The best word to describe the red-carpet fashion at the Academy Awards: red.
Katherine Heigl, Helen
Mirren, Miley Cyrus, Ruby Dee, Anne Hathaway and Heidi Klum were among
the stars in red gowns Sunday night at the Kodak Theatre in Los
Angeles. Shades of plum were worn by Cate Blanchett and Jessica Alba.
"The actresses went regal and royal with rich reds and purples," said Oscar.com fashion analyst Tom Julian.
The other buzzword? Safe.
"I thought people looked
generally really good -- and really safe," Hal Rubenstein, fashion
director at InStyle magazine, told The Associated Press. "I don't know
if it had to do with
the mood out there with the strike just over
and parties canceled, but in fashion now so much is about sheer, print
and color, but this was one solid strapless dress after another."
Rubenstein added: "There
was a kind of uniform timelessness, which is very nice, but considering
those who watch this show do it to get a fashion cue, I wish they were
a little more timely than timeless."
He labeled French actress
Marion Cotillard's ivory-and-silver gown by Jean Paul Gaultier with
scalloped fabric that looked like fish scales the most distinctive of
the night.
Jennifer Hudson, who
caused last year's biggest fashion flap with a futuristic bolero
jacket, was more appropriate this year in a white halter gown.
Pregnant actresses
Blanchett, in a Dries van Noten halter gown with floral beading on the
skirt, and Alba, in a strapless Marchesa gown with feathers at the
bustline, both embraced their revised shapes in empire-waist gowns.
Nicole Kidman, also pregnant, went with a simple black gown by
Balenciaga and a show-stopping necklace -- 7,645 diamonds totaling
nearly 1,400 carats by L'Wren Scott.
Feathers were a recent trend on the runway and Penelope Cruz's black strapless gown had them too.
W magazine fashion market
editor Treena Lombardo reminds at-home fashion followers not to take
trends from the red carpet too seriously for their own lives. "I don't
think any of the trends the Oscars hit are trends the rest of the world
needs to know about," she said.
She did notice all that red, though.
"Heidi Klum was the most
beautiful I've ever seen her," Lombardo said. "Amy Ryan was the
opposite. She was very minimal and very chic -- an exact 180 from what
Heidi was doing."
Klum's full-volume gown
was by Galliano and is being auctioned as part of The Heart Truth
campaign to raise awareness about women and heart disease. Ryan's
one-shoulder, midnight-blue dress was custom-made by Francisco Costa
for Calvin Klein.
One-shoulder gowns were
also popular, worn by Hilary Swank in Versace, Olivia Thirlby in Vera
Wang, Hathaway in Marchesa and Heigl in Escada. Heigl's gown had a
slim-fitting draped bodice, and the front of Hathaway's gown was
covered in fabric roses.
Tilda Swinton, who told E!
she had never even seen the Oscars on TV, wore an odd one-arm gown by
Alber Elbaz for Lanvin and no apparent makeup, a look that seemed in
character for the actress, who was born in London into a patrician
Scottish military family.
Calista Flockhart went for a vintage ice-blue goddess gown from Rare Vintage.
Several stars opted for strapless styles,including
Renee Zellweger in a silver lace gown by Carolina Herrera. The dress
had sparkle but was otherwise simple to complement her short hairstyle.
"It was a gloomy, cloudy,
wet Oscars and she looked drop-dead gorgeous and radiant," said stylist
and style commentator Mary Alice Stephenson. "She looked like what she
was supposed to look like at the Oscars, she looked her most glamorous."
Jennifer Garner and Laura
Linney also chose strapless gowns and then accessorized them with
prominent necklaces. Garner's black Oscar de la Renta dress had an
almost flamenco-style skirt and was accessorized with an art deco-era
necklace with 61 carats of diamonds from Van Cleef & Arpels, while
Linney's dark-blue gown with a bustle back by Michael Kors highlighted
a gold pendant-style necklace with diamond and blue topaz by Cathy
Waterman.
Keri Russell's
champagne-colored Nina Ricci strapless dress came to life with an
H.Stern vintage floral necklace from the private vault of Hans Stern.
Cameron Diaz's strapless
Christian Dior gown was a pale peach color and had pleats on the
bustline. "I put it on and felt like I was wearing nothing," she said.
Diablo Cody also was in
Dior -- an animal-print gown with a jeweled halter neck -- but she
didn't wear the $1 million Stuart Weitzman shoes that she labeled a
"cheesy publicity stunt." She opted for gold flats instead.
Amy Adams was far more
pleased with her Proenza Schouler strapless gown in emerald-green,
double-sided silk. "I'm just over the moon with it," she said. Adams
carried a tiny Art Nouveau French gold-mesh purse by Fred Leighton.
Stephenson lamented that
so many celebrities and designers played it safe. "I had expected
people to take more chances. I saw the incredible gowns that were
available. I was pretty shocked that a lot more of them weren't
utilized," she said.
Cyrus, for example, looked pretty in her cap-sleeve Valentino, Stephenson said, but it was "a bit boring."
However, Pati Dubroff, the
Dior makeup artist who worked with the teen star, said she thought
Cyrus looked like a "youthful beauty."
Dubroff used minimal
makeup, mostly a lip stain, a lot of mascara and a bit of glitter. "To
make it special I used glitter like fairy dust. She's a Disney princess
come to life."
W's Lombardo didn't have
such kind words for another young star, Saoirse Ronan. She thought the
green chiffon gown by Alberta Ferretti looked like it was made from
living room curtains.
But Ronan had her own
reasons for wearing it. "I chose green because I'm Irish. I wanted to
walk down the red carpet and let everyone know I'm Irish."
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AP writer Beth Harris contributed to this report
