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Each week, the Open Thread newsletter will offer a look from across The New York Times at the forces that shape the dress codes we share, with Vanessa Friedman as your personal shopper. The latest newsletter appears here. To receive it in your inbox, register here.

Good afternoon! We are on the verge of a weekend of nail-biting anticipation, at least among a certain crowd. This coming Monday evening is the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s annual awards, a.k.a. the Oscars of the U.S. fashion industry. Did you even know it was happening? Get ready: It may have more of an impact on you than you might think.

Over the last few years, the CFDA has been gradually upping the celeb-and-promotional factor of the awards, which (let’s be honest) have in the past had a tendency to feel a bit like a high school prom, only with better clothes. The same designers tend to get nominated for the same awards: For example, this year, four of the five names on the list for homecoming king — sorry, women’s wear designer of the year — have already won, sometimes more than once, and the fifth won the international designer of the year award when he was at another house. Every year I can’t help but think: Get a little imagination, people.

Well, be careful what you wish for. While the same fashion names may be on the roster next week, they are dressed up (pardon the pun) with a lot of big-tent, boldface-name glam, picked to appeal to a pretty broad demographic, including those who may not think that much about designers, but know a lot about movies, politics and late-night TV. Which might possibly include you.

Nicole Kidman will be handing out an award; ditto Kerry Washington, Paris Jackson (whose fashion rise is kind of a fascinating story unto itself — give her an award for strategy!) and Jon Bon Jovi. Seth Meyers, who has a strangely codependent relationship with the industry (Google “Anna Wintour on ‘Late Night’”), is the host. Gloria Steinem, Cecile Richards and Janelle Monae are getting a special tribute. You see what I mean.

Expect photos coming soon to a people page near you. Which may in turn inspire a sudden fluency during your next dinner party with such nominated names as Raf Simons, the savior of Calvin Klein, and Virgil Abloh, founder of Off/White and Kanye West’s creative director, among others. It’s the trickle-down effect in action.

To prepare, here are some classic Times pieces on the nominees and why they matter. Though if you’ve had quite enough of all that, there’s lots more, from an inside look at the Gucci cruise show in Florence to a post-mortem on the demise of Bleecker Street. Happy reading!

Getting to Know Some CFDA Award Nominees

Raf Simons

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen

Irene Neuwirth

Rick Owens

Gabriela Hearst

Monse

Your Style Questions, Answered

Every week on Open Thread, Vanessa will answer a reader’s fashion-related question, which you can send to her anytime via email or Twitter. Questions are edited and condensed.

Q: I invested in several pearl necklaces in various styles and colors over the years. When I was in my 20s and 30s, pearls gave my outfit an element of sophistication; but now, in my 40s, I feel like they age me. Should I pack them away until after my retirement or is there a way that you can suggest to wear them today? — SUSAN WINSOR

A: I’ve actually been thinking about pearls a lot lately, in part because Melania Trump, unlike first ladies from Jackie Kennedy through Barbara and Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama, does not seem to wear them (she sticks to her diamond ring). The British prime minister Theresa May does, however, and during her campaign, Mrs. Clinton did too. Ivanka Trump also wears them. Plus, I’ve been rewatching “Hidden Figures,” and as you will know if you saw that movie, pearls also figure pretty importantly. Of all the classic jewelry pieces, pearls — whether real or fake — often seem the most symbolic and fraught.

The reason I list all those women, however, is that I think they all wear their pearls in different ways: Mrs. Obama wears hers with a bit of postmodern irony and fun; Ivanka Trump wears hers as symbols of great primness and propriety; Mrs. Clinton and Ms. May wear theirs as badges of femininity. What their examples demonstrate is it’s all in the combination — not the age. To make a traditional strand of pearls seem less staid, wear them with a less traditional outfit: a trouser suit, for example, or even a T-shirt, as opposed to a simple cocktail frock. Maybe a shirt or a dress with a vivid, digitized pattern, to add some modernity to the look. Oversize costume pearls can add attitude to a classic LBD. And so on. The point is: Don’t think retirement. Think reframing. With pearls, as with life these days. — VANESSA FRIEDMAN