Fashion Watch

Oscars 2007 - Part 1

At this year’s Oscars there was more stylish creativity than I have seen for some time.

Not all of it worked, of course, but there was very little that seemed boring whether because of colour or detail.

Blue was most definitely the hue of the night though, especially the darker tones. Witness:

Maggie Gyllenhaal in Proenza Schouler

Reese Witherspoon in Nina Ricci

Emily Blunt looking too skinny but still quite stylish in Calvin Klein

Jodie Foster’s hair was awful, but her Vera Wang gown was lovely

Less successful style-wise but still great in terms of colour, Portia de Rossi, in Zac Posen

Moving on to the more neutral tones, there were some winners and some losers.

Helen Mirren’s dainty, pretty and yet wholly age-appropriate and flattering Lacroix gown was definitely a winner

And Penelope Cruz’s Versace gown may have been huge, but it really worked rather than looking like a marsh-mellow

Jennifer Lopez also looked great in Marchesa, though is she pregnant and I missed it? Because if she’s not, then this cut was perhaps not the best choice no matter how lovely the gown.

More meh for me on the neutral front were Kate Winslett (Valentino) and Beyonce (Armani). Nothing at all wrong with the dresses, they just got a little upstaged on the night.

And then there was Eva Green who went one half neutral and the other half Elvira

Oscars 2007 - Part 2

When things went metallic, results were also mixed. For example, Cate Blanchett’s Armani Prive gown would have been lovely, if only it appeared that she could actually breathe.

I preferred Rachel Weisz’s silver gown on the TV to in the photos, it just seemed to wash her out a bit even though the Vera Wang dress itself is lovely.

Meanwhile Jada Pinkett Smith looked a little too much like the Oscar statue itself in gold Carolina Herrera.

As for Kirsten Dunst, I really actually like the feathered hem, it’s the top half that confounds me. (Chanel)

Appearing to suffer a bit too much from uncomfortable pushed up boobs, pregnant or not, were two of our local girls, Naomi Watts (Escada) and Isla Fisher (Monique Lhuillier - if you scroll down you'll see I liked this dress on the less-busty runway a couple of weeks ago, it just needed slightly less vavoom here.)

In the bright colours that didn’t quite work stakes, Jessica Biel’s Oscar de la Renta was just a little too bubble-gum for my taste.

While I have decided that I don’t mind the bow on Nicole Kidman’s Balenciaga so much as it seems just the wrong shade of tomato, which is highly pedantic of me, I readily admit.

Some people didn’t seem to like Gwyneth Paltrow’s Zac Posen dress, but I absolutely loved it and thought her hair and make-up just topped it off. Though it was one of the real winners of the night – especially in comparison to some of her previous outings.

On a night when black was unusually rare, Rinko Kikuchi also gets points for learning from previous mistakes by keeping it simple and detailed at the same time. (Chanel, of course)

But on a night where things were generally diverse and stylish, the time comes when we must go to those who crashed and burned.

First, Jennifer Hudson, who had been on such a great streak, but for some reason went with an Oscar de la Renta outfit that was part last year’s pockets phase and part Flash Gordon.

Next, Anne Hathaway who really should have learned considerably more on the fashionably dressed set of The Devil Wears Prada and not opted for this vested/bowed Valentino disaster.

Celine Dion wore a colour that didn’t suit her, in a cut oddly reminiscent of that backwards suit she once wore, and hair that looks like it was done by, well, not done at all.

And finally, Ms Rolled Out Of Bed herself, Cameron Diaz. Hard edges don’t work for her, and her hair and make-up look like she rolled out of bed even if it is Valentino - who was not having a good night. I know she’s had a hard year, but really, this is not good (and I’m one of the few who like her floral dress with necklace-belt of a few years ago).

Oscars 2007 Teaser

Oscars coverage will come shortly, but the preview is:

Overall Winner for Best Performance on the Red Carpet: the colour blue, particularly in midnight-y shades

Overall Loser for The Fastest Fall From Fashion Grace: Jennifer “did she take her hands out of those pockets to accept the Oscar” Hudson

More to come when the work day is done.

SAG Awards 2007 - Part 1

The SAG Awards are a few days late, I acknowledge, mainly because they took place on a day I was supposed to have off on which I wound up working 12 hours and about which I have been resentful for several days and therefore have been ignoring everyone and everything.

That completely unrelated gripe off my chest, the categories for this year’s SAG Awards red carpet coverage are:

1. Calling all girdles (on women who don’t need them but insist upon wearing dresses that make them appear like they do)
2. “Here’s my cleavage, do with it what you will (obviously I don’t know how to deal with it)”
3. “I learned my lesson(s) at the Golden Globes”
4. “I have blown all my Golden Globes goodwill”
5. “I had no goodwill from the Golden Globes and still have none”
6. “My dress is unnecessarily small (aka I learned some lessons from the Golden Globes, but not the right ones)”
7. Great, knows what works, but not quite as good as the Golden Globes
8. Meh
9. Lovely

And here we go.

