There are exactly two reasons I watch The Oscars every year: 1) I don't like feeling left out of things that other people watch and 2) I love seeing the array of dresses that the actresses wear each year. I'm not a big "Oscar movie" person (this year was the first year I've actually seen any of the Oscar-nominated Best Picture films, so go me!), because I like fluff and movies like that don't often get nominated for anything, let alone major awards. Though I do enjoy watching the hosts make jokes and the presenters give away awards and though I often enjoy listening to singers perform, the real treat for me during awards season is the fashion. I love pin-pointing my favorite designers and gowns and I enjoy watching the Fashion Police try to guess what designer a particular celebrity will wear to the event. I'm a sucker for things like that, which is why I have a stack of InStyle magazines in my apartment about a foot high and follow fashion blogs. I may also often daydream about what designer I would wear to an awards show, should I ever miraculously do something that would cause me to be invited to one.
So I decided that I would compile my best dressed and worst dressed and "meh" dressed here for you all! It's Oscar Monday (Maggie is right - why isn't this an acceptable national holiday to take off work for?), which means that we're going to revisit some of my favorite gowns and designers from last night's ceremony. Ready? Let's check them out!*
* all photo credits to hollywoodlife.com
Jennifer Lawrence in Dior
What can I say about Jennifer Lawrence that has not already been said? She's absolutely stunning in this Dior gown (while I was not remotely a fan of her one from this year's Golden Globes, her SAG Awards dress and this one were on par) and it fits her like a glove. I love that Jennifer Lawrence went for big, dramatic, and poufy with last year's gown, but chose a more sleek and elegant one this year. I loved her makeup and jewelry and am still on the fence about her hair (it weirdly ages her, I think?). Overall though, this look was absolutely stunning on her.
Lupita Nyong'o in Prada
Lupita looked like an absolutely stunning princess in this Prada gown. It looked so comfortable, too, which I think would be my most important attribute on a red carpet. Though the plunging neckline is still "eh" to me (Heather and I discussed how she's very thin and I think that's why it slightly bothers me that it's so deep), the color of this gown is STUNNING on her. (I literally think that she could pull off any color and it would look gorgeous with her skin tone, so I'm really jealous about that.) I can't emphasize how much I love the bottom of this dress and how beautiful and delicate it is. She really did look like a princess and I also loved her headband and earrings. Only Lupita could make a headband on the red carpet look delicate.
Kate Hudson in Versace Atelier
Kate Hudson absolutely wow'd me in this Versace Atelier gown. I think that too many celebrities try to do too much on the red carpet -- they wear these stunning dresses and then try to do dramatic hair and makeup and it often looks way too messy with all of those elements. Kate Hudson knew that the gown was the focus so she opted for a really subtle and classy smokey eye (I love it so much). Her hair was so elegant, too, and the dress on her was absolutely stunning and flattering both to her figure and skin tone. Not many people could pull of that color or fabric or draping, but Kate Hudson managed to do it and make it look flawless.
Emma Watson in Vera Wang
I love Emma Watson so much and I was surprised to find myself really loving this Vera Wang gown on her. She looked absolutely elegant and her red lips was just the perfect shade to make her look classy, but not take the focus away from the rest of her face or the dress. I love her rings and her nail polish and her eye makeup and basically I love everything about what Emma Watson decided to do here.
Charlize Theron in Dior
You know, upon first glance at this dress I was not sure how much I loved it but as I watched Charlize move around in it throughout the night and on the red carpet, I actually fell in love with it. The neckline on this Dior gown is crazy but actually quite stunning on her. Not many people would be able to pull it off, but the combination of the neckline and jewelry and hair/makeup (plus Charlize's skin tone) made me certain that the actress was making the dress work for HER, not the other way around. Too many celebrities try to wear dresses they were never meant to wear, but I feel this Dior gown just worked for her.
Amy Adams in Gucci
Amy Adams didn't opt for a gown with a plunging neckline but she did choose a color that I find to be absolutely beautiful with her hair and skin tone. Blues (deeper blues like this) always seem to compliment Amy Adams and anyone with pale skin and red hair so I'm glad she decided on this as her Oscars dress. It's simplistic and classy and completely flattering to her figure. While the jury is still out on the hair, I will say that her makeup and jewelry were spot-on and I basically just love this color on her. And this color in general. ... And her.
Pink in Elie Saab
I fell in love with this Elie Saab gown when I saw it on the runway months ago (and reblogged it on Tumblr) and when Pink emerged to sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," I freaked out upon noticing that she was wearing the plunging red gown with the open back. And this dress worked for Pink so well. She absolutely looked stunning in it and it completely fit with the Wizard of Oz ruby slipper motif I knew they were going for. We don't get to see this singer dressed to the nines very often, but she rocked this gown and the song that she sang. And I'm still in love with this dress.
