It is easy to pinpoint the moment when Nicola Coughlan first appeared on the style set’s radar. We were still bathing in the afterglow of the lascivious first season of Bridgerton, Netflix’s Regency-era romp, when Coughlan attended the 2021 Golden Globes. She went all out with a buttercup-yellow Molly Goddard gown that featured an empire waist and layers of golden tulle. The 35-year-old completed the look with a tie-up cardigan, sleek blonde bob, and lashings of hot-pink eyeshadow. The look was even more of a feat considering that a small thing called the pandemic had kept her from attending the ceremony in person. She might be the only human who’s ever looked chic on Zoom; for us mere spectators, it was lust at first sight.
Since then, the Derry Girls star’s style has only gone from strength to strength, and while others might stick to the same tried and tested formula, Coughlan does something new each time, experimenting with her beauty looks as well as her fashion sense. Her dreamy Golden Globes outfit was just the beginning. She wore a custom vivid orange Valentino gown to the Baftas last year, donned a ruffled periwinkle-blue Selezza London dress to a Tiffany launch at Harrods, and was lauded for the bejewelled and feathered Richard Quinn gown she appeared in at this year’s Met Gala. And if an invite to the Met Gala wasn’t enough to cement her fashion status, Coughlan also frequently appears in Vogue, and she was asked to be a judge for RuPaul’s Drag Race. Is there a higher sartorial accolade?
