Category: award shows

Yay for Memoirs of a Geisha winning for best costume design! Cross posted from jenlemus’s LJ: an article/slideshow on why period films always win for costume design.

But, more importantly — fashion report!

Can you guess who wins my best dressed award? Amy Adams — chocolate silk! Stripey ribbon! Red hair! Pockets!

In the “also fab” category: Reese Witherspoon (great color – loved the silver sparky bits, great cut and beautiful sweeping skirt, beautiful hair); Keira Knightley (great hair color, loved the smoky eyes and vintage 1960s Bulgari necklace, her dress was a beautiful color and fit, altho I’m not 100% about the mermaid look); Sandra Bullock (great color on her, beautiful cut & fit plus I love the full skirt, I thought the sheer layer added a nice bit of visual interest); Jessica Alba (very suitable to her); Nicole Kidman (did her usual very pale thing, but this time it worked and she looked elegant); Salma Hayek (gorgeous color, perfect fit, loved the hair); Deborah Rennard (wife of Paul Haggis, in the stunning fiery orange dress); Uma Thurman (lovely pale peach color, gorgeous makeup & hair, dress very flattering to her).

In the “nice but not thrilling” category: Rachel Weisz (beautiful hair, dress very flattering to her pregnant figure but not stunning); Jennifer Lopez (liked the dress cut & color, not sure it worked 100% on her).

In the “boring” category: Jennifer Aniston (basic black, zzzzzzzzz); Hilary Swank (ditto).

In the WTF? category: Michelle Williams (the yellow dress with the red lipstick! aaaaaaaaaa!); Charlize Theron (the bow! the bow!); Felicity Huffman (I’m sorry, I don’t want to see your bony sternum); Naomi Watts (that dress made her look weirdly lumpy, plus the deconstructed foofa bodice looked like she’d just got back from swinging in the jungle with King Kong); Helena Bonham Carter (I adore her, but… the hair! the dress! the WHITE SHOES!).

Yay to Sandy Powell for winning Best Costume Design for The Aviator! Loved the second-class citizen “everyone get on stage so we can shoot the losers” presentation, but hey, at least they let her on stage!

And the fashion report!

Hands down, Cate Blanchett won my best dressed award. Loved the cut, loved the fabric (silk taffeta!), LOVED the color combo. She’s fabulous.

Although I’m not terribly into blue, Kate Winslet looked great in it and I liked the glinty bits.

Charlize Theron looked like what she is: boring! Also Annette Bening (you couldn’t even see any detail [if she had any] on her boring black dress).

Beautiful color, beautiful fit: Salma Hayek. Same on Virginia Madsen (MUCH better than that clinging-in-all-the-wrong-places Golden Globes dress).

Straight outta 1988, and not in a good way: Melanie Griffith.

Emmy Rossum and Renee Zellweger both looked fabulous in my favorite shade of garnet red. I loved the tulle/organza/whatever on Zellweger’s neckline and train. Of course, both of them needed some protein, stat.

Penelope Cruz — good color, nice fabric, hair overwhelmed her… BUTT BOW!

Imelda Staunton looked just beautiful. Loved the very 1950s cut of the dress, great neckline, beautiful color. Perfect for her. See Melanie Griffith? You don’t HAVE to look like Dynasty!

Gwynnie wore a satin drawstring bag.

I liked Scarlett Johansson‘s glinty hair thingies. Thought the dress should have fitted a bit better on top.

Natalie Portman was 50/50 for me. I liked the Grecian look, very simple and elly-gant. But the color was a bit of a washout on her, and no one wants to see that much bony sternum.

Laura Linney: great cut, loved the fabric and the ruffles etc. Color was a bit of a washout, weird hair.

I’m torn on Hilar ySwank. The color worked well on her, I liked the fit, and I liked the dramatic backless-ness with the covered up in front. But the neckline was just a bit too stranglehold-y, and the fabric seemed very bike-shorts-y.

All of Beyonce’s dresses were either ugly or boring, but they were better than some of her usual stuff.

Achievement in costume design: The Aviator (Sandy Powell — Orlando, Wings of the Dove, Shakespeare in Love, Far From Heaven), Finding Neverland (Alexandra Byrne — Phantom of the Opera, Elizabeth, Persuasion), A Series of Unfortunate Events (Colleen Atwood — Sleepy Hollow, Little Women), Ray (Sharen Davis — Devil in a Blue Dress), Troy (Bob Ringwood — Alien 3 & Resurrection, AI, Star Trek Nemesis, Dune). ooooo, tough call for me between The Aviator and Finding Neverland (with Series of Unfortunate Events coming in third). Troy?

Also of interest! Art direction: The Aviator, Finding Neverland, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Phantom of the Opera, A Very Long Engagement.

I’m thrilled to see that Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and Cate Blanchett (The Aviator) were nominated, both because they are fabulous actresses but also because they are sure to wear something smashing. And Clive Owen was nominated for Closer. Yum.