Nicole Kidman's Victoria's Secret Look: Jean Paul Gaultier — Get the Look, From the Striped Tie to the Garter-Detailed Skirt

While most of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show front row leaned into lingerie-inspired glamour, Nicole Kidman sat down in a tailored office look that borrowed just one lingerie detail and let it do all the talking.

Nicole Kidman sat front row at the 2026 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on October 18 in Culver City, California, in a tailored look from Jean Paul Gaultier's Fall 2026 ready-to-wear collection, styled by Jason Bolden. The outfit consisted of a crisp white button-down collared shirt tucked into a high-waisted black pencil skirt with garter-inspired detailing at the waist, finished with a black-and-pink striped tie, pointed-toe pumps and a burgundy Chanel bag.

It was a deliberate contrast to the room around her. Most of the night's front-row looks leaned into the show's own lingerie-forward language — bedazzled slip dresses, naked-dress sparkle, sheer layering. Kidman went the other direction: a shirt-and-tie silhouette that read, as more than one outlet put it, like corporate dressing with a single wink built in. The effect has been compared to her role as a buttoned-up CEO in Babygirl, and the comparison holds up specifically because of how the look is constructed, not because of any overt reference — it's the tailoring doing the work, not a costume.

Why it works

The reason this look reads as sharp rather than costume-y comes down to restraint: everywhere a more literal lingerie reference might have gone — a sheer panel, an exposed strap, a bustier silhouette — Gaultier's design instead commits fully to office-wear shapes. The shirt is a real, crisp, properly tailored button-down, not a loosened or cropped version of one. The skirt is a legitimate high-waisted pencil silhouette. The one lingerie-coded element, the garter detailing at the waist, is doing all the conceptual work precisely because it's the only element that breaks the otherwise buttoned-up formula. Add one more suggestive detail and the look tips into costume; take that one away and it's just a very good suit. Gaultier's team found the exact edge and stayed on it.

How to wear the idea

You don't need the exact Gaultier pieces to borrow the idea. Start with a genuinely crisp white button-down in a real cotton poplin rather than anything jersey or soft — the whole look depends on the shirt holding its shape. Add a slim tie in a bold stripe or color rather than a neutral one; it's doing the job a statement necklace would do in a dressier outfit. Keep the bottom half strictly tailored — a true pencil skirt or a straight trouser, nothing relaxed — and if you want to nod to the garter detail without wearing actual garter hardware, a skirt with a structured waistband seam or a belt worn slightly lower than usual gets close. Finish with a pointed pump and a structured bag in a rich, saturated color; the burgundy Chanel bag is doing real work against all that white and black.

What to avoid

The easiest way to get this wrong is to soften any one piece of it. A relaxed or oversized shirt reads as borrowed-from-the-boyfriend rather than tailored; a flared or midi skirt loses the pencil silhouette that makes the proportions work; a wide or novelty tie tips from sharp into costume. The other trap is doubling up on the lingerie reference — adding visible straps or a sheer layer on top of the garter detailing turns a one-note idea into an overcrowded one. The whole look works because it makes exactly one concession to the evening's dress code and treats everything else like a boardroom.