Awards Time!

Oscar nominations are out — costume design:

  • Australia
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • The Duchess
  • Milk
  • Revolutionary Road

I still need to see 3 of the 5, so I’m not sure yet who I’m rooting for! Obviously The Duchess was amazing, but it’s an obvious choice…

The Costume Designers Guild award nominations are also out. Period/fantasy TV series:

  • Mad Men (yes! yes!)
  • Pushing Daisies
  • The Tudors (dear god NO)

TV miniseries or movie:

  • Bernard & Doris
  • Coco Chanel
  • Cranford
  • John Adams
  • Sense & Sensibility

Period film:

  • Changeling
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • The Duchess
  • Milk
  • Revolutionary Road

(interesting that it’s almost, but not quite, identical to the Oscar noms).

Fantasy film:

  • Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
  • The Dark Knight
  • The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Golden Globes fashion recap!

In one of only two OT things ever posted around here (this and the Oscars), it’s time for my Golden Globes fashion recap. It’s the closest thing we modern people have to Worth gowns, barring couture fashion shows which just don’t excite me.

First, let’s get REALLY OT and say: YAY KATE WINSLET *kermit arms*!!!!! So glad to finally see one of my generation’s two best actresses (her and Cate Blanchett) finally get her due. I’m hoping for an Oscar too!

ext, let us acknowledge that the (early) 1960s are BACK, baby. Hair, dresses, you name it – and I am very pro-60s, so I’m totally into it.

In the “Yay!” camp:

Amanda Seyfried is able to pull off nude perfectly, with her pale skin and blond hair, when on most people it looks boring. Beautiful hair, too.

America Ferrara looked great in her 1960-esque silver cocktail dress. Loved the collar and the one shoulder thing on this dress, and a great length.

Christina Applegate looked pretty and I LOVED the necklace.

I can’t say anything bad about Christina Hendricks so she’s in this category, but I would have liked to have seen her in something that flatters her bustline more. Gorgeous hair and lipstick.

Drew Barrymore is completely channeling late 1950s Marilyn.

Kate Beckinsale looked very lovely, but my husband and I were howling when, as she was presenting with Puff Daddy, she looked like she wanted to murder him as he kept mashing into her bodice puffery.

I would have liked to have seen Kate Winslet in a color, but I liked the bustline cross-over thingie and the bling and her hair and she can do no wrong!

Sally Hawkins looked perfect (loved the dress, loved the hair) for *her* body type.

In the “Ew!” camp:

Anna Paquin — the blond hair and pounds of makeup just made her look like she was a 60 year old bodybuilder.

Blake Lively said she dressed herself, and it shows. Nice color, but the wrinkles and the spangles falling down the bust just didn’t work for me.

Cameron Diaz gives me the fear.

Eva Mendes – loved the necklace, but the FIT on the BODICE! Agh! And the peplum! Ugh!

There must be a more flattering bustline in the universe for Hayden Panettiere.

J Lo – I think I had a Barbie with this dress. Yes, I did.

Something about the print on Maggie Gyllenhaal‘s dress made her look like she had a giant cavity between her breasts.

Renee Zellweger channels Sharon Stone (nice version) or Cruella de Ville (catty version).

Oscar Fashion Roundup: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wow, were you as under-inspired by last night’s Oscar fashions as I was? The only people I could get excited about were Cate Blanchett (I love that she never plays it safe; of course, she could look great in a paper bag), Helen Mirren (love the heavy satin, color, sweep of the skirt, diamond “shrug” accent, elbow-length sleeves), and Marion Cotillard (when I first saw it, I didn’t like it, but it quickly grew on me after the snooze fest of all the rest of the gowns). I might have been able to get excited about Hilary Swank if she had opted for a color other than black (zzzzzzz).

Everything else was boring, boring, boring! Nothing to dislike, even! Total snooze-fest.

I’m happy, although not hugely excited, about Alexandra Byrne’s win for The Golden Age (could have been equally excited about Sweeney Todd or Atonement – just not super excited about any of the options this year). Hopefully next year will be far more exciting!

Academy Awards

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.

Going Beyond the Academy Awards

The following are the winners of the Costume Designers Guild awards:

Excellence in Contemporary Film: Transamerica (Danny Glicker)
Excellence in Period Film: Memoirs of a Geisha (Colleen Atwood)
Excellence in Fantasy Film: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Isis Mussenden)

Outstanding Made for TV Movie/Mini-Series: Elvis (Eduardo Castro)
Outstanding Period/Fantasy TV Series: Rome (April Ferry)

There’s more tv awards — see details at the Costume Designers Guild website.