And the Winner Is....

      The 82nd annual Academy Awards went on last night and everyone was trying to take home one man named Oscar. Some lost and some won big. It was a big win for women in the media everywhere when Kathryn Bigelow accepted the award for best director, being the first woman is eighty-two years to do so. 
      As always, the dresses were the main attraction of the evening. Some good, some great, some dreadfully painful. The most innovative dresses of the award show season yet, I was delighted to see the art these women were wearing and the diverse range of the dresses. We saw some look-a-likes and some dresses that left us wondering what went wrong, but overall it was a job well done by the starlets in attendance. 

     Meryl Streep (in Chris March) and Diane Kruger (in Chanel) were painfully chic in white dresses worn with such grace. 
     Ms. Streep took a chance on a former Project Runway designer with her simply sexy and age appropriate gown. Accessorized simply with few gems, white shoes, and clutch - Meryl kept the focus on the dress, where it belonged.  
     Diane Kruger never boring us with any award show outfit, kept us enthralled with a unique Chanel creation that breathed new life into black and white.

    Anna Kendrick(in Ellie Saab Couture) and Miley Cyrus (in Jenny Packham) did the younger generation proud in their neutral frocks.  Both girls were sexy in a very age appropriate ways and chose their dresses to let their personalities shine.
    New-comer Anna Kendrick's pale pink gown was perfect for her skin, hair, and body type. She was a vision of rosy, loveliness and has a great fashion future ahead of her.
    Miley showed us that Hannah Montana is a thing of her past with this grown-up gown. Unfortunately Ms. Cyrus's posture led us to believe the dress wasn't made correctly and it was necessary for her to slouch to keep everything in place. C'mon Miley, stand up straight!

    Armani Prive should have taken a note from prom shops everywhere to make sure two girls aren't wearing the same dress to the same event. Amanda Seyfried and Jennifer Lopez wore very similar dresses by the designer. Both women looked as good as you can in a dress that appears to be made from bubble wrap. Next year, call each other to make sure this doesn't happen again.

   
   Penelope Cruz (in Donna Karan) and Vera Farmiga (in 
Marchesa) were another set of ladies that required a double take during the show to tell their dresses apart. Looking closer, both dresses are beautiful in completely different ways.
   Penelope's scarlet dress was this imperfection of sexy, with the intricate layers and gathering. It was a flattering look for this bombshell's hourglass figure.
   Vera made a bold choice in this ruffly mess of a dress. Reminiscent of Chloe Sevigny's Versace mess from this year's Golden Globes, the dress overwhelmed Vera's frame and the color wasn't the best choice for her skin tone.

   Prada dressed up Carey Mulligan very nicely this year, but the thing that really set her apart was her bleached pixie cut. A stand out from the long curled manes and they ubiquitous up-do's, Carey took a risk by channeling Mia Farrow's famous hairstyle. Carey Mulligan wins best hair out of all the award shows this year by taking a risk and making it fabulous.












    Zoe Saldana (in Givenchy), Sarah Jessica Parker (in Chanel), and Charlize Theron (in Christian Dior) made us think while staring at their dresses. All three leading ladies wore dresses that entranced us, arguing with ourselves on whether we hated or loved their dresses.  
    Zoe seemed to have found two dresses that she was dying to wear and was going to wear both if it killed her. So, Zoe did the resourceful thing and cut both dresses in half and wore the top of one and the bottom of another.
   SJP, fashionista extrodinare took a risk in this buttercup Chanel sheath. The body itself was beautiful and looked great, the part that missed the mark was the neck strap that appeared to be strangling Ms. Parker. She didn't help her case by tugging on the strap uncomfortably while presenting. 
  Charlize Theron, a classic beauty and the face for Christian Dior's perfume. You think that as a spokesperson for their fragrance, Dior could have set her up with a better dress. Yes, Charlize, we know where your breasts are, do you?





Blonde beauties think alike. That's how the saying goes, right? Rachel McAdams (in Ellie Saab) and Elizabeth Banks (in Versace) wore mirror image dresses. In rainy day colors and sweetheart necklines, these ladies showed that blue-grey is a color to not be forgotten on the red carpet. 

     While they were trying to go home with the gold, these ladies brought the silver to the red carpet. A color that has been MIA for many award show seasons past, it popped up in a surprising classic way this year on some of our favorites.
      Sandra Bullock (in Marchesa) made us pick our jaws off the ground when we saw this stunning metallic gown appear. Glamorous and classy with a futuristic feel, Sandy wins the best dressed award of the night. 
       Cameron Diaz (in Oscar de la Renta) crawled out from under a rock to blow us all away with this fashion comeback. Everything was perfectly in place for this classic award show look that was made even better with a new color twist and beautiful embellishments synonymous with the de la Renta name.
        Kate Winslet, how we adore you yet abhor your choice in dress this year. A silver slip skirt with a sheet metal corset, not exactly an award winning combo. From far away we could let this look slide, but up close we just can't allow it.
        Kathryn Bigelow, the biggest winner of the night making history everywhere will forever regret the day she chose this dress to represent the biggest night of her career. The color was fine and modern, the shape was a tad boring, yet classic and flattering. But wait...what is that? Are those hearts embroidered on the top? Not a wise choice for a dress when you're over the age of thirteen. Especially an awful choice because the pictures of her fantastic win in this loser dress will be plastered all over for the rest of her life.


     Nice effort ladies, now let's see how you do next time.