Oscar-alikes and Dislikes
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Sandra Bullock Oscars 2011
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Anne Hathaway (Dress 1- Red Carpet) Oscars 2011
Scarlett at the Golden Globes, 2006
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Jennifer Lawrence, Oscars 2011
Red Dresses on the Red Carpet- Nothing new. Sandra Bullock looked fantastic (Vera Wang), and so did Anne Hathaway(Valentino) Again, nothing new, though Sandra really needed the improvement after the Golden Globes bangs disaster. What is new? Sandra and Anne showing up looking like well-coordinated sisters on the red carpet. But they were both my best dressed favorites (along with a few others, who shall be mentioned later).
Jennifer Lawrence in Calvin Klein is getting all kinds of kudos for keeping it simple, no jewelry or fussy updo, also in red. It didn't hurt that she arrived early, before bigger names could nudge her out of the way to get the attention of Ryan Seacrest's precious E!-cams. What did keep her from getting best dressed honors from me? I already saw that look from Scarlett Johannsen at the Golden Globes in 2006.
Scarlett could have used the reminder to her past success, perhaps, because she showed up in bordello chic (Dolce and Gabbana), pictured with Jeremy Renner:
[image error]The color was okay, but the lace looked sort of cheap to me. Guiliana Rancic speculated that the back was transparent. Not one of my favorites of the night. And then there was Reese Witherspoon, in Armani Prive:[image error]Looking like she was ready to audition for the a capella group at my daughter's high school (JCPenney, off the rack):
Cate Blanchett (Givenchy), Gwyneth Paltrow (Calvin Klein), and Nicole Kidman(Dior) were going for the high fashion nods, clearly. I'm not fond of either choice, but Cate's hair and makeup looked wonderful, and if you're a fan of symmetry and structure, you might appreciate what the designers were going for with their gowns:
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Cate in a futuristic gladiator torso frame (pretty color, though).
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Nicole, with a ribbon-wrapped bottom. Gwyneth, perhaps angling to star in a Barbarella remake.
But if you're me, you prefer to have a strong visceral reaction that says EWW, yuck! or YAY, pretty! In the Ew, yuck category, we have Melissa Leo. I don't know what she was thinking. I can't imagine the design will go down in fashion textbooks. Just yuck. My worst dressed of the evening. Followed closely by Florence (Valentino) of Florence and the Machine (who looked better during performance), Sunrise (Mark Ruffalo's wife), and Rhea (Mark Wahlberg's wife). And maybe Justin Timberlake's mom, who needed a better bra, but I hate to pick on moms.
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Florence in need of a better fashion machine.
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Melissa Leo's decoupage project
My best dressed, besides the aforementioned Sandra Bullock and Anne Hathaway? Haillee Steinfeld, who brought her own design to Marchesa for help with bringing her vision to life. And Halle Berry, also in Marchesa, who somehow almost always manages to get these things right. With that body, it's hard to go wrong. Of course, Natalie Portman (Rodarte) also looked great and collected her Best Actress trophy. And then there's Colin Firth. Sigh. And my favorite of the night, Helena Bonham Carter! (with the help of Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood). Now that's the spirit. 
(I love her, can't help it.)
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Hailee, living the dream.
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Who were your favorites? Least favorites? What did you think of the hosts? Any predictions for next year?
