I'll just get right to it - this was the most underwhelming Oscars red carpet in years. No one had a real "moment" either of the really good or really bad variety. What is an Oscars without jaw dropping fashion moments?! Long, kinda boring, but also funny. I don't really have an opinion on Seth McFarlane and I'm not easily offended so I think he did a good job. The opening was hilarious IMO. All movies should have sock puppet versions.
Dresses! I will be including looks from the various parties both viewing and after because they provided so much more good fashion. As always, best first:
My best dressed does not come from the ceremony. Escandalo! Elizabeth Banks wore this perfect McQueen dress to Vanity Fair's after party. I couldn't believe how many of the fair-skinned, fair-haired girls - Amanda Seyfried, Amy Adams, etc. - opted for little to no color. This dress would have been incredible on either of those girls! What a missed opportunity. Very well played, Banks.
Stacy and George Clooney showed up towards the end and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her. Consider her the savior of the red carpet because this was the best look on it by a country mile. She looks incredible and her stylist, Brad Goreski should be doing a happy dance all day today. The styling is spot on. I'd like to thank George for extending her contract, because she's a welcome addition to the red carpet!
Along with Stacy, Zoe Saldana provided one of the only wow moments on the red carpet last night. She is a fashion girl through and through and it always shows in her choices. Alexis Mabille is a very accomplished Parisian couture designer, but his looks aren't worn in America that often. Hopefully this will be a turning point because this dress is special and I want to see more.
Charlize is a goddess. End of. Yes, it's similar to the Chanel Couture Anne Hathaway wore to the Golden Globes, but Charlize made it her own.Her styling partnership with Leslie Fremar is golden and it should never change.
Out of the fair-skinned, fair-haired trio (Seyfried & Adams being the other two), Jessica Chastain was the clear victor. It's barely a color, but it works very well her hair and the dark lip and the fit is a dream. She's beautiful!
It's time to talk about Anne. It was my dream to have her wear this Valentino Couture dress. It was made for her and it would have provided an iconic fashion moment because she was a lock to win. When the press release from Valentino that said she would be wearing the designer came out before she hit the carpet I held my breath. And then she showed up in this. That is clearly not a Valentino dress. It's Prada and it's blah. I don't think it's horrible, but I don't think it's memorable or befitting of an Oscar winner either. So what happened to the Valentino?! There's a rumor that Anne and/or Rachel Zoe found out that it was too similar to Amanda Seyfried's Alexander McQueen dress and they scrapped it at the last minute. True? I don't know. But what I do know is that the custom Saint Laurent dress she wore to the Vanity Fair party is so much more interesting than the Prada dress. I love this dress! If she had this CUSTOM dress at her disposal why on Earth did she not wear it to the ceremony? You've let me down, Rachel. Also, someone did wear that Valentino dress. More below.
I'm so glad someone wore a tea length to this shindig. I would have been lost without one. I love it. Monique Lhuillier has been making some incredible dresses lately. Her Fall 2013 show, of which this dress is a part of, is one of my favorites of the season and I hope we see much more of it!
And now the magic that is Diane. She's perfect and I'm obsessed with her. She doesn't use a stylist which makes her even more perfect in my eyes. This is a stunning little dress and I'm so happy it's on someone as in love with fashion as Diane is. Also, her boyfriend Charlie Conway is hot.
And now the worst:
There's my dress. Styled incorrectly on the wrong girl. I weep. This is not a Jennifer Aniston dress. It doesn't fit her personality or her style. It totally overwhelms her and it needs an up do. Jennifer Aniston hasn't worn her hair up since the 7th season of Friends. Fail, fail, fail. I'm so sad.
Why is this girl even an actress? She obviously hates attention and being in the spotlight and looks like she'd rather be anywhere but a red carpet. It affects the clothes she wears in my opinion and she'll never be best dressed for me because of it. She did have some sort of injury to her foot or leg last night, but that's still no excuse for looking like you don't care. This dress is okay, but the fit up top is poor and it doesn't help that she has terrible posture. If you want to be a movie star, then act like it. I'm sure she's set for life from Twilight so she'd probably be better off and much happier moving to Washington and selling a newly legalized hallucinogen.
