A Colorful Night At The Oscars 2010

When I switched on the Oscars Sunday night, the red carpet was already in full swing.  I swear these 3 dresses above were the first I saw.  All I could think was: OMG Hollywood has lost its mind!  I was very excited to say the least.

Jennifer and Charlize, I will get to in just a minute.  First up Zoe Saldana in Givency.  Now regardless of how you feel about this dress, I have to say colorwise she has the perfect coloring for it’s pale lavender hue, plus she is just spunky enough to pull off its couture- meets- cancan dancer style.  I actually liked her better in the gown than I did on the model walking in it on the Paris runway just a few weeks ago.

Her peep-toe heels have gotten slack for being too ‘clunky’- but as you can see she didn’t leave much to stylish chance, she simply borrowed them from the runway as well.

Much like Zoe’s gown– asymmetric hems, thigh-high slits, bejeweled bodices and chunky shoes were all trends that night.

Carey Mulligan’s own look was very similar to Zoe’s. When the two actresses presented together, they looked like little styled twins of each other.

I wasn’t all that blown away by Mulligan’s Black Prada dress- that is until I noticed its 3-D details.  Not just beading here mind you, but little metal knifes and forks sewn about her gown.  She gets 5 points for taking a fashion risk and 10 points for being the one best prepared for the buffet at the after party.

In fact 3-D, sculptural shapes were by far the most modern looks of the night.  These are not styles everyone will like, but you have to give kudos to anyone daring to be different.

I love the color of Vera Farmiga’s Marchesa gown.  And though it does sort of look like Bottecilli’s Birth of Venus meets fan dancer meets Raspberry truffle wrapper- if given the options to wear any dress of the evening for a photo shoot, this would be the one I would pick.  It just looks like it would be fun to wear.

Now having to walk around all night and sit for an extended period of time in it- well, that’s a whole other story.  I’m wondering if all that starched pleating was literally a pain in the butt to sit in.

Speaking of sculptural and challenging to sit in, do you suppose the Kodak Theater was kind enough to removed an arm chair for Jennifer’s Armani Prive number?

Again, you have to hand it to Jenny from the block.  She knows how to make a red carpet statement, whether its a plunging neckline to her belly button or a roll of bubble wrap tacked onto her left hip- she will not be ignored, dammit!

Hush-quiet colors like Jennifer’s has become a favorite at Award ceremonies.  These pale iridescences are not always so easy to pull off, thanks to Jennifer’s caramel coloring she masters the tricky color in true diva form.

I was thinking Jen must have felt pretty proud of her fashion-forward self and then I spotted actress Amanda Seyfried on the red carpet and thought-”uh, oh-someone at Armani has got some “splaining” to do!’

A gown from the very same collection- on the same night. What do you think? Did Amanda steal some of Jennifer’s thunder?

I would not want to be on JLo’s bad side (especially if its the side with all of that extra fabric).  Let’s just hope they cleared it with Ms. Lo and that she was ‘hip’ to the fact that the very dress that followed her gown on the runway would also follow it on the red carpet.

A few Red-hot mamas in Grecian draped gowns helped add a bit of spice to the evening.

And speaking of red gowns, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis for standing in for me, last minute as George Clooney’s date.

After weeks of badgering- I finally had to call over the weekend and let darling George down.  I tried, I really did but I just could not convince my husband that it would be good for both our marriage and for the blog if he would agree to let me jet off to Cali to be George’s date.

I know in my heart this is the real reason Clooney seemed a wee bit hammered on the carpet, paid no attention to his hair and seemed to wear such a sour puss all night. George can be such a drama king when he doesn’t get his way!

While George was singing the blues over me…other were wearing the cool hue.  The woman of Precious all picked brilliant blues with just a touch of feminine floral detailing.

Chromatic Synchronicity, perhaps?

Another lover of blue was Maggie Gyllenhaal, you can always count on her to go out on a fashion limb.

I love the bright colors and the painterly feel of her Dries Van Noten gown.  I especially love her choice of  bright pink lips and smokey lined lids.  With her very pale skin and light eyes, that extra boost of color on her face helped keep the busy print at bay.

My other favorite make-up choice was Sandra Bullock’s bright red pucker teamed with her deep side parted shiny, to-die-for locks.

Sandra, you did good.  The dress is a bit safe (loved that the Go-Fug Yourself girls referred to her Marchesa gown as a bit “Oscars on Ice”) but that’s okay.  Like my mother always says- ‘better safe then sorry”, esp. when there is a good chance the grand prize might go home with you.

We love you for your girl-next-door charm and for the fact that you showed up in person to receive your Razzie Award for “Worst Actress of the Year” the night before you took home your Oscar for “Best”.

The fit, the hair, the confidence- you are Oscar perfection.

A mineral hue was picked by another “beacon of inspiration for us everday-gals”, our as I like to now call her: our new Queen.

All Hail Kathyrn Bigelow!  At 58, she rocked all of Hollywood-while wearing a pretty rock colored Yves Saint Laurent gown. Now her’s is a story worthy of a Hollywood screenplay, don’t you think!

Other silver foxes:

Helen I love you- as I do you Ms. Meryl Streep.  First you grabbed my heart in all 3 films this year and then you showed up in a modern white dress designed by Project Runway’s Chris March (you know the one whose portfolio, prior to filming, included pretty much just drag queen clothes) and let’s just say you had me at “Hello”.

In my fantasy, Tim Gunn was at the fitting slightly concerned and urging Meryl “To make it work!” before he sending her off to the Tresemme room to get her hair and makeup done.

Cameron Diaz who was stunning in a beautiful golden Oscar De La Renta gown,  gets the “Reese Witherspoon Style Award”. Don’t get me wrong I thought she looked super pretty, it’s just that the sweet style and brushed hair were just not expected.  I really did think at first glance that she was Reese.

(That’s Reese from the 2006 Oscars btw)

While many got it so right on Oscar night- a few were lost in television translation.

I know that Diane Kruger’s Chanel gown is perfection for editorial, but on the red carpet- I think it looking a bit more French maid than French chic. (Pictured next to her is my style suggestion for Quentin, the next time she decides to wear the dress).

Sometimes the expressions of the crowd says it all.  Like this woman (next to SJP below) who seems to be in a hypnotic trance at the sight of her  gi-normous Princess Lea/cinnabon hairdo the actress was sporting to top off her vintage Chanel.

Or this woman in the strange peacock motif gown giving Charlize Theron’s dress  the “up and down, stink eye”.

OH come on, you know you were thinking it too!

And last but not least, I didn’t really mention the men.  I think everyone looked great (except you Judd Nelson- I can not tell you how very much you let me down during the tribute to John Hughes!).  Colin Firth was sexy in Tom Ford, Tom Ford was sexy in Tom Ford.  Ryan Reynolds was sexy in Tom Ford…okay and George, even though I don’t approve of your childish behavior- you too were stunning in your Armani tux.

But I have one thing to say to Neil Patrick Harris- who by the way is always very dapper at these shindigs.

When they ask you to appear in the opening song and dance number you must heed Rob Lowe’s warning and just say “NO!”.  No matter how funny it seems in rehearsal you must know we are all slightly cringing at home. Neil you are just too good for such Hollywood abuse.

And now thanks to You Tube, you will never be able to escape the memory…just ask Rob, 20 years later- he and Snow White still can’t live their ill fated razzle-dazzle Hollywood version of  “Proud Mary” down.

all images from Getty/Wire/Oscar.com, runway images from Elle.com