anna Menta, became friends — and later co-workers, through the power of one very good sweater. Nicole—much to my delight and only slight embarrassment—found my tweet and revealed herself to be the sweater whisperer.
“The only reason I recognized you on Twitter is because I had to look over and be like, ‘I’m so sorry, can I please go to the bathroom?'” Nicole tells me now over Zoom. “But I’m so happy I did that, because that’s how I knew it was you!”
Thus began a beautiful social media friendship, which mostly consisted of Nicole and I DMing each other links as news of the fabled Chris Evans sweater grew and grew and grew. The Hollywood Reporter interviewed costume designer Jenny Eagan about it. Extra asked Evans about the sweater on the red carpet. A hashtag, #ChrisEvansInASweater, was born. Lionsgate released a new marketing campaign, focused solely on that cable-knit. (Nicole and I are still waiting for our check for that one, by the way.) We even got a write-up in the freakin’ New Yorker.
The sweater mania eventually died down. But Nicole and I stayed friends, forever bonded by that viral display of public thirsting. As fate would have it, earlier this year, Decider was looking for a new Senior Entertainment Reporter, and Nicole “The Sweater Whisperer” Gallucci was the perfect candidate for the job. Here’s a photo of us on our first day in the office together, both wearing stripes, like the fashion icons that we are.
Weirdly enough, Rian Johnson and costume designer Jenny Eagan opted not to consult us on the wardrobe for the Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which began streaming on Netflix today. No matter. We’ve decided to take things into our own hands. Clearly, we have the incredible power to make a stand-out costume go viral. But the question remains: Is there a stand-out costume of Glass Onion?
“Costume designer Jenny Eagan outdid herself once again. However, I wouldn’t necessarily say that a look had me as hot and bothered as the sweater,” Nicole confessed to me. I’m inclined to agree. But even if nothing measured up to the sweater, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t some truly amazing apparel in Glass Onion. Nicole and I got together to debate and rate our favorite Glass Onion looks, from Benoit’s baffling bathrobe-and-tie look to Kate Hudson’s mesmerizing rainbow dress.
(Note: The ratings are out of 5 cable-knit sweaters. Apple doesn’t have a sweater emoji, so I went with the ball of yarn. Get on that, Apple.)
Daniel Craig's bathrobe
Anna: This one was your request, so describe to me what we’re seeing here, Nicole.
Nicole: It’s just so beautiful. The colors! First of all, he has such a fancy outfit on underneath this robe. But this is his bathrobe, I saw it in his bathroom during the bath scene.
Anna: Right. So what happened here? He gets out of the bath. He puts on… a suit?
Nicole: Puts on a suit, takes his hat off-
Anna: And then he puts his bathrobe on.
Nicole: I just think he looks like an extremely wealthy, sophisticated man who belongs in a cigar club. And I just love these colors.
Anna’s rating: 2/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶
Nicole’s rating: 3/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶
Daniel Craig's bath hat
Nicole: Benoit is serving so many absolute freakin’ looks this [movie]. But I think the most understated statement piece is going to be the bath hat. I sort of missed it when I was watching it in theaters, but on my rewatch, I was like, “Why was this not the full discussion when I left theaters?” It’s hilarious to me that we don’t even question that this man is wearing a hat in the bath, because of course he is. This is who he is.
Anna: I’m going to question it, because why is he doing this? To protect his hair? He really doesn’t have that much hair!
Nicole: I truly don’t know. It looks to me, sort of velvet.
Anna: It does not look like it should be in water.
Nicole: It does not look like a cheap hat by any means. It has a tassel on it, and it has gorgeous silver embroidery. I don’t know what those hats are called, but he’s absolutely working it. It’s also funny that he is Zoom chatting, but rather than using one of the many filters he has at his fingertips, he puts on a hat. Honestly, what a great character.
Anna’s rating: 2/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶
Nicole’s rating: 5/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶
Leslie Odom Jr.'s suit
Anna: Now, I never thought this was going to be the winner when I included it, but I did like it. I especially loved the little detail of the stethoscope pin.
Nicole: Oh, I thought it was a wishbone. But isn’t he like a doctor? So maybe it is?
Anna: He’s an engineer or something, I think, so you’re right, it probably is a wishbone. I should have done literally any research before we did this. But I also love the color—the dark green suit, not just brown or black or gray. The little hat. The green velvet shoes.
Nicole: He wears so many nice hats. He has a lot of chill, effortlessly stylish looks throughout this. But he’s also sometimes rocking jewelry and a bold pattern. When I saw this suit, I was like, “This is absolutely an outfit where if someone wore this on the red carpet at an award show, Twitter would be collectively thirsting over it.”
Anna: Yes! It’s 100 percent a red carpet-suit.
Anna’s rating: 3/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶
Nicole’s rating: 4/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶🧶
Janelle Monae's boat dress
Anna: Janelle Monae had some good outfits in this movie, starting with her boat ride look. Another good reveal—she’s the mysterious stranger that we don’t know anything about, getting out of this car, and she has this classy, brightly-colored, floor-length gown. It’s a vibe.
Nicole: I know that we saw her already, but I felt like it was really the first impression of her, fashion-wise. It’s very elegant. Colors, shapes, the wrap-around neck, sunglasses. It just gives me the impression that she did not come to play, even though we don’t know anything about her at this point.