1. Calling all girdles (on women who don’t need them but insist upon wearing dresses that make them appear like they do)

Brenda Strong

Helen Hunt

Debbie Mazar

Nicollette Sheridan, who almost makes it my sucking in her stomach, but the dress is doing her no favours.

Teri Hatcher. Okay, she doesn’t quite fit in this category, but this dress is still all wrong in the fit. Possibly because she’s so thin that she can’t create the stomach actually required to fill the dress. So maybe she’s the opposite of this category. (Armani)

2. “Here’s my cleavage, do with it what you will (obviously I don’t know how to deal with it)”

Marcia Gay Harden

Marg Helgenberger. I actually like this dress, and I like it on her, it just needed a bit more support and a bit less separation for someone of her (spectacular looking) age (48).

3. “I learned my lesson(s) at the Golden Globes”

Vanessa Williams

Jada Pinkett-Smith. See, non-severe hair works so much better with essentially the same dress in a different colour. (Bob Mackie)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Carolina Herrera)

Elizabeth Perkins

Remarkably, Ellen Pompeo. This isn’t perfect, but the hair is sleek without being severe, she’s toned down on the bronzer and the dress and jewellery are interesting without being all wrong. (Lanvin)

Eva Longoria. I love this dress and anything that softens her works so well, she should go with softer more often. (Vera Wang)

Edie Falco. I didn’t hate her GG dress, but this colour is better on her, and her hair is more relaxed and I just think this works better.

SAG Awards 2007 - Part 2

4. “I have blown all my Golden Globes goodwill”

Sara Ramirez, who apparently took Renee Zellweger’s GGs dress – which looked bad on her – and thought it would work for a completely different figure. It clearly doesn’t work for any figure. (Not actually the same dress, obviously, but you get my point.) (BCBG)

5. “I had no goodwill from the Golden Globes and still have none”

Rinko Kikuchi (Chanel)

6. “My dress is unnecessarily small (aka I learned some lessons from the Golden Globes, but not the right ones)”

Rachel McAdams

Felicity Huffman (Moschino)

Mary-Louise Parker (J. Mendel)

Diane Kruger. This would have been meh aside from the lop-sided curtain draping.

7. Good, knows what works, but not as good as the Golden Globes

Jennifer Hudson (Michael Kors)

America Ferrera (Badgley Mischka)

Melora Hardin

Mary Lynn Rajskub

8. Meh

Chandra Wilson. Crushing is not our friend.

Jamie-Lynn Sigler and the sack.

Mariska Hargitay. Close, but no cigar (and it’s not the colour, see Jaime Pressly below). (Carolina Herrera)

Sandra Oh. Doesn’t strike me as the princess type, so the princess dress doesn’t work. Also, resembles a tablecloth. (Armani)

Heather Graham (Oscar de la Renta)

Reese Witherspoon. Her hair still isn’t working. It was too severe at the GGs and it’s too blah here. Also, crushing. (Nina Ricci)

Cate Blanchett. I know Armani made the shoes as well as the dress, but the dress would have worked so much better if we couldn’t see the shoes. Cate is disappointing me at the moment. I gather she’s wearing Armani Couture to the Oscars and it had better be an improvement.

Anne Hathaway (Marchesa)

Kate Walsh. Washes her right out and the hair doesn’t help.

Kyra Sedgwick. She's got the shoe problem too. (Herve Leger)

Kim Raver

Laura Leighton

Rebecca Gayheart

Jenna Fischer. Jenna, you seem like a cool totally down to earth normal person, but stop dressing older than you are!

Kim Dickens

Julie Bowen. What’s with the blonde?

9. Lovely

Jaime Pressly. Though it would have been nice if they hadn’t encouraged her to touch her stomach in every. single. photo. (Badgley Mischka)

Demi Moore. Great colour, and classy, which could not always be said about her by any stretch of the imagination. (Alberta Ferretti)

Helen Mirren (Morgane Le Fay)

Joy Bryant (Valentino)

Katherine Heigl. Her hair’s a little overdone, but this is so much more relaxed than at the Golden Globes.

Ashley Jensen

Claire Fornlani (Escada)

Golden Globes 2007 - Part 1

Around here I usually categorise red carpet outfits in terms of good and bad, or by colour, just as a means of working through the masses particularly at events like the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards covering film and television.

For this year’s Golden Globes, however, a different form of categorisation quickly suggested itself, and soon became irresistible. This year’s categories are:

1. “My bad hair is ruining my outfit.”
2. So bronzed I think Gold Finger has been at work.
3. “My dress is unnecessarily huge.”
4. “My dress is unflattering in either cut, colour or fabric.”
5. “I am painfully skinny and want to show it off.”
6. Crazy Sharon Stone
7. Inoffensive (aka Meh)
8. Winners

Now these categories aren’t without their own problems, as some women managed to land in more than one category, as you’ll see below. Let’s get started.

