Oscars 2013 - Best and Worst Dressed

Alright the biggest, most anticpated night of all-time-in-the-universe has come and gone, and what is the verdict?? Not impressed....for someone like me who dedicates 6 hours of my day to watching the pre-show to the pre-show to the pre-redcarpet before the actual show, I expect to be blown away by fashion and entertainment "moments". Last night was lacking in both departments; thank God for Charlize. Seth MacFarlane was good,  but he was no Ricky Gervais or TinaFey/AmyPhoeler.

Now I wish I would've spent that time finishing Season 3 of Downtown Abbey. (Obsessed with the Crawleys and their moments of crisis about missing silverware).

Anyway, the fashion was mostly safe, the days of major risk-taking are gone, the stars seem too closely handled and their image to carefully cultivated by a team of publicists, managers, agents who probably provide strict parameters to the stylists on what "look" they're going for. This lends itself to very minimal risk-taking when it comes to fashion choices. Where is the drama?? Can someone please bring the drama! The best part of red carpets are when stars create fashion "moments" - these go down in fashion history and remain in our collective memory for years! I still remember the days when Nicole Kidman was the queen of the red carpet, like her beautiful Chanel gown in 2004 or the gorgeous Balenciaga red from 2007 or the Gucci peacock she wore to the Golden Globes in 2005. Gwyneth Paltrow is another red carpet moment creator,as she showed us in her Tom Ford cape glory from last year. These are the types of fashion moments I look for. Last night, Charlize was the only one who brought her A-game but many say that she could wear a garbage bin and she'd look stunning, I may have to agree.

I actually contemplated naming the two lists "Charlize" and "Other". She has been a consistent favourite of mine, mostly because she can't be human. You can see my previous Charlize adulation here for example.

Alright so here we go; here are my favs and not-so-much picks from the 2013 Academy Awards.

BEST DRESSED: 

5) Kerry Washington has been appearing on this side of the list for much of the awards season and her contract with fashion house Miu Miu is serving her well. This dress was equal parts glamour and unique, the colour made her stand out with just the right amount of bling on the bodice. Now I just hope she starts eating again!

4) Halle Berry wanted to look like a Bond girl last night and the team at Versace custom made this gown with those instructions in mind. At first on TV I didn't love this dress but seeing it in pictures, it quickly became a Best-dressed contender. Bravo Halle! 

3) Naomi Watts wins for second runner-up. She's in Armani Prive and this is a great example of how the right cut and structure done well can really be stunning. And she's a mom as well, Jenn Garner!

2) Michelle Obama surprised everyone by appearing in this gorgeous Naeem Khan gown, with her meticulously styled bangs (props!) to announce the most important award of the night; Best Picture. She Skyped in (or whatever) and really blew most of the fashion competition away! I love her classic yet glamorous style, definitely a fashion icon who we'll be talking about for years to come, what a treat. (take that Laura Bush!).

1) And the best-dressed award goes to....Charlize! (#obvi) What I love most about this look is her amazing hair, with the statement the hair made, she didn't need to do much with this Dior Couture gown and accessories. Too many competing elements is a sign of bad styling - so this really is a perfect example of restrain and edited styling. Absolutely flawless.

WORST DRESSED:

5) Many fashion people on my twitter feed (as I was insane enought to live-tweet the Oscars last night) loved this look on Zoe Saldana. I think it was because she chose a lesser known French designer Alexis Mabille. The fit, cut and colour are great but I personally didn't like the competing elements of the Dollar Store fake flowers with the belt...and then the 50 shades of grey below (see what I did there ;) ;) too many things going on.

4) Ok with Jennifer Garner (aka soccer mom extrordinaire), this dress was mostly boring. I feel like I've seen her in this colour and silhouette too many times, she just looks safe and boring. Nothing more to say. *yawnn*

3) Alright Kristen Stewart, we know you're over it, we know you don't care to brush your hair, we know you broke a leg jumping off a rooftop at a hipster house party at 5am (just guessing) - we get it. You're SO OVER IT. So let me ask then, why wear Reem Acra?? Why put on a lacey, beady pale-beigey dress by a mostly bridal designer? And then why add unwashed hair and smudged eye-liner? If you truly don't care, then whats with all the frills? Just go all badass in Tom Ford or something truly rebellious...oh kids these days, they don't really get the existential angst thing do they? 

2) Catherine Zeta Jones in Zuhair Murad. #nuffsaid

1) And the worst-dressed title goes to: Anne Hathaway. She actually gets the title for worst acceptance speech as well. Did you watch it? She mentioned something about how her role as Fantine in Les Mis and ending world poverty are connected....really Miss Teen USA 1998? She is an amazing actress but for one of the most highly anticpated celebrities on the red carpet, she let us down. I actually really liked the Prada dress, I like the colour, cut and I like the back, this dress at the SAG awards would've been perfect but not at the Oscars. And there are two very "distracting elements" that ruin it; making it a poorly fitted dress.

Honourable Mentions:

Jennifer Lawrence in Dior, almost made it to Best-Dressed if it wasn't so wedding like

It wasn't until she fell that I saw how truly magnificent the dress was (also cutest fall and speech)

Jessica Chastain in Armani Prive - played it safe I think but beautiful nonetheless

Grammys 2013: Best and Worst Dressed

What is going on with award season this year? We're a little low on the "fashion moments" quota thus far; I am sincerely hoping that the upcoming Oscars will open the "fashion moment" flood gates. The Grammy's normally is one of those shows where musicians break all conventions and try and outdo each other for the most outrageous outfits- making it an exciting red carpet to watch. But alas, not so in 2013. Creating a list of best and worst was really not that exciting - I almost wanted to create just one category of "Meh Dressed" but I decided to give some credit to those that did try a bit - (I'm looking at you JLo's Leg). 

Given the lack-lustre nature of the sartorial choices, I only managed to select 4 for the best dressed list (normally I do at least 5).

Best Dressed:

 4) I absolutely adore Florence Welch and her risk-taking fashion choices. She consistently presents herself as a walking piece of art. I love her for it and this green Givenchy fits her bill perfectly.

 3) Kelly Rowland definitely turned heads in this George Chakra cut-out number (almost a reinterpretation of the Toni Braxton dress at the 2001 Grammy's). She clearly defied the strict "instructions" by CBS not to show skin or something (really CBS?) but it abosolutely paid off!

2) I loved Rihanna's red Azzedine Alaia dress, her new Beyonce weave did make it less fashion forward but considering Rihanna is constantly taking fashion risks, it was nice to see this change and I think made it a risk in itself! Rihanna, playing it safe? Now thats risky. (also she should keep her risk-taking behaviours for fashion and not relationship choices).

I also loved her mid-riff baring perfomance outfit during the Bob Marley tribute, now this is the "usual" Rihanna we're used to!

1) Cue trumpets, marching band, thunderous applause, maybe even a parade of horses doing funny tricks....the Queen has arrived (leading with her leg). JLo went from the worst-dressed at the Golden Globes (click here) to the Best dressed at the Grammys a month later, either way she brings the drama. The true controversy from last night was JLo's leg vs. Angelina's leg - I think JLo's leg dropkicked Angelina to Timbuktu (where she may adopt from again). Did we expect any less? I''m just glad someone brought their A-game!

JLo in a Anthony Vacarello dress

Worst Dressed:

5) Disclaimer: I have great respect for what Janelle Monae is trying to do stylistically. Her androgynous style is unique and breaks all boundaries BUT must she wear variations of the SAME look repeatedly? I would love to see her re-interpet her style in a different way, maybe add colour or a pattern. We get it, you love tuxedos.

4) Nicole Kidman showed up to support her country musician turned American Idol judge of a husband.  Granted it was not her night, she is an Oscar-winning ACTOR, and so no need to outshine the wannabe actors that all musicians seem to be these days . And if you take a look at her red carpet history, she can annihilate any of these fashion wannabes IF she so chooses. Well, she does not choose to do so in this Vera Wang dress. How kind and humble of her...

3) Another boring and predictable choice- you can always count on Carrie Underwood to promify or bridify any dress- and she accomplished that last night. Her red carpet look was prommy and her performance dress/green screen was a wedding gown borrowed from a Real Housewife.

2) Ok, this was a real disappointment for me. Beyonce is usually the queen of over-the-top glamour and wearing UNcomfortable dresses, and we love her for it! This Osman jumpsuit, albeit very chic, looks too....comfortable! How can this be?! Call in the hounds! (I don't even care if that reference makes sense, it was a hound-calling moment for me). She didn't OWN the red carpet like I thought she would, and especially if you're sitting in the front row, please wear something interesting for us to look at, because they will keep cutting to you! I kept wanting them to pan to Solange! This outfit at a premiere or the after-party would be great, but on the most-important-red-carpet-of-her-LIFEtime, not so much.

 1) Katy Perry has trouble dressing her chest area. Understandably so, as she is naturally heavy-chested which can present quite an issue when finding the right cut to maximize flatteringness. This dress does not do that. The colour as well clashes with her rich, jet black hair. Mint green has to be styled very specifically, (take JLo's impeccable mint green styling at the 2003 Oscars) and this is not a good example of how to wear mint green. So the combination of poor styling and bad fit land her the title of worst-dressed. I rest my case.

What did you think? Did I miss anyone you would add?

Golden Globes 2013: Best and Worst Dressed (but mostly Blah)

This year the Golden Globes were kind of a mixed bag when it comes to fashion. There weren't any really major fashion moments on the red carpet, which made for a boring and safe event (yawn). I'd much rather talk about the SNL cast that salvaged the show and made it even slightly worth watching! Let's take a moment and bow down to the irreverent genius of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler....and the brilliant sketch by Kristin Wiig and Will Ferrell (those two really need to do a movie together, like Bridesmaids meets Stepbrothers - BrideBrothers?)  If it wasn't for the SNL presence, I probably would've changed the channel to HGTV (which I watch during any spare time I  have #addicted)
Now for the fashion - I really hope everyone toned it down because they were saving it for the Oscars (Anne Hathaway I'm looking at you)...because I expected more from her, Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence. I mean, this was their night! Why was Julianne Hough wearing 35 laser-cut layers of white tulle with a 24k gold-plated bodice and Anne Hathaway was in some meh two piece? 2013 must be the year of opposites.

Ok now for the list; here are my picks for Best and Worst Dressed;

BEST DRESSED:

1. The best dressed of the night was definitely Kate Hudson. She claimed that this Alexander McQueen fitted dress with the plunging neckline was a last minute choice; but even in her haste she made it to the top of the list! Its effortless yet risky, love love love.

Kate Hudson in McQueen

2. Naomi Watts makes it almost to the top of the list with this elegant and beautiful deep red Zac Posen gown. She was a nominee and it was her night to celebrate, she certainly looked like the belle of the ball!

 3. Kerry Washington gave a harrowing performance in Django Unchained, and she has been looking fierce on many red carpets lately. Here she rocked this Miu Miu tea length dress, it had just the right amount of glitter and edge. I just wish her hair would have been off her face!

Kerry Washington in Miu Miut

4. Julianne Moore is one of my style favs - and she is 52! Can you believe it? Her and Jodie Foster really give all women hope that life is fabulous after 50! She apparently called up her dear friend Tom Ford and asked him to make this custom dress (ofcourse she did), and ofcourse Mr. Ford did an unbelievably chic job. Moore always takes risks on the red carpet and I love her for it!

Julianne Moore in Tom Ford

5. Not sure why she attends these award shows, when was the last time she acted in, directed, or wrote anything?  I guess she does look good though, not sure what she is wearing. Sorry, you can Google it.

Jessica Alba in Oscar de la Renta

WORST: (in descending order)

5. Oh Taylor Swift. Right off a tumultuous, heart-wrenching, torrid romance with that 18 yr old from X-Factor, Taylor is suddenly acting all demure. She has a tendency to either be too Prommy circa 2006 or dress about 10 yrs older then she is. Well, this is the latter. The colour, the cut (sideboob and all) of this Donna Karen gown along with the hair and makeup just did not do anything for her newly single, 23 yr old look! C'mon girl show em what they're missing! (But as Tina Fey put it; Taylor just needs some me-time for now).

