Catherine O’Hara’s Fearless Fashion Proved Style Has No Age

A comedy legend who treated the red carpet like a character study – and made late-in-life glamour look like the most natural plot twist in the world.

Catherine O’Hara spent decades making us laugh; in the last act of her career, she also made a very strong case for never dialing down your style just because the candles on the cake hit a scary number.

Onscreen, she gave us Moira Rose’s operatic wigs and Beetlejuice’s goth drama. Offscreen, she crafted a sharper, quieter rebellion: sleek black-and-white gowns, sculpted jackets, and unapologetically theatrical touches that said, very clearly, “age-appropriate” is not a dress code – it’s a prison break.

The Moment

The news hit on January 30, 2026: Catherine O’Hara had died at 71, according to tributes published that day. The loss landed hard – not just for people who can quote every “Schitt’s Creek” line, but for anyone who’s watched Hollywood quietly sideline women the second they cross 50.

In recent years, O’Hara had become one of the most interesting people to watch on a red carpet. Working with longtime stylist Andrew Gelwicks, she embraced bold, often monochrome looks from houses like Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs, Thom Browne, Valentino and more, usually leaning into Moira Rose’s beloved black-and-white palette.

She wasn’t chasing youth; she was chasing impact. One night it was a structured Georges Chakra gown at the 2019 Critics’ Choice Awards.

Another, a razor-sharp Haider Ackermann suit at the Directors Guild of America Awards.

At the 2019 Tonys, she showed up in an ultra-modern Marc Jacobs look that read less “comedian in borrowed couture” and more “fashion insider who knows exactly what she’s doing.”

The Take

Here’s the thing: O’Hara didn’t suddenly “discover” fashion late in life. She’d always embodied stylish characters – the power-suited mom in “Home Alone,” the artsy oddball of “Beetlejuice,” and eventually the gloriously overdressed Moira Rose. But after 60, she turned that costumed confidence into a personal uniform.

In a 2020 conversation with Vogue, she said, “I’ve always loved black and white, and I think it can be very clean and works anywhere… It’s bold and it’s strong and it’s graphic and cartoony and cool all at the same time. Classic.” That’s not a woman asking permission; that’s a woman writing her own style thesis.

While many actresses her age are quietly pushed toward safe sheaths and “timeless” beading, O’Hara doubled down on elements that could easily have been dismissed as “too much”: sharp contrasts, unexpected silhouettes, and yes, references to the wig-loving diva she played on TV.

She didn’t age out of fashion – she aged straight into her prime.

Culturally, her late-stage fashion ascension matters. For a generation of women who grew up with O’Hara in 1980s comedies, then rediscovered her through “Schitt’s Creek,” she quietly modeled a different script: your 60s and 70s can be your most expressive, most playful, most photographed years – if you’re willing to take up visual space.

We talk a lot about “representation,” but what O’Hara did was more precise: she represented the woman who has lived, worked, raised kids, survived trends, and finally decides, I will wear whatever delights me. It wasn’t rebellion with a bullhorn; it was rebellion with a great tailor.

Receipts

Confirmed

• Catherine O’Hara died on January 30, 2026 at age 71, according to tributes and announcements published that day.
• She collaborated closely with stylist Andrew Gelwicks in recent years, a partnership widely discussed in fashion coverage of her red carpet appearances.
• She frequently wore designs from labels including Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs, Thom Browne and Valentino at major events.
• In a 2020 interview with Vogue, she described her love of black-and-white dressing as “bold,” “graphic,” “cartoony,” “cool,” and “classic.”
• In a 2019 interview with WSJ. Magazine, she said, “I’d like women, especially ones of a certain age, to be influenced by Moira’s wonderfully daring sense of fashion. Don’t be afraid to wear wigs.”

Unverified / No Evidence Needed

• No credible reports suggest any behind-the-scenes fashion drama or feuds; this piece is a celebration of her public style, not a blind item.

Backstory (For the Casual Reader)

If you know Catherine O’Hara only as “Kevin’s mom” from “Home Alone,” you’re missing most of the story.

She came up through the legendary Toronto comedy scene, breaking out on the sketch series “SCTV” in the late 1970s. Over the next four decades, she became a character-actor icon – the offbeat mom, the intense eccentric, the woman who seemed to live one inch left of reality in the best possible way.

Then, in her 60s, came Moira Rose on “Schitt’s Creek,” the sitcom about a ruined rich family learning to live small. Moira’s wardrobe – all haute black-and-white, statement jewelry, and theatrical wigs – became a star in its own right, meticulously built by the show’s costume team and embraced wholeheartedly by O’Hara.

That role cracked something open. Suddenly, fashion insiders were inviting O’Hara to sit front row. She attended a Tom Ford show in 2020 in a glossy, croc-embossed skirt suit by the designer, later laughing that she felt like “a happy alien” amid the deadly serious fashion faces. The industry may have been late to the party, but she walked in like she’d been expected.

Ultimately, both Catherine O’Hara and the characters she played in her later years did the same quiet work: they stretched our idea of who gets to have fun with clothes. She left us with a simple, subversive assignment – especially for women over 40: you’re not too old for drama. You’re right on time.

Your turn: When you think about “age-appropriate” style, does Catherine O’Hara’s late-in-life fashion era make you more likely to dress bolder as you get older, or does that pressure feel like just one more expectation?

Sources

• Tribute and red carpet retrospective published January 30, 2026, detailing Catherine O’Hara’s recent fashion era and collaboration with stylist Andrew Gelwicks.
• Catherine O’Hara interview in Vogue, August 2020, discussing her love of black-and-white dressing and her experience attending a Tom Ford runway show.
• Catherine O’Hara profile and interview in WSJ. Magazine, 2019, on how Moira Rose’s wardrobe influenced her views on style and aging.