SO excited that Marie Antoinette won for costume design! Nyah nyah to all the naysayers! I literally did a little dance on my couch. Yay!
And in the one non-costume, but vaguely related, thing I post here, my Academy Awards fashion commentary!
Anne Hathaway – the bow was horrible — it basically made an upside down V, which made her look shlumpy. But I will say that I hate it a bit less now that I’ve seen the coordinating back bow — maybe if it had just had the back bow? I think it’s because it’s reminding me of a natural form dress. Anyway.
Beyonce – at least she wasn’t wearing gold lame for ONCE! It wasn’t my favorite, but I’ll take it. I would have liked it better if it didn’t have the dumb thigh slit. When is that woman going to realize that she’s perfectly attractive without needing to dress like a hoochie mama?
Cameron Diaz – Go Fug Yourself said it best when they said it looked like she was wearing a big napkin. The fit through the waist is bad — it got all wrinkly. She should have transported herself to the Oscars lying down! The brown hair looks better on her, the super dark fake tan does NOT.
Cate Blanchett – everything the woman wears is divine, but this extremely so. I was originally wondering if it was a little too severe, until I saw the jewels at the shoulder and hemline. Gorgeous!
Eva Green – who is she? No idea. I actually quite like the dress — the bodice reminds me of an early 1900s evening gown, although I wouldn’t have wrapped the organdy over the flowers (like it over the midriff and arms, but over the flowers just makes her look like she’s choking).
Gwyneth Paltrow – hands down my best dressed. She’s back, after like 5 years in the land of Hideous! LOVE the color, love the sheerness of the fabric, love the pin tucking and the design placement of the tucks (especially across the collar bone), love the sleeve length. Gawgeous.
Jada Pinkett Smith – I like what the dress is doing from the knees down — beautiful pleats there and the fabric has a gorgeous weight. Knees up – not so much. Despite the seaming/decoration on the bodice, this accentuates the fact that she has no waist definition. She should really try a V waistline with a fuller (A line maybe?) skirt.
Jennifer Hudson – I don’t even have to say it, do I? Apparently she was talked into wearing this by some stylist after having picked another dress — assuming that dress is the one pictured at the bottom of this page, REALLY bad move. The gold dress is stunning!
Jennifer Lopez – love it! Many of the commentators I’ve read have said something like “Love the Grecian dress, hate the 1960s hair.” Um, do they not realize that the whole thing is 1960s-esque? I thought she looked great and retro in an interesting way. The jewels built into the dress are lovely.
Jessical Biel – Malibu Barbie! Nipple alert! The color does work on her, and she certainly has the figure for it, but it just felt too stretch-jersey-comfortable for me.
Jodie Foster — very pretty, matches her eyes beautifully.
Kate Winslet – the girl can do no wrong in my opinion. I love the style and fit of the dress, and the ruching and hanging drape are beautiful. I tend to like her in stronger colors, but this looks very pretty.
Kirsten Dunst – another one everyone’s picking on, but I LOVE it! Yes it combines a lot of different elements, but it works on her in an I’m-young-and-pixie-ish sort of way. I love the collar and sleeves, the color is great, and her lipstick is FABULOUS.
Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts – Nicole: too harsh of a color, I miss her with really red hair, the bow is stupid. Charlize couldn’t pull it off, neither can you. Naomi: good color, pretty hair, the sleeves look stupid and make her look like her bust is very droopy.
Penelope Cruz – not my favorite on its own, but she can really pull it off.
Queen Latifah – not my favorite! She usually dresses really nicely for her figure. I just feel like this isn’t doing anything great for her (it’s not doing anything bad for her, either, but…)
Rachel Weisz – I ADORE this dress. Gorgeous fabric, gorgeous color, love the jewelling in the bodice. The dress (again) reminds me of one of those 1898-1902 champagne satin evening dresses. The hair and lipstick are great – the only thing I would lose is the necklace (competes too much with the jewelling in the dress). My second favorite, after Gwynnie.
Helen Mirren — lovely. I love the style of the bodice and the length of the sleeves (THIS is the kind of thing Meryl Streep should wear!). Very pretty.
Reese Witherspoon = LOVE. Did you see hers?
I did, but I didn’t really feel one way or the other about it! Which is why I didn’t include it in my list. I guess I liked it as a dress (particularly the layering and the lightening of the color towards the hem), but thought it was kind of dark and so/so on her…
I was also completely in love with Reese Witherspoon’s dress. Thought she looked fantastic. Liked Paltrow’s dress, too. Helen Mirren looked fabulous. Absolutely hated Jessica Biel’s dress, although she was on some best-dressed lists.
I loveloveloved Eva Green’s dress. I know some people hated it, but I’m a sucker for sheer layers. Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet could be wearing tights under a belted sweater and I would still worship their fashion.
(fyi – the word verification seems to hate Firefox)
I also really liked Paltrow, Kate, and Cate. The ruffles on the train of Rachel Weisz dress reminded me of dust ruffles that you see under bustle dress trains. Lopez’s dress I liked the feel of, but the excess fullness right under the bustline made her stomach look big, and I don’t think that’s a look people usually go for. Eva Green is from Kingdom of Heaven, and is also the latest Bond girl (Casino Royale). I kinda thought it looked like she was being enveloped by spiderwebs, in a neat way.
The ruffles on the train of Rachel Weisz dress reminded me of dust ruffles that you see under bustle dress trains.
Exactly what I thought! I’m making a wedding dress for a friend this year and she wants something similar. I think I’ll show her this to give her a little nudge.
Love Kate Winslet’s dress–I hadn’t seen that one in previous coverage. I like the softer colors/makeup palette on her; it makes her look less tired and cakey. Also nice to see her looking svelt (but shapely!) again.
HATED the Eva Green dress. She looks like she’s reprising Elsa Lanchester’s role in the Bride of Frankenstein.
Paltrow–I’m divided. It was definitely an interesting dress, and I liked the detail, but I wish the girl would quit picking gowns to make her shoulders and bust look even narrower than they are.
I agree with nearly everything you say, oh Oscars guru (btw, Eva Green I think was in the latest Bond film, and had entirely bonkers hair at the BAFTAs, as evidenced here). I didn’t like Kate Winslet in that colour, I have to say, but she gets top marks for elegance. Although I am slightly freaked out by how much she and Sam Mendes look like each other. And I did quite like Reese Witherspoon, although I think the colours probably work better in real life and I think she looks way too thin, because her pointy chin is out of control. And I didn’t like her Jennifer Aniston circa Friends season 5 hair.
I think Rachel Weisz was my fave – even though it is Vera Wang, which makes it bad on principle.
Ok, I’m curious–what’s wrong with Vera Wang? Oversaturation?