Oscars 2016: Jenny Beavan addresses Stephen Fry ‘bag lady’ controversy

Oscars viewers noticed Sunday night that The Revenant director Alejandro G. Iñárritu – among several other men seated in the section – refused to clap after Jenny Beavan won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work on Mad Max: Fury Road. But still, the etiquette is that you clap until the victor gets on stage, hand cramps be damned. She showed up looking like a total badass in a bejeweled leather jacket and she used her speech to bring light to environmental issues. The woman wears whatever the hell she wants to Hollywood’s night of nights. Dressed similarly to her Oscars look – leather jacket, trousers and a scarf – after she left the stage, host Stephen Fry referred to her as a “bag lady”.

Beavan was one of many women who won for their work on the film, which totally cleaned up in the technical categories.

“What’s the real story here?”

However, others were quick to point out that a lot of those people were clapping by the time she reached the stage. “Are they really outraged by the notion of someone dressing for comfort?”

An astonishing gif has taken the web by storm showing a group of A-list Hollywood stars refusing to applaud Oscar victor Jenny Beavan. “I look ridiculous in a attractive gown, and this was an homage to Mad Max”. “I really don’t do frocks and I absolutely don’t do heels”, Beavan told Refinery29 writer Vanessa Golembewski, when talking about her outfit.

“Watching this video of no men clapping Jenny Beavan as she wins her Oscar over and over again”, one tweeter said. “My love is creating characters through clothes”.

Scorned directors can glower, but with more Oscar nods than Leonardo DiCaprio himself, Beavan doesn’t need to give a damn.