Oscar Fashion Wrap up 2007

So the Academy Awards were last night, otherwise known as the Oscars. It is one of the biggest fashion nights of the year. And I’m happy to say that this year all our leading ladies did not disappoint. There were very few dresses I didn’t like. Usually I find a lot more. Let’s get started. I’m going to break it up into categories, and then wrap up with my best and worst dress at the end.

First, let’s start with the dresses I didn’t like.



Sorry Anne Hathaway. If you had that dress minus those hideous black bows on the front and back, I probably would’ve left you off this list (even though the rest of your dress is a giant doily). But as soon as I saw this dress I didn’t like it. I also would’ve liked to see her do something a little different with the makeup she wore. I feel like she just does this same look over and over.



I rarely like what Beyonce chooses to wear. Her choice for the Oscars is no exception. If she had the same dress minus that beaded thing around her shoulder I would’ve liked this much better. Her hair and makeup however I think looks rather nice.



I don’t really know who Eva Green is, but I know I do not like her choice in what she wore to the Academy Awards. It looks like she’s not too happy about it either in this picture. She looks a bit like a corpse bride with the dark hair and pale skin, and gauzy dress.

Now for my so-so dresses. I definitely don’t hate them, but I don’t love them either.



I just think Kate has worn other dresses that really put this one to shame. But she still looks nice. Maybe I’m just holding her to a too high standard.



I kept going back and forth on this one. Sometimes I thought it was a really great dress, but other times I thought it was a little prom-ish. Eh, I’m still not sure about it.



I think this dress is cute, but I don’t particularly care for the sleeve-like things. But she looks all cute and has that nice pregnancy glow. So I won’t go too hard on her.



I love the top of this dress. I think it is very cute and fun, yet still has sophistication about it. The bottom, however, I have some issues with, which is why it is landing on my undecided list. I think if it didn’t have those feathers I would like it much more.



I think this dress is pretty and all, but something I can’t put my finger on exactly is keeping me from really liking it a lot.



Nicole Kidman looked really beautiful, but I’m just not sure how I feel about the giant bow on her dress. If she can’t pull it off, no one can. Overall though, I think she looked great (and put any pregnancy rumors to rest, look how skinny she is!)

Now for the dresses I really liked.



I thought Portia De Rossi looked really great last night. Ellen must’ve been proud.



Reese didn’t fail to impress me. I thought she looked absolutely stunning. It’s a really lovely color on her. And she’s also showing off her new body still.



Penelope Cruz looked amazing. There’s not much to add. This dress looked even better on tv than it does in this photo.



This photograph in NO WAY does justice to what this dress looked like on the telecast. She looked absolutely beautiful, especially when you consider she’s in her 60s. I hope that I can look half as good at that age.



I think Gwyneth usually looks pretty good. I think it’s an interesting choice she chose to wear her hair down. I don’t know if it is all her own hair, as opposed to extensions, but her hair looks so healthy. I’m a little jealous. But this dress is vintage (or so I heard) and I think it fits her wonderfully.



Cate’s been a big fan of the metallic dresses this awards season. Some have been hits, and others are misses. I personally find this one to be a hit. I think she looks great.



I love this dress. I think this is one of my favorite dresses I’ve ever seen J Lo in. Beautiful. I think it would be maybe a little better for a pregnant woman given the flowy nature of the dress, but she still looks lovely.



I thought Maggie Gyllenhaal looked great. Especially when you take into consideration she just had a baby a few short months ago. Her dress also has feathers, but the difference is, is that they don’t stand out so much. It is subtle detail instead of a distracting one (like in Kirsten’s case).

So now, for the best and worst.

I was going to post this dress as my worst dress (even though it pains me cause I love Zhang Ziyi and think she’s adorable):



I don’t think I need to explain what is wrong with this.

But I am ultimately going with the dress Elisabeth Shue wore as my least favorite:



Now this dress isn’t that ugly really, but I just feel this isn’t really an Oscars type dress. This is something to wear to a PTA meeting. Almost as if Ms. Shue forgot she was supposed to go, and threw on the first dress she saw. And I find her accessories all wrong. So Zhang missed out on being the worst dressed by just a hair, cause at least she wore a gown, even if it was a bad one.

My favorite dress was a Chanel dress worn by new comer (at least here in the States) Rinko Kikuchi, a Best Supporting Actress nominee.



Rinko has made a few fashion missteps at the past award shows, but I think she put together a perfect look for the Oscars. Hair, makeup, accessories, they all came together beautifully.

Review: Fall 2007 (NY)

After countless hours pouring over the collections on style.com, I realized there was a lot of crap coming up for Fall 2007. I also realized that there was a surprising amount of stuff that I loved. I admit that at first I was a little thrown off by the completely neutral color palate - all blacks and grays. Where were the usual fall shades of brown and red?! But the more I saw, the more I grew to appreciate the simplicity of it all. Some of my absolute favorite trends popping out this season were layering, opaque tights, straight flowing hair, and boxy silhouettes on top with skinny legs on the bottom. I was also drawn in by the ladylike dresses. Of course the only thing I love more than a good dress is a good coat, and there were plenty of those to be seen as well! Dresses with tights and gloves, coats as dresses, dresses layered under sweaters and more dresses...And I have to say, I really loved all the black. I've always been one for color - I love standing out in a crowd. But this season, I will make a statement with understatement, and I'm completely happy with that. Here are some of my favorites from New York fashion week. Sorry I left out the ones that I hated, but I figured why waste the space when there are so many fantastic collections to focus on...

First off we have DKNY. I loved this collection because it really reminded me of walking along the Rue de Rivoli in Paris and watching all the fashionable girls go by. The style was completely French and completely chic. Who cares about color?! Take me back to Paris!



To see what actual, real-life French girls were showing, I looked no further than Catherine Malandrino's collection this season. She very much embodied my favorite boxy-on-top look, and this collection convinced me that I needed to run out and buy up a stock of black tights to wear with every dress and coat that I own.



My first real surprise favorite was Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein. I haven't been a CK fan since the 1990s, but this collection really brought me back to the fold. Costa's designs displayed a simple beauty, and if there was ever a season for minimalism to make a comeback, this would be it.



To be honest, I've never been a huge Behnaz Sarafpour fan. Obviously I have read the raving reviews of her work ever since she stepped out of design school, but I was never convinced - until now. I know this season was more of the same stuff she has always been doing, but for some reason, this collection just spoke to me. It's probably part of the "maturing" process. I really appreciated the femininity of the pieces as equally as the metallic, harder edges. I even liked the turtle necks, and I never like turtle necks.



Switching over to another designer I am also just learning to appreciate, we have Oscar de la Renta. I've always thought of Mr. de la Renta's pieces as things only a mother could love, as in they were for middle-aged to older women. But this season was different. Either Oscar is getting younger, or I'm getting older. Personally, I'm rooting for scenario #1. (Please note the fabulous white dress in the second row. I would wear this one long after Labor Day.)



Continuing on, I found a lot to admire in Chaiken's line this season. The first dress is one of my favorites from the collection. The cut is so magnificent that you hardly notice the dress is only gray.



Although Chaiken is usually known for their perfectly cut trousers, I think Proenza Schouler took them in that category this season. This was basically the only collection that actually made me excited to wear pants in the fall. Of course I loved their dresses too...



When I first heard of Monique Lhuillier, she was known as the next big wedding gown designer to break out in a market cornered by Vera Wang. This season she showed her range as an accomplished ready-to-wear designer, so now even the single girls can enjoy her wonderful clothes. Of course she also threw in her signature evening looks, which are sure to be snatched up by actresses with Oscars in their eyes. Notice the last dress is made from the most subtle leopard print you will ever see.



But even as good as Monique Lhuillier was, in my mind she still couldn't beat out Vera Wang. This collection was my absolute favorite of the season, hands down. Wang's girls looked like the most beautifully dressed street urchins you'll ever find. Everything about this collection felt right. The hemlines, the boots, the jewelled accents, the colors...



And my convictions were cemented when I saw this dress.



Overall, I was really pleased with what I saw from New York fashion week. Then I noticed that London fashion week just started a couple days ago...There's no telling what those crazy Brits have in store for us, but I'm guessing there will be plenty of black tights to go around.

More childish behavior

When did fashion designers all start acting like children? Read this article about Zac Posen:

The Cold, Chip-Ladden Shoulder of Carolina Herrera

In an industry fraught with young designers and big egos, one expects immature behavior every now and again. But when that behavior is displayed by one of the older, more established and well-respected designers, that's when I raise an eyebrow. During fashion week, The New York Times was not allowed to cover Carolina Herrera's show for the second season in a row after journalist Cathy Horyn wrote a bad review of Herrera's fall collection this time last year. In the article published on Feb. 7, 2006, Horyn wrote that the collection was "remarkably irrelevant...I can't imagine her wearing these clothes: print dresses in pool shades of aqua (with black tights, to boot) and rusty wool suits with fussy collars or ruched yokes and sleeves that looked trussed rather than finessed. With a ruched garment, do you really want to see the strings?"