Taylor Swift in Donna Karan

4. Zooey Deschanel is always in great dresses, its not this Oscar de la Renta dress choice that gets her on this side of the list year after year, its the overall styling! Its the hair, the accessories, the makeup...she always seems to screw that up and ruins what could have been a perfectly great look. I think its because she does her own hair and makeup.

Zooey Deschanel in Oscar de la Renta

 3. Haven't seen this show, everyone keeps telling me I MUST watch Girls....for some reason the premise alone doesn't appeal to me, maybe one day I'll get around to it. Anyways it was Lena Dunham's big night, she won two Golden Globes but yet again lost in the fashion game. It seems she would take more risk but her stylist keeps putting her in these "Mother of the Bride" dresses! There is so much potential here, but this outfit is super boring and that colour! What is that, an aubergine?? :S

Lena Dunham in Zac Posen

2. Julianne Hough (pronounced Huff), oh Julianne, did you even present an award? Did you even have a seat at the show? Or did you just get to walk the red carpet because you're dating Ryan Seacrest and he owns part of that red carpet? Whatever the reason, you certainly should not have dressed like it was your debutant ball/wedding! (it was a Monique Lhuillier dress).

Julianne Hough's Pouf

1. And the absolute WORST dressed was by far J to the LO, aka Jenny from the Block, aka Jennifer Lopez. Her Zuhair Murad dress was a cross betwen a lace tablecloth turned into a figure-skating body suit. What is going onnnn? The presenters were over-dressed and the nominees were 'humbly' underwhelming. I guess J LO is not one to tone it down, but she can do so much better!

Jennifer Lopez wearing who else, Zuhair Murad!

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

Emily Blunt in Michael Kors

Nicole Kidman in McQueen

Sofia Vergara

MOST DISAPPOINTING: 

Jennifer Lawrence (aka JLaw) in Dior couture, the weird cup situation was very distracting

Anne Hathaway in this...whatever.

Jessica Chastain wins for the most ill-fitted dress of the evening

NYE Outfit: Last Minute Tips

So its down to the wire, you have that thing to go to tonight for NYE and not a clue what to wear? And on top of that you've been so busy with holiday stuff that the last thing you wanted to do was spend more time at the mall? Well I have some tips for you to use what you have to create a whole new look! I know for SURE you have something in your closet that you can re-style (with some help ;) and create a new look for your party tonight, and no one will even notice! 
Now go into your wardrobe, dig deep and pull out that dress that you wore that ONE time and never wore again. Using a dress is a safe choice, especially if its a solid colour as it acts like a blank canvas and is versatile enough to transform with different styling.
Here are 5 simple tips to create a new look with a dress you already have (you can use all of these tips or any combination of them in one look):

1. BOLD LIPS - use red, fuscia, orange, purple, maroon whatever bold lipstick colour you happen to have to add some interest and create a different look! (remember to fill your lips with lipliner of the same colour before you apply the lipstick)

 2. STATEMENT NECKLACE OR EARRINGS - pick one :) I am a firm believe if you go big on the neck then pick some beautiful studs and vice versa. I would add big bangles or a cuff, if you like more accessories.

3. FANCY PANTYHOSE - there is SO much variety nowadays, you can get coloured, printed, coloured print and its cheap! (Joe Fresh has some great options). Pantyhose, if loud enough can change the look of your dress, and you don't have to do much else (maybe a bold lip and some nice earrings) and you're good to go!

4. UPDO - the new updo rage is that sock bun thing.....I personally haven't tried it but it looks fairly easy to do and you can find these round doughnut looking thingys to help you at any drugstore. Personally, any kind of updo works that pushes your hair off your face, especially if you normally leave your hair down. 

5. BLAZER IT UP - if you're someone who dresses more conservatively, this is a great option over a dress to really change a look. Pick a blazer that creates the most contrast with your dress (i.e. pairing a black blazer with a red dress, or bright yellow blazer with a black dress).

Keep in mind you can use any combination of these tips or all 5! Personally, I would use the #1 bold lips,  #2 statement necklace and #4 updo to restyle my own look.


Now get to it! You only have a few hours to figure this out and GOOD LUCK!