At 70, with eternal dimples and tons of class, Geena Davis has become one of the most talked-about women on the red carpet. Her successful fashion choices immediately drew praise, but it was her youthful appearance that sparked a flood of online reactions and speculation: Did she have work done? Injections? If so, how much and what kind?
Doctors and self-appointed experts weighed in, social media users analyzed every angle, and in the end a fairly broad consensus emerged: Even if Davis has had some facial interventions, they appear minor compared with the frozen-mask look favored by many women in Hollywood. Davis has wrinkles, and she is photographed with them, without filters or forgiving Photoshop, but with all 6 feet of height she was born with and, apparently, some especially successful genetics.
Thirty-five years after her iconic role in “Thelma & Louise,” she still has the same innocent charm, the same smile, the same built-in elegance and, in Netflix’s “The Boroughs,” Carlos Miranda as the handsome young lover, a worthy substitute for Brad Pitt, who spent one unforgettable, destructive night with her in that film.
What else does she have? One Oscar, one Golden Globe, four marriages that ended in divorce, three children, a stint as a professional archer and a film and television career that has zigzagged between major successes and embarrassing failures.
Two films directed by her third husband, Renny Harlin, “Cutthroat Island” and “The Long Kiss Goodnight,” were among the biggest flops in American cinema and sent her into a painful and prolonged exile from the screen. But even if she never acts in another film, her place in the pantheon of mythological roles is already assured. She will forever be Thelma, racing toward an uncertain end in a car, hand in hand with Louise, teaching the world a lesson in female friendship and feminism.
Davis at the Bentonville Film Festival, 2026 (Photo: Jason Davis/Getty Images for Bentonville Film Festival)
How does she dress?
Like the visual translation of effortless elegance, stretched over 6 feet of height with dimples serving as the perfect accessory.
In a red-carpet world dominated by Demi Moore and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, Davis proves that it is possible to look wonderful without pretending to be 20 and without chasing every fashion trend. The problematic cliché of “dressing for her age” functions here as a huge compliment.
In practice, that means she does not strip down to the minimum possible amount of fabric, nor does she hide beneath layers trying to project a fake, overloaded boho chic. You could call it sexy elegance, and Davis has plenty of it precisely in her eighth decade.
Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon at the 30th anniversary celebration of ‘Thelma & Louise,’ 2021
(Photo: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
She has come a long and stylish way since her 1992 Oscars horror show, which featured a puffy, asymmetrical ball gown, accessorized with long gloves and lace-up shoes, as if someone had stolen all the world’s bad taste and loaded it onto Geena Davis.
From there, her aesthetic became steadily more refined, turning into a blend of strength, intelligence and glamour. Classic Hollywood meets 2026, if you like.
Along the way there was a blue dress with metallic lacing by designer Zac Posen at the Bentonville Film Festival, which Davis co-founded, in 2019; a black dress with pockets, a winning combination by any measure, by Romona Keveža at the 2020 Oscars; and a long turquoise gown in the style of a Greek goddess, with a high neckline and scarf-like waist belt, which she wore at the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards earlier this year.
Geena Davis at the Oscars, 1989
(Photo: AP Photo/Lennox McLendon, File)
At the Netflix premiere of “The Boroughs,” she offered a current, shorter version of old-school Hollywood glam: a black minidress with baroque white pearl embroidery. But Davis’ journey to the peak of classic style reached its high point at the most recent Cannes Film Festival.
There, she starred on the red carpet in a spectacular “fireworks” dress, fully embroidered with sequins and gemstones in shades of red, reinforced with a corset and a pointed neckline by designer Pamella Roland. But the best look of all belonged to the festival’s gala evening: a white dress with a plunging bell-shaped neckline, bare shoulders and a long train, all of it looking sculpted onto her body.
Geena Davis at CinemaCon, 2024
(Photo: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
At the Screen Actors Guild Awards, 2018
(Photo: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
What comes next?
Davis and the rest of us probably will not get another “Thelma & Louise,” but a late television career may yet follow her charming appearance in “The Boroughs,” the series whose cast reminds us that growing older can be completely sexy. Davis appears there in tight jeans and a T-shirt, looking no less hot than Brad Pitt did in a similar outfit alongside her 35 years ago.
Applause or tomatoes?
Davis is a Hollywood lesson in how to age with style and decisive proof that real charm does not disappear with age. Also, apparently, the world is more beautiful when viewed from a height of nearly 6 feet, in heels. So, admiring applause, of course.