Anna’s rating: 3/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶
Nicole’s rating: 4/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶🧶
Daniel Craig's lil' sailor number
Nicole: This is genuinely way hotter than it should be for me. The high-waisted pants. King of ascots. And, unfortunately, rolled-up sleeves are a weakness of mine. I have incredibly low standards. And not only are his sleeves rolled up, but he has this layered brown cuff peeking out.
Anna: Having the extra shirt on that sleeve roll–that really goes the extra mile.
Nicole: What’s going on down there? It doesn’t look like he’s super layered.
Anna: No! You can see his pecs through this. I see his nipples.
Nicole: I’m dying to know if they sewed on something extra. Also, his choice to not leave the tie out of his shirt, he tucked it in? What’s he doing?
Anna: Objectively, if I saw this outfit on anyone who wasn’t like a Venetian gondola tour guide, I would burst out laughing. And yet, he’s pulling it off. I mean, they really went all out on Daniel Craig’s fashion in this one. We didn’t include a lot of good ones.
Anna’s rating: 4/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶🧶
Nicole’s rating: 4/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶🧶
Kate Hudson's bikini
Anna: A great reveal moment: Kate Hudson comes out, in her orange bikini, obviously wanting everyone to look at her. There’s her flowing scarf/cape behind, in slo-mo, and I love a slo-mo.
Nicole: Yes, it was a great slo-mo. She is slaying. She obviously knows what she’s doing. I also thought that that bag is like, Mary Poppins-level of huge and hilarious.
Anna: Oh my god, yeah. Is that a straw hula skirt bag?
Nicole: Yes. And that cape is mesmerizing to me. What is that? Is it a fish? Is it an explosion? Is it human muscle?
Anna: That’s probably what it was.
Nicole: She’s very good at floppy hats, and I think orange is a great color on her. She later puts on these light blue sunglasses, and that is a stunning color combo. She knows what’s up. Even though she is being dressed by professional costume designers.
Anna’s rating: 4/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶🧶
Nicole’s rating: 4/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶🧶
Janelle Monae's power suit
Anna: I love a suit, and Janelle is famous for her suits. If you’re a Janelle Monae fan, you know that she used to always wear suits on the red carpet, that was her signature look. So I love seeing Janelle go back to her “suits roots,” if you will.
Nicole: She looks very classy and sophisticated. It’s a perfect outfit, and color, to be drenched in Jeremy Renner hot sauce. I also really like the belt buckle. But I will say that she boldly wore sandals with this outfit, which I could never in a million years do, but I do respect it.
Anna: I actually forgot that. Especially knowing she’s going into danger. You never wear sandals into danger!
Nicole: No open-toed shoes!
Anna’s rating: 5/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶
Nicole’s rating: 4/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶🧶
Kate Hudson's rainbow dress
Anna: Beautiful, gorgeous, rainbow—love a rainbow. And I love that it’s shiny. Draws me in. Like a bug.
Nicole: Birdie, unfortunately, is Glass Onion‘s fashionista. She looks like a delicious fruit roll-up. I like the cut-out. We’ve got a halter-top. Very eye-catching. I like that she just wears this dinner, casually.
Anna: Yes. She is so overdressed. But I love it.
Nicole: And as a result, she gets to wear this for the majority of the movie, which is delightful. I don’t know why my reaction is that I want to snack on this dress. This is the forbidden snack.
Anna’s rating: 5/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶
Nicole’s rating: 5/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶
Daniel Craig's bathing suit
Nicole: I feel like if there were going to be a gasp moment in theaters—like, had I not already seen this outfit in the trailer and had time to digest, I would have had a different reaction. Because it’s such a reveal.
Anna: Yeah, it’s really the camerawork. The panning up from the water. I was in the theater with my aunt when I watched this, and I don’t know if she gasped, but she definitely started laughing. There was a reaction in the theater, from multiple people, to this outfit.
Nicole: I had a reaction internally. I have a weird perception of Benoit Blanc, in the sense that he is so adorable, but also hot, and simultaneously hilarious. But it’s truly an amazing ‘fit. I think it’s a seersucker fabric. When I first saw it, it was giving me Fred Jones on Scooby Doo‘s hot dad. I saw someone on Twitter say it looked like Bananas in Pyjamas, which I thought was so funny.
Anna: It does look like pajamas! And yet he’s wearing it so confidently! And when he’s in the water… to me it looks like the fabric should not be getting wet. It does not look like bathing suit fabric.
Nicole: Yes! I was like, ‘Is this a bathing suit?’ But everyone has called it one. I don’t know, I believe anything this man puts on is what it’s intended for. This is the man who wore a hat in a bath. I have no choice but to believe he knows what he’s doing. In the press packet we got, Jenny Eagan said the suit was inspired by Frank Sinatra’s Palm Springs swimming pool outfits. I would expect nothing less from a legend of Benoit’s standing.
Anna: So, I think we’ve come to a conclusion… The swimsuit is the winner. I think we know that when we started this conversation.
Nicole: I’m glad we didn’t change our own minds!
Anna: So you think we can create another viral moment for this swimsuit? And maybe Netflix will finally acknowledge our very important role in this movie?
Nicole: I freaking hope so!
Anna’s rating: 5/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶
Nicole’s rating: 5/5 knit sweaters 🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶
