Gold statuettes weren’t the only things gleaming Sunday in Hollywood: metallic dresses and accessories lit up the fashion scene at the 79th annual Academy Awards.
From Jada Pinkett Smith’s gold Carolina Herrera to Rachel Weisz’s platinum crepe satin Vera Wang dress, lustrous fabrics clung to the curves of the industry’s leading ladies.
As insurance for the evening, best actor nominee (and later, winner) Forest Whitaker was accompanied by his wife Keisha, who wore a dramatic gold gown with cowl front and back. But sometimes the metallic effect was overdone, as in the metallic shrug Jennifer Hudson slipped over her otherwise chic Oscar de la Renta gown.
When dresses weren’t metallic, they were often white, powdery pink or in muted colors. Cameron Diaz’ white Valentino had a oversized off-shoulder neckline and origami-style skirt, while both Beyonce’s Armani Prive’ and Kate Winslet’s Valentino were in minty greens.
Penelope Cruz’ pale pink silk chiffon Versace had an enormous silk tulle ruffle skirt. Helen Mirren managed to be both sexy and regal in her ivory Christian Lacroix gown with lace bodice and gold-flecked chiffon skirt. Jennifer Lopez, meanwhile, looked like she was auditioning for a role as Cleopatra. The pale silver Marchesa gown with empire bodice and neckline with rows of crystals was just too much.
Those who wore color did it with a sense of adventure, but not always successfully. Jodie Foster’s slate blue Vera Wang was dull, as was Celine Dion’s drab green vintage Galanos. (We liked Dion more in the blush J. Mendel gown she wore when singing during the ceremony.)
Gwyneth Paltrow’s formfitting Zac Posen gown was a beautiful design, but smoked salmon is a better color for dinner plates than fashion plates.
Nicole Kidman chose a geranium red Balenciaga gown with an enormous bow at the neckline. Against her pale skin, the color was dramatic and only a woman with her strong style sense could pull it off. Reese Witherspoon’s deep purple ombre strapless gown by Olivier Theyskens for Nina Ricci also was a highlight.
And we loved the long, straight hairstyles on Witherspoon, Kidman and Paltrow. They were simple, chic and young-looking. The slighty messy chignons worn by other actreses also looked fresh, as did the soft curls of Lopez and Hudson.
What there was very little of on the women was black, with Queen Latifah and Rinko Kikuchi the exceptions. It will be interesting to see if this trend makes it off the red carpet to more mainstream events, where women are so reliant on black for both cocktail and black- tie affairs.
One of the interesting aspects of the evening’s fashion was that the “Devil” did wear Prada, with best actress nominee Meryl Streep (for “The Devil Wears Prada’) donning a black silk radzimir coat over a black satin skirt. Unfortunately, the bohemian look of the outfit was more suited to an art opening than Hollywood’s biggest night.
More successful were the actresses who played Streep’s assistants in the movie: Emily Blunt in a blue beaded Calvin Klein gown, and Anne Hathaway in white lace Valentino.
Hollywood’s men represented well at the Oscars. Standouts included just about all the guys wearing Giorgio Armani tuxedoes: Leonardo DiCaprio with his slicked back hair, satin lapels and necktie rather than a bow tie; Mark Wahlberg and John Travolta. Djimon Hounsou always looks handsome, and any appearance by George Clooney is an occasion to swoon.
Neither the men nor the ladies were afraid to shine, wearing massive amounts of borrowed diamonds. From Nicole Kidman’s 375-carat diamond cuffs and Jennifer Hudson’s vintage necklace with 32-carat yellow-diamond drop earrings and ring to Eddie Murphy’s diamond ear stud, it was a night to sparkle.
Suzanne S. Brown can be reached at sbrown@denverpost.com or 303-954-1697.