1. “My bad hair is ruining my outfit.”

Sienna “Heidi” Miller (Marchesa)

Jada “Severe Part” Pinkett Smith (Armani Prive)

Mary “Bun as Face-Stretcher” J. Blige. Her hair is really a shame, because her dress is fabulous.

Geena “Matronly Bun” Davis

Ellen Pompeo (Versace)

Vanessa “Stuck My Finger In An Electrical Socket” Williams

Kim “Haystack” Raver

2. So bronzed I think Gold Finger has been at work.

Sheryl Crow. Who frankly looks like she’s trying to be Beyonce.

Julia Louis Dreyfus, though in her case it’s her dress rather than her skin that is the major problem.

Drew Barrymore (Dior)

Jennifer Lopez goes without saying in this category. (Marchesa)

And, gee, again, Ellen Pompeo.

Golden Globes 2007 - Part 2

3. “My dress is unnecessarily huge.”

Penelope Cruz (Chanel)

Jennifer Love Hewitt, whose hair being unnecessarily huge to go with her dress is taken as a given.

Cameron Diaz. (Valentino) And she added layers. Sooo many layers.

Isla Fischer

Felicity Huffman

Rinko Kikuchi (Chanel)

Katherine Heigl

Mary-Louise Parker

Elizabeth Perkins

Mia Maestro

4. “My dress is unflattering in either cut, colour or fabric.”

Renee Zellweger for fabric and shape. (Dior)

Evangeline Lilly for colour, or lack thereof.

Salma Hayek for the cut/fabric combo. (Dior)

Nicollette Sheridan took the hourglass rather too far.

Edie Falco for colour. This was almost a meh, but she’s too washed out, and part of the reason for that is the hair, so it was almost a bad hair too. I just hope she’s not ill again.

Patricia “Leather Bust” Arquette

Courteney “Unfinished” Cox

And, let’s see, Ellen Pompeo.

Also, Mia Maestro.

Golden Globes 2007 - Part 3

5. “I am painfully skinny and want to show it off.”

Eva Longoria

Emily Blunt

Emily de Ravin

Also, of course, Ellen Pompeo.

6. Crazy Sharon Stone

7. Inoffensive (aka Meh)

Jenna Fischer. Her hair and make-up look great, she looks healthy and the dress itself is fine, I just think it’s too old for her.

Gillian Anderson, who gets a partial pass for having recently given birth.

Sarah Paulson

Cate Blanchett. I think some people will hate this because the hem, but I actually don’t. Don’t love it though, just find it ok.

Naomi Watts. Boring dress, horrible posture.

Jessica Biel

Teri Hatcher

Golden Globes 2007 - Part 4

Beyonce Knowles (Elie Saab)

Tina Fey

Maggie Gyllenhaal (YSL)

Reese Witherspoon (Nina Ricci)

Heidi Klum (Givenchy)

Ginnifer Goodwin, Chloe Sevigny and Jeanne Tripplehorn (Dolce & Gabbana, YSL and Giambattista Valli)

Kate Walsh

Sara Ramirez

Yunjin Kim

Hilary Swank (Chanel)

Chandra Wilson

Annette Benning

Jennifer Garner (Gucci)

8. Winners

Mary Lynn Rajskub

Jennifer Hudson (Vera Wang)

America Ferrera (Brian Reyes)

Rachel Weisz (Bill Blass)

Helen Mirren (Donna Karan)

Angelina Jolie. (St John) Though she was a close call for the hair category.

Kate Winslett (Azzaro)

Kyra Sedgwick (J. Mendel)

Ali Larter

Toni Collette

Tawny Cypress

Meryl Streep (Carolina Herrera)

Melora Hardin

Sandra Oh

January 16, 2007 at 06:02 PM in Awards Season | Permalink | Comments (2)

I am covering the Golden Globes this year but I have an appointment with my place of employment this afternoon and one with the Australian Open tennis this evening, so it will likely be tomorrow or the day after before everything is up.

I will start with a tease though:

Good: Sandra Oh’s simple metallic sheath.

Bad: Courteney Cox’s apparently unfinished gown.

Oh My God!: No, your eyes do not deceive you, that is Mr and Mrs Affleck actually on the red carpet together. Which is surely a sign of the apocalypse (or perhaps a sign of what’s good enough for Brad and Angie is good enough for us). Pretty dress, too (though I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before).

Golden Globes 2007 - Teaser

I am covering the Golden Globes this year but I have an appointment with my place of employment this afternoon and one with the Australian Open tennis this evening, so it will likely be tomorrow or the day after before everything is up.

I will start with a tease though:

Good: Sandra Oh’s simple metallic sheath.

Bad: Courteney Cox’s apparently unfinished gown.

Oh My God!: No, your eyes do not deceive you, that is Mr and Mrs Affleck actually on the red carpet together. Which is surely a sign of the apocalypse (or perhaps a sign of what’s good enough for Brad and Angie is good enough for us). Pretty dress, too (though I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before).