On the heels of a glittering VMAs debut last month, Brittany Snow had two words to describe her Old Hollywood-inspired look for the 2025 InStyle Imagemaker Awards: “classically snatched.” The Hunting Wives actress went completely backless in a custom gown from New York-based designer Lein, which felt appropriately “timeless,” albeit “still really clean and sleek.”
This year marks Snow’s first time at InStyle’s annual Imagemaker Awards honoring Hollywood’s most influential stylists, makeup artists, and hairstylists, with appearances from celebrity guests including George Clooney, Kerry Washington, and Jenna Ortega. She celebrated the milestone moment alongside her glam team: makeup artist Diane Buzzetta and hairstylist Glen Oropeza.
“This current era of my career is just so cool,” Snow tells InStyle. “I’ve been in this business since I was 3 years old. I am really grateful that I’m still getting to do it and that people still are liking the shows I’m on.”
As for her approach to the red carpet, Snow says it’s all about “playing a character.” “I do feel like once I get into a dress and have full glam and hair and makeup, I feel like a different person, a fancier version of myself, and that does really help with the event,” she muses.
Keep reading for an exclusive, behind-the-scenes window into how the John Tucker Must Die actress got ready for her big night out at the 2025 InStyle Imagemaker Awards.
The Look
John Salangsang / Shutterstock for InStyle
Brittany Snow at the 2025 InStyle Imagemaker Awards.
For Snow, it was basically love at first sight when she saw the backless Lein gown that she would don for the evening. “The minute I saw it, especially with the beads at the back, I knew I wanted to wear it,” she tells InStyle.
The look is Snow’s homage to Shirley MacLaine in the 1964 film What a Way to Go!. “There’s a shot of her sitting and there’s these beautiful pearls down her back…so that was our inspiration for this dress,” she explains.
The Glam
Snow has two rules of thumb when it comes to her hair and makeup. Number one? “I constantly refresh my lips when I’m at an event.” Number two? Always trust your hair stylist.
“I don’t ever know what he’s doing back there,” she jokes of Oropeza. “I just trust him, so it’s always a surprise.”
As for her mascara, Snow does it herself. “I start at the base and then I kind of do this wiggle-y thing and then IÂ go up from there. And then I kind of do it where [the lashes] just sort of fan out, just a little bit.”
Her Red Carpet Strategy
Getty
Brittany Snow at the InStyle Imagemaker Awards 2025
“It’s such an awkward thing to be on a red carpet and serve,” the Guiding Light alum says. “You really gotta go into your inner movie star and give face. I don’t take it too seriously. I try not to judge myself.”
Her Style Icons
“I always want to look like a mixture of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, Michelle Pfeiffer, Grace Kelly, and Jennifer Aniston,” Snow says. “Just always really simplistic and classy and effortless. I can always find inspiration if I go to one of their Google searches.”
Her Friendship With Co-Star Katie Lowes
John Salangsang / Shutterstock for InStyle
Brittany Snow and Katie Lowes at the 2025 InStyle Imagemaker Awards.
Though The Hunting Wives is the first show that Snow and Lowes have co-starred in, the duo actually met back in 2013 when Lowes was on a panel at ATX Fest for Scandal.
“We met, and I was taken aback by her beauty,” Lowes (semi-jokingly) says of Snow. Apparently both women asked Tom Verica (who worked with Lowes on Scandal and Snow on American Dreams) to put in a good word them when they auditioned for The Hunting Wives, and the rest is history.
“I just so enjoy her company,” Snow gushed, “especially at events like this, where we just don’t take ourselves too seriously and we have so much fun.”
Read the original article on InStyle