Oscar Bow-tox

Fashion editor Bernadette Morra and shopping columnist Rita Zekas discuss the 2007 Oscar night fashions, below. Send your thoughts to nakedlunch@thestar.ca or click on the comments link below.

LUCAS JACKSON/REUTERS

Nicole Kidman matches the carpet at the 79th Annual Academy Awards.

Can we start with Nicole Kidman? What was that thing around her neck? She was bow-toxed. Remember Charlize Theron at last year’s Oscars? She looked like Xmas gift wrapping. Rita

I felt the same way when I saw Nicole on the red carpet. The red Balenciaga by Nicholas Ghesquiere was puzzling. You couldn't quite make out what that loop of red was on her shoulder. But then I realized there is a big difference between how things look on the red carpet - where the cameras are positioned quite high - and the Oscar stage. From a high angle the bow at her neck wasn’t particularly flattering. But watching her at eye-level when she was presenting the evening‘s first award, she was absolute perfection. A pure sliver of red with a swoop of silk at her jaw. I loved it. Bernadette

I liked Nicole Kidman’s hair - straight with a side part. Gwyneth Paltrow‘s hair was the same and it was great. Everyone else looked like they had pulled their hair back in a knot after gym class. Philip Seymor Hoffman looked like he was up all night chewing on his hair. Rita

And what about Reese Witherspoon with the fringed bangs and the extensions? Wow. She looked great. Her dress was extraordinary too - a cascade of plum-coloured ruffles by Olivier Theyskens, the new designer for Nina Ricci. Bernadette

Poor Meryl Streep, she looked like she’d been to Albuquerque and back with the coral beads and black dress that looked like a big wrapper. Like she forgot her dress and wore her houscoat. Rita

DANNY MOLOSHOK/AP

Penelope Cruz arrives at the annual Vanity Fair Oscar party at Morton's in West Hollywood, Calif.

But I like that on the red carpet Meryl admitted to a reporter that she is a size 14. I think that was her way of saying, 'I can’t compete with these Hollywood lollipops.' But she usually looks amazing in an Armani suit or gown. This look was very gypsy fortune teller. Bernadette

Penelope Cruz looked like the lady on top of the toilet rolls. The top of her dress (tucked panels) didn’t match the bottom (an explosion of ruffles). It was like two dresses fighting. And Jennifer Lopez's empire dress with crystal neckline had too much going on. She looked like a Pekinese. Or like she was appearing in a dinner theatre production of Cleopatra. Rita

Penelope looked much better at the Vanity Fair after party. She changed into a pearl-covered couture dress from the Chanel archive. Cameron Diaz's Oscar frock looked like she was wrapped in white serviettes. And her deflated updo was painful - like she had been trampled by the Piloboulos dance troupe. Bernadette

Gym rat hair, again. Emily Blunt looked great in that amazing blue sequinned gown from Calvin Klein. What did you think of Helen Mirren? Rita

AMY SANCETTA/AP

Jennifer Hudson and her Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

I thought the pale Christian Lacroix was very pretty and somewhat sexy with the decollete. There was lots of detailed embroidery and beading on the bodice which I can imagine would have been breathtaking in person. The dress didn't have huge impact on camera, but at least it didn't eclipse her either, which I think is a good thing. Bernadette

What happened to all the weight that Andre Leon Talley lost? He looked like the whole Blue Man Group. And someone should tell Beyonce Knowles that she doesn’t have to be Diana Ross all the time. The white beads swooping across the front of her dress looked like psoriasis.

Jennifer Hudson’s brown jersey gown by Oscar de la Renta was good but the Tin Man jacket was a problem. Of the three Dreamgirls, Anika Noni Rose was the winner in the metallic sequinned dress with plunging decollete. She was spot on glamour. Rita

REED SAXON/AP

Jodi Foster arriving for the Oscars.