I think the window on Heidi Klum's "I'm Hot and Newly Divorced and I Want Everyone To Know It" tour should have closed a few months ago. Yeah she's hot and has an amazing body, but this is just too much. Put them away, girl. I don't hate the dress, but it's not right for her.
I'm all fashioned out now. So I'll talk about food ;) A red carpet on this scale requires a viewing party and a viewing party requires food. I decided on my dessert first and as an homage to my favorite movie of the year, I named it my "Zero Dark Chocolate" cake.
Martha Stewart calls it dark chocolate cake with ganache frosting, but I'm sure she won't mind me renaming it. It's sooooo chocolatey and fudgey and rich and awesome. I highly recommend it for any serious chocolate lover! If you do make this, watch the baking time. The recipe calls for 8 inch pans, but 9 is the standard and all I have. The cakes will require less time in bigger pans and I found 35 minutes to be plenty, if not too much, baking time. My cakes came out a little dry and over done, but the frosting makes up for it!
Next I decided on a snack. I saw this recipe for Buffalo and blue cheese white bean hummus on Pinterest and it was an immediate lock.
This is YUMMY. I love anything with Buffalo sauce (Gee I wonder why?) and this is no exception. I will be making it often! My friend Julie brought over some crostini with fig jam and brie and I regret that I was too busy shoving them in my face to take a picture because they were awesome!
So that's another Oscars come and gone. I'm not that enthused about the fashion, but the movies I saw were fantastic! I always forget that the movies are what actually matter here. I saw five of the nine nominated movies - Lincoln, Les Mis, Zero Dark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbook, and Argo - and out of them, ZDT was my favorite. It was gripping from start to finish and Jessica Chastain was wonderful. So was Chris Pratt, but that's only because he's my dream man. I mean, did you see how ripped he got for this movie?! Hello.
Tell me what you thought of this year's ceremony! The fashion, the films, Seth McFarlane, viewing parties - I want to know!
Dresses! I will be including looks from the various parties both viewing and after because they provided so much more good fashion. As always, best first:
 |
| Image via Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images North America |
Elizabeth Banks In Alexander McQueen
My best dressed does not come from the ceremony. Escandalo! Elizabeth Banks wore this perfect McQueen dress to Vanity Fair's after party. I couldn't believe how many of the fair-skinned, fair-haired girls - Amanda Seyfried, Amy Adams, etc. - opted for little to no color. This dress would have been incredible on either of those girls! What a missed opportunity. Very well played, Banks.
 |
| Image via Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America |
Stacy Keibler In Naeem Kahn
Stacy and George Clooney showed up towards the end and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her. Consider her the savior of the red carpet because this was the best look on it by a country mile. She looks incredible and her stylist, Brad Goreski should be doing a happy dance all day today. The styling is spot on. I'd like to thank George for extending her contract, because she's a welcome addition to the red carpet!
 |
| Image via Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America |
Zoe Saldana In Alexis Mabille Couture
Along with Stacy, Zoe Saldana provided one of the only wow moments on the red carpet last night. She is a fashion girl through and through and it always shows in her choices. Alexis Mabille is a very accomplished Parisian couture designer, but his looks aren't worn in America that often. Hopefully this will be a turning point because this dress is special and I want to see more.
 |
| Image via Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America |
Charlize Theron in Christian Dior Couture
Charlize is a goddess. End of. Yes, it's similar to the Chanel Couture Anne Hathaway wore to the Golden Globes, but Charlize made it her own.Her styling partnership with Leslie Fremar is golden and it should never change.
 |
| Image via Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America |
Jessica Chastain In Armani Privé
Out of the fair-skinned, fair-haired trio (Seyfried & Adams being the other two), Jessica Chastain was the clear victor. It's barely a color, but it works very well her hair and the dark lip and the fit is a dream. She's beautiful!
