Abby Elliott is ready to take some risks when it comes to her red carpet style. Now that the actor is two decades into her career and a mom-of-two, she is done playing it safe. As a member of the nominated cast of The Bear, Sunday evening’s Primetime Emmy Awards were a big moment for the star, who plays Carmie’s sister Sugar.
“My style has evolved a lot since having kids,” Elliott tells TZR ahead of the ceremony. “Especially having a daughter — she has inspired me to take more risks. She watches me trying on different dresses for award shows and she might pick something out that I would never think to wear, or that I would have maybe been uncomfortable wearing years ago, like frillier or more feminine dresses, but she makes me feel confident wearing it. When I see her excited and saying she loves something, that makes me excited.”
Elliott’s four-year-old daughter Edith has serious sway it seems. For Sunday’s star-studded industry celebration, Elliott (and her stylist Erica Cloud) decided to work with New York-based luxury bridal label Honor on a custom number that married the duality of her personal style. “I would say my style is first and foremost very classic. I love feminine silhouettes, and I definitely have a body more on the curvy side, especially after two children, so I like to be kind of cinched at the waist.”
What spoke to Elliott about her Honor dress was the mix of sexy and sweet. “This kind of came to me,” she said of how the design approach crystalized with Honor’s founder Giovanna Randall (and Cloud). “[The dress] is really cool. Even though it’s very, very sweet, you can kind of see underneath it, and there’s a little lace corset, and there’s some leg.”
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Naturally, Elliott’s fashion-advising daughter approved. “It was one that I tried on in front of my daughter, and she was like, ‘Oh, Mommy.’ She was very excited about it. It feels very ethereal, a little Alice in Wonderland. It is definitely more on the fun side compared to the looks I’ve chosen in the past.”
It was also a move away from the Old Hollywood-leaning pieces that the 38-year-old has typically gravitated towards in the past. But working with her stylist Erica Cloud over the last few years has been a journey in self-expression and exploring new avenues of red carpet dressing.
“She’s amazing, and we’ve grown together,” Elliott says of Cloud. “But again, in this new chapter of my life, I’m more interested in taking risks! We’ve been lucky enough now to have gone through four seasons of award shows, which I can’t even believe. So now I feel like I can be a little more daring. I don’t need to hide beneath an outfit that is in my comfort zone.”
Makeup: Denika Bedrossian. Hair: Barb Thompson. Stylist: Erica Cloud
On the night, Elliott paired the ribbon-adorned, puff-sleeve dress with black patent Stessy pumps by Aldo, Anita Ko jewelry, and an Omega watch — adding some extra oomph with her glam approach. “I wanted to go a little harder with the glam,” she laughed. “And some cool girl hair!”