The fashion spotlight typically only shines on Park City, Utah—the ski-hub municipality where actress Gwyneth Paltrow is currently standing trial over a disputed skiing incident—only once a year, in January, when Hollywood people lug out their neglected winter parkas and chicest practical footwear to attend the annual Sundance Film Festival. (Update: Paltrow was found not at fault on March 30.)
And yet now, on the verge of April, Paltrow and her après-ski courtroom outfits of logo-less luxury pieces are igniting conversations about stealth-wealth fashion, soft power dressing, and the curation of an “I’m innocent” wardrobe. The New York Times declared that her looks constitute “a new style subgenre that ought henceforth to be known as courtcore.” And with Paltrow—like another fellow (if fictional) wealthy creative who recently caught our eyes, Cate Blanchett’s EGOT-winning conductor Lydia Tár—it looks like we’ve got another (potentially) problematic menswear fave on our hands.
(For you legal-eagles: The case, Sanderson v. Paltrow, regards a two-person collision that took place on the ski slopes of the Deer Valley Resort in Park City in 2016, in which Paltrow either skied into or was skied into by a man named Terry Sanderson, who attests he sustained serious injuries from the incident. Paltrow, in turn, is counter-suing Sanderson for a symbolic $1-plus-legal-fees payout.)
On the first day of the trial, which commenced last week, Paltrow wore a slouchy cream turtleneck and an olive alpaca-wool overcoat from Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen’s luxury brand The Row, paired with toffee-brown, lace-up Celine boots that resemble an incredibly sumptuous pair of Timberlands. (Rugged!) Two days later, she entered the courtroom in a slate-gray double-breasted Brunello Cucinelli suit over a soft gray tank top with layered gold necklaces, carrying a “GP”-monogrammed lambskin-covered Smythson notebook ($325) and a glass liter bottle of Mountain Valley Spring Water ($24 for a 12-pack).
On Wednesday, just after the trickle of media covering her outfits had turned into a flood, Paltrow wore her most understated look of the week yet: a puff-sleeved black turtleneck tucked into high-waisted black trousers.
Throughout the trial, Paltrow has kept up a steady run of earthy sweaters, neat collared shirts, gold necklaces, ankle-length skirts, and lug-soled boots from other luxury labels including Proenza Schouler, Ralph Lauren, and Prada, plus at least a couple pieces from her own brand, G. Label by Goop.
Leah Krouse, an art historian and fashion analyst based in New York City, has been cataloging Paltrow’s courthouse style on Twitter, identifying the brands as though this were a red-carpet fashion roundup.
“I feel Gwyneth’s day-to-day style exhibits a casual but classic appeal that incorporates silhouettes both stereotypically feminine and masculine,” Krouse tells GQ via Twitter DM, likening Paltrow to the beloved former Céline designer and menswear icon Phoebe Philo. “When thinking of menswear, the first things that come to mind are structural suits, blazers, tailored pants, very much businesswear—it’s what we’ve all been taught. Sharp lines mean business. And that’s what Paltrow’s shown us so far.”
“The Cucinelli blazer is a perfect example—strong shoulders, rolled up sleeves, deep-V to reveal thousands worth of jewelry,” Krouse continues. “She’s got the closet every attorney and woman wants—elegant, elevated, and educated.”
It’s well documented that defendants’ courtroom wardrobes (and how put-together they look) can factor into how judges or jurors gauge their guilt. Trials are also matters of public record, and cases that involve people of public interest are usually heavily photographed—and now, dissected on Twitter and Instagram. Though celebrities have long consulted professionals to achieve their desired courtroom looks, it’s a typically unpublicized practice. But a new level was unlocked in 2019, when the New York criminal attorney Todd Spodek told GQ that he’d hired celebrity stylist Anastasia Walker to dress his client, the “SoHo Grifter” known as Anna Delvey, allowing her to swap her Rikers-issued jumpsuit for Miu Miu dresses to stand trial. (It’s worth noting that Spodek only revealed this after GQ‘s former fashion critic Rachel Tashjian noticed Walker had liked a post on an Instagram account chronicling Sorokin’s court appearances.)
It’s unclear if Paltrow is working with her usual stylist, Elizabeth Saltzman, on her courtroom attire this week. Neither Saltzman nor her representatives responded to requests for comment.
But in the social media deluge, Paltrow’s wire-framed aviator eyeglasses—made by Caddis, with the absolutely bonkers name “Metamodernist Scout”—and modest blouses have also drawn comparisons to unsavory defendants who’ve resurfaced in public consciousness recently, including convicted murder Jeffrey Dahmer and Goody Proctor, who was accused of witchcraft in 15th-century Salem, Massachusetts. (“The sort of Salem-Witch-Ethel-Cain-nun-inspired coverall-style is gaining popularity lately,” says Krouse. Ethel Cain is a young singer-songwriter known for wearing edged-up prairie dresses.) There are no “I’m innocent” or “I’m guilty” wardrobes in the court of internet opinion.
But there’s also a local flavor to Paltrow’s looks, which fit with the staunchly casual sensibilities of even Park City’s most monied residents. Peter Metcalf, founder of the outdoor gear company Black Diamond Equipment and a longtime Park City resident, told the Times that Paltrow’s outfits are “spot on for how Park City likes to dress for events.” The Sanderson v. Paltrow trial has certainly become one.