 |
| Image via Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images North America |
Anne Hathaway In Saint Laurent
It's time to talk about Anne. It was my dream to have her wear this Valentino Couture dress. It was made for her and it would have provided an iconic fashion moment because she was a lock to win. When the press release from Valentino that said she would be wearing the designer came out before she hit the carpet I held my breath. And then she showed up in this. That is clearly not a Valentino dress. It's Prada and it's blah. I don't think it's horrible, but I don't think it's memorable or befitting of an Oscar winner either. So what happened to the Valentino?! There's a rumor that Anne and/or Rachel Zoe found out that it was too similar to Amanda Seyfried's Alexander McQueen dress and they scrapped it at the last minute. True? I don't know. But what I do know is that the custom Saint Laurent dress she wore to the Vanity Fair party is so much more interesting than the Prada dress. I love this dress! If she had this CUSTOM dress at her disposal why on Earth did she not wear it to the ceremony? You've let me down, Rachel. Also, someone did wear that Valentino dress. More below.
 |
| Image via Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images North America |
Kate Beckinsale In Monique Lhuillier
I'm so glad someone wore a tea length to this shindig. I would have been lost without one. I love it. Monique Lhuillier has been making some incredible dresses lately. Her Fall 2013 show, of which this dress is a part of, is one of my favorites of the season and I hope we see much more of it!
 |
| Image via Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images North America |
Diane Kruger In Giambattista Valli Couture
And now the magic that is Diane. She's perfect and I'm obsessed with her. She doesn't use a stylist which makes her even more perfect in my eyes. This is a stunning little dress and I'm so happy it's on someone as in love with fashion as Diane is. Also, her boyfriend Charlie Conway is hot.
And now the worst:
 |
| Image via Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America |
Jennifer Aniston In Valentino Couture
There's my dress. Styled incorrectly on the wrong girl. I weep. This is not a Jennifer Aniston dress. It doesn't fit her personality or her style. It totally overwhelms her and it needs an up do. Jennifer Aniston hasn't worn her hair up since the 7th season of Friends. Fail, fail, fail. I'm so sad.
 |
| Image via Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America |
Kristen Stewart In Reem Acra
Why is this girl even an actress? She obviously hates attention and being in the spotlight and looks like she'd rather be anywhere but a red carpet. It affects the clothes she wears in my opinion and she'll never be best dressed for me because of it. She did have some sort of injury to her foot or leg last night, but that's still no excuse for looking like you don't care. This dress is okay, but the fit up top is poor and it doesn't help that she has terrible posture. If you want to be a movie star, then act like it. I'm sure she's set for life from Twilight so she'd probably be better off and much happier moving to Washington and selling a newly legalized hallucinogen.
 |
| Image via Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images North America |
Heidi Klum In Julien Macdonald
I think the window on Heidi Klum's "I'm Hot and Newly Divorced and I Want Everyone To Know It" tour should have closed a few months ago. Yeah she's hot and has an amazing body, but this is just too much. Put them away, girl. I don't hate the dress, but it's not right for her.
I'm all fashioned out now. So I'll talk about food ;) A red carpet on this scale requires a viewing party and a viewing party requires food. I decided on my dessert first and as an homage to my favorite movie of the year, I named it my "Zero Dark Chocolate" cake.
Martha Stewart calls it dark chocolate cake with ganache frosting, but I'm sure she won't mind me renaming it. It's sooooo chocolatey and fudgey and rich and awesome. I highly recommend it for any serious chocolate lover! If you do make this, watch the baking time. The recipe calls for 8 inch pans, but 9 is the standard and all I have. The cakes will require less time in bigger pans and I found 35 minutes to be plenty, if not too much, baking time. My cakes came out a little dry and over done, but the frosting makes up for it!