I kind of liked Jennifer Hudson's full metal jacket. It covered up the spaghetti straps that looked like they could have given out at any moment. Later at the after party, she was busting out of a beige sequinned and embroidered gown. I do love that she is working those curves and that 100 per cent God-given cleavage. Although one of her breasts nearly escaped from the red gown she wore to perform in. Bernadette

Did you see Jodi Foster? She is usually very controlled in Armani. But her hair was feathered and her blue Vera Wang matched her blue eyes and her blue earrings. She looked stunning. But what about Anne Hathaway? Another bow tox. It wasn't Valentino's best night. Rita

REUTERS

Actress Anne Hathaway arrives at the 79th Annual Academy Awards.

Yes, but that dress with the big black bow steamrolled onto the chest will probably be "reinterpreted" by H & M, and Zara and the other knock-off retailers for the prom season. As will the other top trends of the night: shimmering metallic silks and asymmetry. And I loved the off white vs. off black tug of war. Ecru and beige gowns vs. gunmetal and navy. I also loved the multiple diamond bracelets that so many actresses wore. Some piled so many on they looked like a tangled mess of diamonds. I love it! It's a look that can easily be copied in crystals and rhinestones. Bernadette

Comments

[Cathy]

I LOVED Rachel Weisz's dress with the gorgeous built-in jewels at the bust-line but it unfortunately competed with the enormous cluster of bling that was hanging from her neck. That on its own would have been spectacular but it really took away from that gorgeous gown. Less is more, Rachel!

[Coco]

I wish Cate Blanchett had as good a sense in colour as she does in style. Her gown was gorgeous, but the gunmetal grey did nothing for her pale complexion. Same with the too-pale yellow gown she wore to the Oscars last year (or was it the year before?). It would be a wise move to have her colours done and choose a gown in a colour that brings out her skin tones, so we notice how radiant SHE looks, not how great the gown looks on her body.

Just how much control does an actress have about the gown she is wearing? The criticism seems to be directed at the actress

[Kim]

Now, I found that my favorite dress was Penelope's. Some may think the feathers were over the top...but that is the Oscar's! My next favorite was Kate Winslet, very elegant and subtle,like her. My vote for worst gown was Kristen Dunst...it was like 3 bad dresses in one! That collar was awful, looked like it should be on a little girls dress.
I hope in the future, that the guys glam it up a bit more, and chose more risks than the traditional black tux.

[Mary]

OK- I totally disagree with you guys about Nicole Kidman's pick. Thank god she wasn't her usual washed out albino self in this stunning red Balenciaga beauty. The bow added an asymetrical sense of humor to poor boring, cheek bone implanted Nicole, good for her!

I agree with you that Reese was very chic, (we knew that would happen after she chose that beautiful canary Nina Ricci for the Golden Globes). I LOVE how the divorcees show up huge after the break ups! Which leads me to my shout out to Ms. Diaz. Way to go Cam. The white was beautiful, your hair was unconventional yet tasteful and those earings were a lovely refresher from the usual Eva Longoried-to-death chandeliers! You were glowing.

To me this year was not so much about the dresses, but overall style, something we've been missing in the past few years. I for one am sick to death of the flipped out locks, the predictable rhinestone embellishments, and the Zoebot-(term used to identify Rachel Zoe's clientele)-Grecian-stance that everyone in hollywood seems to have.

So, my praise goes out to Gwyneth (in a beautifully unique peach Zac Pozen, Rinko Kikuchi (in the best black look of the evening- she is a Lagerfeld darling for a reason and she has the acting chops to boot). And my favorite... Helen Miren because she could have easily taken the predictable route of the other talented over-45-actresses and pulled a Maryl Streep/Diane Keaton look, which by the way they only get away with because they are so talented, and instead she took a risk with a form fitting gold Lacroix that melted my cynical fashionista heart.

[Cheryl Surls]

I just want to know who made the empire line dress that Beyonce wore in her dreamgirls songs with Jennifer and Anika. Can someone help?