WORST DRESSED
Angelina Jolie in Elie Saab
I don't know what this dress is (and it pains me because it's Elie Saab and I'm obsessed with him and his designs), but it's not very flattering on Angelina Jolie. It makes her look very matronly and while the sparkles are definitely stunning, I think the cut and sheer neckline are really what remind me most of a grandmotherly dress and style. Angelina is a very pretty woman and she can pull off a lot, but this dress was not one of those things.
Julia Roberts in Givenchy
From the front, Julia Roberts' dress isn't TOO terrible, but the side-view is what really lands her on the worst-dressed list. The idea of a peplum-style dress is fine in theory and I'm not even terribly offended by the weird lace overlay in the neckline and one of the shoulders, though I'm not a fan of it. No, the side view makes it clear that the peplum's only purpose in this dress is to make Julia Roberts look a bit lopsided and heavy. The chest area was especially unflattering when viewed from the side and though I love the blonde hair and her makeup, this dress just didn't do anything to accentuate her beauty as a person. (Also, notice how short the dress is. I think that bothers me, too.)
Anne Hathaway in Gucci
I'm placing this on my worst-dressed list because of the sheer fact that it was ACTUALLY blinding when she went to present. There are about three dozen little disco balls on the top half of the dress and while in photos the cut of the gown is pretty stunning on Anne Hathaway's figure, it was just too much Grammys and too little Oscars.
Anna Kendrick in J. Mandel
I absolutely adore Anna Kendrick but this dress was horrid and did absolutely nothing to flatter the young woman. NOW, had the dress not had the sheer neckline and actually JUST been an asymmetrical neckline with the black fabric and had the bottom of the dress just been a full skirt without the weird fabric overlay/slits, I would have probably loved this dress. But as it were, it's kind of a mess between the sheer paneling, mixture of fabrics, and cut. But you're still gorgeous, Anna Kendrick.
Portia de Rossi in Naeem Khan
My aunt owns a lot of Victorian things and I'm pretty sure that she owns a few doilys that were stolen and made into Portia de Rossi's dress. I really just didn't like this dress on the actress and especially didn't think that her hair did anything (partially why I take issue with how J.Law's hair was styled is because it resembles Portia's and I think it's a very matronly look). Yeah, I didn't like this dress or the fabric or the color. Better luck next time, Portia!
THE "MEH"
Cate Blanchett in Armani
Look, Cate Blanchett is gorgeous. She is a beautiful person and the reason she lands on my "meh" list is because this color didn't do anything for me. An Oscars dress is supposed to accentuate your best features -- you are supposed to be the star, and the gown is supposed to help other people remind you of that. For me, Cate Blanchett blended into her gown. It's a very neutral tone that nearly matched her skin and hair color and to me, that was just unfortunate. Had Cate Blanchett had the hair color of Amy Adams or Sandra Bullock, I might have felt differently about it. But for me, this dress - while beautiful, don't get me wrong - just didn't make Cate stand out.
Sandra Bullock in Alexander McQueen
Speaking of Sandra Bullock, she also lands onto my "meh" list because this is the type of gown I feel as if I've seen numerous times before on numerous red carpets and it's very safe. The shape is flattering on her, of course, and the color is pretty good (it photographs a bit weird though), but it just... exists. It's kind of there and when you're at the Oscars and you're nominated for an Oscar to boot, I feel like you should try for more than "it's just there." I do love her hair, however. So there's that.
Jennifer Garner in Oscar de la Renta
Okay, Jennifer Garner would have made my best-dressed list after seeing her move in the dress during the ceremony. However - and this is a big however - there's a difference between the way that a dress moves and the way it photographs. And this dress just does NOT photograph as well as it moves. I don't know if it's the lighting or what exactly it was, but upon seeing the dress on the red carpet after the ceremony, I just went: "Meh." I think I just needed a little something more from Jennifer Garner in this dress... probably a different hairstyle or jewelry or different makeup or something. But the dress itself was just okay. It existed and it served its purpose.
Camilla Alves in Gabriela Cadena
Camilla Alves is absolutely stunning but there was way too much fabric in this dress. It actually looked like it would be rather bothersome to try and tote around all night, worrying about not just the train of the dress but the ribbons of fabric on it. The color is spot-on for her skin tone and was gorgeous and soft, but I don't like the cut or style of it. It's not bad enough to make it onto my worst-dressed list, but it's also not good enough to make it onto the best-dressed one. As it were, this dress just kind of existed, so it lands on the "meh" one.
Idina Menzel in Vera Wang
Idina Menzel is stunning and I love that she wore green but this green just isn't bright enough for her, I think. There seemed to be too much volume on the right-hand side of the dress too, which kind of bothers me. I wish it had been more of a mermaid cut, chopping off the fabric on the right and tightening the dress at the bottom. If she had done something more with her hair (half up, half down or a side-swept bun or something), and the hue had been different, she may have landed on my best-dressed list.
All right, folks, there you have it! How did my rankings match up to your own? What were some of your favorite celebrity gowns and looks last night? Hit up the comments and let me know what you enjoyed most about the 2014 Oscars fashion. :)
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