Next I decided on a snack. I saw this recipe for Buffalo and blue cheese white bean hummus on Pinterest and it was an immediate lock.
 |
| Since lots of people have commented on them - the coasters are from Urban Outfitters. |
This is YUMMY. I love anything with Buffalo sauce (Gee I wonder why?) and this is no exception. I will be making it often! My friend Julie brought over some crostini with fig jam and brie and I regret that I was too busy shoving them in my face to take a picture because they were awesome!
So that's another Oscars come and gone. I'm not that enthused about the fashion, but the movies I saw were fantastic! I always forget that the movies are what actually matter here. I saw five of the nine nominated movies - Lincoln, Les Mis, Zero Dark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbook, and Argo - and out of them, ZDT was my favorite. It was gripping from start to finish and Jessica Chastain was wonderful. So was Chris Pratt, but that's only because he's my dream man. I mean, did you see how ripped he got for this movie?! Hello.
Tell me what you thought of this year's ceremony! The fashion, the films, Seth McFarlane, viewing parties - I want to know!
I checked out the cake reviews and they criticize it for being dry, so it sounds like it wasn't your fault. Love the dresses!
ReplyDeleteOh that makes me feel so much better! I almost always read recipe reviews, but I didn't with this one. Duh.
DeleteOh, Melissa. When I saw Aniston on the red carpet, I thought of you immediately and how thoroughly disappointed you'd be to see her in that Valentino. I honestly don't know who thought it would be a good idea to put her in that dress. First off, her hair is gross. It has not changed for years now, and it ages her, in my opinion. Second of all, and I know I'll sound like a ginormous cow for saying it, but here goes: she's too old for that dress. It needs someone younger and fresher, with timeless good looks to show it off to its full potential. So sad to see such a waste of a gorgeous dress.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to see Chastain in something with some colour (or something with some visual interest like last year's Oscars' McQueen), but I'll settle for the bronze. HA! :)
Hathaway's gross Prada brought back memories of late '90s high school semi-formals for me. I hate that neckline and I hate the pastel pinky blush blahness. The photo you posted of the after party dress is so fab! I LOVE that dress. So much more striking and appropriate than the hideous Prada.
I liked Seyfried's dress in theory, but the fit was horrendous on top. Very disappointing.
Charlize, yes, gorgeous as always, and I enjoyed her dancing in the monologue.
And now, I must confess that I would actually maim someone in order to get my hands on Elizabeth Banks's dress (or one in my size). Ohmigod, so stunning and what a fantastic colour! Having seen this, I dub her the Winner of the Oscars.
I thought Naomi Watts's Armani Prive fit her immaculately (well, it should considering she worked with them on it for a couple of months), and I liked the colour and visual interest. What are your thoughts?
Jennifer Garner's dress had a lovely colour but I hated the actual dress. Worst part of all were those heinous shoes. How does that woman manage to have the ugliest shoe wardrobe in all of Hollywood?! They almost always look like they're straight outta the markdown bin at Walmart.
Kruger looked amazing, and brought my favourite accessory, who never fails to look heart-achingly dashing on the red carpet. *sigh*
I always enjoy your award show fashion posts so much! I like how you have a strong opinion that sometimes differs from the talking heads we see on TV who all have identical best dressed lists.
- Emily :)
P.S. Your cake looked amazing. I'm sure you could come up with ways to perfect the recipe!
I love your comments, Em! I'm glad you agree with me about Jennifer Aniston... it's a travesty.
DeleteI liked Naomi Watts very much! She was on my long list for bests but I left her off in the end. It suited her very well and the gunmetal was a great color! I always love what she wears. She had a great season!
It blows my mind that a nominee's stylist didn't fight to the death to get that McQueen dress from Elizabeth Banks! She's styled by the Ferreira sisters and they are goooood. Fair play.
I like the part about Stacy Kiebler's contract and the twilight girl selling hallucinogens. I thought Amy Adams looked pretty nice, and also Naomi Watts. But Jessica Chastain was my favorite, I think.
ReplyDelete