Author: kendra

(Thanks to Kate for the reminder – agh! Busy lately! Been sewing tho, news on that soon). Oscars happened! I watched! I thought the show was way improved this year, even if some of the song & dance numbers were a bit hokey. I loved how intimate the seating was, the set decor (esp. the changes), and the various support/lead actors/actresses coming out and presenting the awards — so even those who didn’t win got the thrill of having their talents highlighted. Side note: whoever that female presenter is at E just completely freaks me out. Please make her go away! And loved that Tim Gunn was one of the preshow presenters — there should have been more of him. And yay! to The Duchess winning for Best Costume (altho that was such a lock).

So what did I love?

Anne Hathaway‘s hair was gorgeous. Loved the dress — the pailettes were stunning, altho until I realized what they were I was wishing the dress had a bigger skirt. But yeah, with the pailettes that would have been overwhelming. I also love her combination of pale skin/dress with dark hair, and she has the perfect lipstick — contrast without being garish.

Evan Rachel Wood — loved the dress – the structural quality and the pleating were just so well done, and went well with the pale color (all that busy-ness with a brighter color could have been bad). I love that she toned down her makeup from that very hard look she wore at the Golden Globes (wait – I had her confused with Anna Paquin! Never mind!). The hair, on the other hand, wasn’t great — the bangs seemed very like what a high school student who hangs out at the mall a lot would do. Weird.

Freida Pinto – stunning color, especially on her. I liked the interesting asymmetrical straps, although I wasn’t 100% convinced about the one sleeve. One sleeve is a tough look to pull off… she did it about 99%.

Kate Winslet. You know I love her. Beautiful cut, interesting color (don’t know if it’s my FAVORITE color in the whole world but it was a great contrast to the colors everyone else is wearing). Love the fabric. Only 90% on the hair, but hey, she’s Kate Winslet, she gets a pass from me.

Marion Cotillard was one of my best dressed. Probably it’s that I’m all into 1960s hair right now and I loved hers, but also I thought the colors and line of the dress were stunning on her.

Marisa Tomei was my other best dressed. I know that you’re not all feeling the love, and I don’t get it. That dress is a WORK OF ART and is SO beautifully made. Can you IMAGINE what it was like to figure out that pleating? And stitch it so perfectly? Wow. I am just in awe.

Miley Cyrus – loved loved loved the dress, don’t know if it’s appropriate for her. Plus she gets on my nerves. She’s so ON and fake-y all the time and I can’t imagine why anyone would like her. And she scrunches up her face when she sings. But the dress? Love!

Penelope Cruz’s dress was vintage 1950s and it showed. The detail on the lace was just amazing. Wow.

Taraji P. Henson – beautiful. Love the color and line, and the deconstructed bits are really interesting without being overpowering. Beautiful on her.

Virgina Madsen – nice color, interesting neckline.

Meryl Streep, in my opinion, looked better than she usually does, so she’s going in this section, although she could easily have gone below… hard call. She never makes an effort, so I’ll take mildly ok and give her a pass.

What did I hate? Well, there wasn’t a lot to hate this year, so I’ll mix in also those I felt meh about.

Sarah Jessica Parker had a relatively nice dress and bad hair. Bad, bad hair. It’s not the 1970s. It’s really not.

Angelina Jolie looked great in her plain black dress (which fit her figure well, color looked good) and green jewelry. And was SO freakin’ unadventurous! Really? Black? That’s it? SO safe and boring.

Beyonce – wow, that’s a lot of look. Part of me gets what she was going for with the mermaid dress and the brocade fabric, but maybe pick ONE element and stick with it, not 40. I would love to see this woman given a style makeunder.

Sophia Loren. Okay, caveat: how cool would it be to be Sophia Loren? To just wear whatever crazy thing you want to because hey, you’re Sophia Loren! I actually was kind of in awe over how much of a thing-unto-herself she was. But I have to say that if you think wearing sheer/spangly sleeves will cover your arm flab, I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t, especially when you wave. Not good. Otherwise, she gets a pass from me because hey, she lives in Crazytown!

Heidi Klum has great legs. And a nice sense of color. And a dress that doesn’t fit her AT ALL. I don’t care if it’s the haute-est couture ever. I don’t care if it’s 100% intentional. IT DOESN’T FIT.

Jessica Biel – meh. Nice color on her, like the duchesse satin. Not a big fan of the giant bow. The husband reports that he doesn’t like dresses that are giant blocks, and that don’t fit in the bodice.

Melissa George forgot to wear her dress over her Frederick’s of Hollywood bustier and petticoat. And trust me, you can do a lot better in foundation garments than that particular Joanns-plastic-boning bustier, girl.

What did you think?