Earlier this week, Kim Kardashian arrived in Paris—not for fashion week, but to testify about being bound, held at gunpoint, and robbed of $10 million in cash and valuables (including her $4 million engagement ring) by a group of armed thieves, who broke into her hotel room dressed as police officers in October 2016.
We’ve come to expect spectacle from Kardashian, and the jewelry heist trial was no exception. She arrived at the Assize Court decked out in a spring 1995 John Galliano skirt-suit outfitted with a cinched waist, strong shoulders, and peplum. She didn’t stop at the prize vintage: Kardashian added a whopping $3 million Samer Halimeh necklace and an $8,100 Briony Raymond ear cuff, quite literally dripping in diamonds to speak at her diamond theft trial.
That she refused to water down her over-the-top fashion sense for court was consistent with a woman who has built an empire sharing her private life. Dressing conservatively for this trial wouldn’t only be inauthentic to Kardashian, but it would cast her as meek. In wearing an eye-catching outfit and spectacular jewels, she took control over her image and the narrative it conveyed, even as she recounted the harrowing experience to the court. “I forgive you for what had taken place,” she told the robbers. “But it doesn’t change the emotion, the trauma, and the way my life is forever changed.” Kardashian told the court that she feared her sister would discover her murdered, and that she pleaded with her assailants, “I have babies, I have to make it home, I have babies.” Perhaps, for Kardashian, this fashion choice felt protective or poetic.
Kardashian’s extravagant diamonds weren’t the first time the public has consumed—grimly or voyeuristically—what celebrities and people in the public eye wear to court, and it certainly won’t be the last. In February 2025, A$AP Rocky was found not guilty in a felony assault trial. Throughout the nearly four-week-long court proceedings, Rocky retained his reputation as one of the most stylish celebrities, showing up every day in impeccably tailored suits: pinstripes, trench coats, structured shoulders, and wide legs. He was so well-dressed—and in so much Saint Laurent—that his morning walks to the courthouse may as well have been an ad campaign.
In September 2024, Justin Timberlake arrived at the Sag Harbor municipal court to plead guilty to driving while impaired, for which he was arrested in June. (The charge came with a 90-day license suspension, 25 hours of community service, and a $500 fine.) The incident was heavily memed thanks to reports that the arresting officer didn’t know who the singer was, which came to light mid-arrest when Timberlake muttered, “This is going to ruin the tour.” When asked what tour, he said, “The world tour.”
With so much public attention on the case, Timberlake and his stylist, Jason Bolden, surely put consideration into his court attire. He wore a black crewneck T-shirt underneath a black V-neck cardigan with brown trousers, and leather shoes. But most surprising was his choice of accessory: a double strand of pearls. Timberlake has been wearing traditionally feminine jewelry lately, as have the likes of Harry Styles, Usher, Shawn Mendes, A$AP Rocky, and Pharrell Williams—a growing trend among male actors and musicians. The pearl necklace in particular has become a softboy-coded accessory. It’s also a relatively new symbol of Timberlake’s onstage persona. But is court really the place for an emblem of his popstar style?
Others have taken different approaches to court style. In 2023, celebrities in the courtroom seem of more interest than ever, between the popularity of Jury Duty—which starred James Marsden as a satirized version of himself—Kim Kardashian doing her civic duty by reporting for her own jury duty, and Gwyneth Paltrow’s highly memed ski trial.
In November 2023, the writer E. Jean Carroll was awarded $83.3 million after a jury found Donald Trump liable of defamation for disparaging statements he made in 2019, following claims that he sexually assaulted her. For her final day in court, Carroll stuck to her longtime outfit formula: a black turtleneck paired with a black pleated skirt; a white brocade blazer cinched with a black belt; opaque black stockings; and a cream overcoat. She carried with her a chestnut-colored briefcase. On this day of victory, Carroll opted for an eye-catching pair of black and white heeled Oxfords. The last time she wore this outfit was during her May 2023 trial against the former president, where he was also found liable for sexually assaulting and defaming her.
The fascination with celebrity court style is far from new. In the fall of 2002, Winona Ryder appeared in court in a seemingly unassuming dress: a black long-sleeve with a pink and white trompe l’oeil collar and an A-line skirt that fell below the knee from Marc Jacobs’s fall 2001 collection. While the dress would generally be considered a perfectly demure court attire, it became an instant lightning rod for controversy. Ryder was on trial for shoplifting $5,500 of merchandise from Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills—Marc Jacobs clothing among the items stolen. The sheer audacity of the look, however, paid off: In May 2002, Ryder appeared on the cover of W in a “Free Winona” graphic tee, and even starred in Jacobs’s spring 2003 campaign.
Celebrity trials are a way for many to see larger-than-life figures attempt to conduct themselves under pressure, some during the lowest moments of their lives. When famous people publicly contend with the fact that they are not above the law, their sartorial choices can go in a couple directions. Some opt for more modest, neutral clothing that seeks to humanize, making them seem respectful and serious; or they lean into their personae, dressing for the attention that they know they’re already bound to receive.
Some don’t take well to the pressure. During a 2010 probation meeting and sentencing for missing counseling sessions related to her 2007 DUI, Lindsay Lohan wore a court-appropriate outfit of a black cowl neck, black trousers, peep-toe pumps, and a gray cardigan. But written over her nail polish on her middle finger was an expletive message.
Others rise to the occasion. Earlier this year, Gwyneth Paltrow stood trial in Deer Valley, Utah, after she was sued for $300,000 by retired optometrist Terry Sanderson over a 2016 ski collision; Paltrow countersued for $1 and legal fees. (Sanderson was found at fault.) While the trial was largely considered a waste of time, Paltrow’s attire caught many people’s eyes. The Goop founder leaned into the après ski chic, wearing neutral sweaters, long pleated skirts, and sleek suits. With her expert tailoring and accessorizing, Paltrow’s stealth wealth wardrobe proved that court wear can be chic, too.
Cardi B, however, ran in the opposite direction. While the rapper avoided the media circus of a trial by pleading guilty to two charges stemming from a strip club fight, she still had her day in court. For her arraignment, she wore a navy and pink suit with seemingly no undershirt, and carried a neon pink and white Birkin. Earlier this year after she failed to meet the requirements of her plea deal, she returned to court in a sweeping black feathered coat with a lengthy train, a white button-up with a skinny black tie, Louboutins, and an oversized fuzzy black hat. On another occasion, she opted for a tight white long-sleeved dress with white Louboutins, and a floor-length white fur coat. Some derided the looks as making a mockery of the justice system, while others deemed them instantly iconic—a display of Cardi B remaining unwaveringly true to herself.
Courtroom style can make or break how a defendant is perceived by the judge, jury, and the court of public opinion, and celebrities know better than anybody about the power of perception. As Alexis Neiers knows all too well, the difference between $29 four-inch Bebe heels and six-inch Louboutins is astronomical.
