Costume Design Emmys 2026: Every Winner, Where to Rewatch It — and Why Bridgerton and Emily in Paris Lost

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Key takeaways

• The costume Emmys were already handed out. Both Creative Arts nights ran Sept. 5 and 6 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, nine days before the main ceremony.
• Palm Royale took Period Costumes, Fallout took Fantasy/Sci-Fi, and the two contemporary categories went to Beef and Margo's Got Money Troubles.
• The edited telecast aired once on FXX on Sept. 12 and went up on Hulu on Sept. 13, which is where to rewatch it now.
• Bridgerton and Emily in Paris — the two shows whose clothes drive the most shopping searches all year — both lost their costume categories.
• Our call that print would carry into the Sept. 14 main carpet was wrong. That night went lilac and heavy beading instead (more below).

Quick answer — the 2026 costume design Emmys went to Palm Royale (period), Fallout (fantasy/sci-fi), Beef and Margo's Got Money Troubles (contemporary), with The Masked Singer and The Traitors tied in the juried reality category. They were handed out at the Creative Arts ceremonies on Sept. 5–6; the edited telecast aired on FXX Sept. 12 and is on Hulu. The main show, hosted by Mariska Hargitay, followed on Sept. 14.

Most people find out who won Costume Design about four seconds after it scrolls past in a montage. That is a shame, because these five awards are the closest thing television has to a public verdict on the clothes we spend the rest of the year trying to find dupes for.

When did the Creative Arts Emmys telecast air?

Note the odd 8 p.m. in both time zones: FXX ran it on a tape delay for the West Coast rather than a live simulcast. That FXX slot was a one-off, so Hulu is the place to catch it now. The week as it happened is in TV Fashion, Sept. 8–14, and the Sept. 14 feeds and times are kept on record in the Emmys carpet guide.

Who won the costume Emmys this year?

Five costume categories, six winners — the reality category is juried and produced a tie.

Apple TV had the better fortnight of anyone in this room. Palm Royale arrived with eight nominations and converted three — costumes, period makeup and scripted choreography — while Margo's Got Money Troubles swept the whole contemporary grooming bracket, taking costumes, hairstyling and makeup for the same season. Across both nights the biggest haul belonged to Widow's Bay, with eight, per Variety's night-two tally.

Why did Bridgerton and Emily in Paris lose?

Both were nominated. Neither converted. Bridgerton's "Dance in the Country" went up against Palm Royale in Period Costumes and came second; Emily in Paris put "Veni, Vidi, Venezia" into the contemporary series race and lost to Margo.

The pattern is not about quality. Costume voters reward a wardrobe that solves a problem — a specific year, a specific class, a joke told in fabric. Clothes that are simply gorgeous week after week have no problem to solve, so they read as styling rather than design. Which is why Emily in Paris drives more searches for individual garments than every winner on this list combined and still goes home with nothing.

Consolation was not total. Bridgerton did win twice: Period or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Hairstyling for "The Waltz," and a voice-over Emmy for Julie Andrews as Lady Whistledown. We keep a running file on both shows' wardrobes over in Drama Style.

What is the Palm Royale look, exactly?

Friedberg's brief is 1969 Palm Beach, and the winning episode leans on four things you can describe without a single screenshot. Column-length dresses cut close through the hip and released at the knee. Saturated tropical and geometric prints, printed rather than embroidered, so the pattern sits flat and photographs clean. Matching or near-matching accessories — scarf, clutch, shoe — in one of the two or three colors already in the print. And a covered shoulder: cap sleeve, kimono sleeve or a short jacket, almost never a bare arm in daylight.

The fourth one is the whole trick. Resort dressing of that period reads expensive because the shoulder is finished, not because the fabric cost anything. Get it right on a $38 dress and it photographs well; get it wrong on a $348 one and you have a beach cover-up.

What does that resort print cost at three price levels?

Prices below came off each brand's own site on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, around 12:30 a.m. ET. Print runs sell out faster than solids, so treat these as a snapshot.

The jump from $38 to $348 has a landing strip in the middle. At the same check FARM Rio had the Light Blue Spring Affair Maxi at $148, down from $248, and the Off-White Biricutico Scarf Smocked Strapless Maxi at the same $148 from $270. That $150 band is where a printed maxi stops looking like a holiday and starts looking deliberate. More of this kind of comparison lives in the Love Story slip dress at three prices.

Why did a singing competition win a costume Emmy?

The Masked Singer is, structurally, a costume show with a game attached, and the juried category finally said so out loud. Its premiere shared the award with The Traitors and its Black Banquet episode — one built full-body character suits, the other dressed twenty people in coordinated evening wear inside a Scottish castle and made the coordination itself part of the plot. Neither is a category most viewers know exists. If you follow those shows for the outfits, our sister desk covers the episodes themselves at Reality On Air, and we stay on the clothes over in Reality Looks.

Did the costume winners predict the Sept. 14 carpet?

Not really, and it is worth saying plainly because this page bet on it. Before the main show we wrote that the craft branch was rewarding pattern, and that print and covered shoulders would follow the winners onto the carpet.

The lesson is a narrow one. Costume voters judge a wardrobe that tells a story over a season; a carpet is one outfit for one photo, and texture beats pattern on camera. Every arrival is logged in Emmys 2026 red carpet best looks, and the host's changes are in Mariska Hargitay's Emmys looks.

Creative Arts Emmys FAQ

Are the Creative Arts Emmys the same awards as the Emmys? Same Emmy, different night. The Television Academy splits off 101 mostly craft categories — costumes, hairstyling, makeup, editing, guest acting — and presents them the weekend before the primetime ceremony.

Was there a red carpet? Yes, on both nights at the Peacock Theater, and the photo galleries from Sept. 5–6 are already published by the trades. The carpet was not part of the FXX broadcast window.

Can I still watch it? On Hulu, which posted the edited telecast on Sept. 13 and needs no cable login. The FXX airing on Sept. 12 was a single slot.

Where do I find the clothes from these shows? Rarely at retail, which is a problem we broke down in how TV wardrobes actually work. The Project Runway season 22 finale is the exception that proves it.

What about the workout and rehearsal clothes on competition shows? Different desk. Activewear On Air handles training kit; we take the stage costumes.

Sources

• 78th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards — full winners and nominees, ceremony dates, nomination tallies.
• Television Academy, "Where to Watch" — FXX telecast date and time, Hulu window, Sept. 14 broadcast details.
• Variety and Gold Derby — night-by-night winners and carpet galleries.
• Prices: Flolae, FARM Rio, La DoubleJ, checked Sept. 10, 2026.
• Streaming drop times for the shows above: Streaming On Air. All carpet coverage: Red Carpet.