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.
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.
Paltrow, wearing a The Row coat and Celine boots, is seen leaving court on March 21, 2023 in Park City.MEGA/Getty Images
(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.