Granted, this review was harsh. But in the cold, hard world of fashion, let the judgements fall where they may. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and more importantly, every journalist has the right to freedom of the press (otherwise known as the First Amendment). Of course you might say that our dear Carolina also has the right to invite or not invite whomever she pleases to her shows. This is correct. But when designers start blacklisting reporters who have ever written a bad review about them, that's when things start to get scary. It's called censorship of the press, and it's a slippery slope once you're on it.

You might not think that it's such a big deal that fashion goddess Carolina Herrera is holding some sort of grudge match with the NYT. But what if this was George W., and all of a sudden he stopped allowing Times reporters at his press conferences because they had said unflattering things about his leadership abilities in the past? We already know that government officials favor certain media outlets more than others (remember Condi's overheard whisperings about her special friends over at Fox News), but to outright ban a newspaper from covering a story, that is quite another thing.

Now, I understand that this is fashion, and we must keep things in perspective. Being kept in the dark about the horrors of "sleeves that looked trussed rather than finessed" is not the same as being kept from the fact that our country is sending thousands of more troops to Iraq. But I do believe that the principle is the same in both situations. The press needs to be able to do their job, and they need to be able to do it without the fear that they will be ostracized for telling it like it is. If reporters thought that they would be banned from shows after writing bad reviews, then we might all just end up running around town in hideous "rusty wool suits with fussy collars." And that would be such a shame.

These Boots Were Made for Walkin'

I would just like to say that I am honored to have been invited to contribute to this blog. W-O-W. So, for my debut post I would like to highlight a fashion trend that I have been noticing all over the city; pants tucked into boots. I have gathered a few photographic examples from various internet outlets.

I like this trend; it keeps you warm and allows you to show off your cute boots without having to wait for spring to wear them with a skirt or dress. It should be noted, however, that this particular style should not be worn with boots that are too tight to cram your pants into. That just leaves a mess for everyone to stare at, causing wonderment at whether it's your pants or your calves that aren't narrow enough.

Celebrity Spotlight: Liv Tyler

Celebrity Spotlight: Liv Tyler



I know Liv has been kind of out of the Hollywood scene the last two years since she’s had her little boy, but I am kind of into picking people who aren’t the norm to talk about lately (ie: not Nicole Richie or Mischa Barton or those other “It” girls). But, she does have a few movies in the works. Plus, I’m not going to deny it, I have kind of a girl crush on her. I’m so jealous of her skin. She has some of the best in Hollywood. I mean, just look at it:



This is just a photo taken at an event, no airbrushing or anything. I’m jealous. But anyways, this isn’t a beauty blog, it’s a fashion blog. So let’s get down to business.



Liv seems to really go for down-to-earth type styles for when she’s just out around town, which I really like. Cute, yet comfortable.



Ok, she is definitely pregnant in this picture. But she still manages to come off kind of sexy (in a tasteful way), which a lot of pregnant women struggle with (Britney take notes).



As I’ve said before, I’m a fan of the bright shoe when you are otherwise just wearing black. I think it’s a really nice touch to give your outfit a little something extra.



Aside from what looks like it could be a braided belt, I think this is a cute outfit. I love the sleeves, as well as the scarf she added for a bit more color and detail.



I just always thought it was cute they wore these shirts since they do sort of come from rock “royalty” (she is the daughter of Steve Tyler of Aerosmith, and she is with Stella McCartney whose father is Paul McCartney of Beatles fame).

Let’s move on to the clothes she wore to events on a higher level.



This is kind of hard to pull off, as it is kind of like a giant scarf is wrapped around her body. But I think it’s a nice dress. She looks great.



Liv really seems to favor wearing black. She is wearing it in practically every picture I found of her. This dress has a real “Old Hollywood” glamour to it that I like.



I love the coat. Usually I don’t like brown and black paired together. But this look I like. The jacket looks very slimming on her.



It can be pretty hard to pull of the whole kimono look, unless you are at some summer festival over in Japan. But she manages to pull off a kimono inspired jacket perfectly at a premiere for one of the Lord of the Rings movies.



I think this one is my favorite. She looks so rock-and-roll chic. Completely at ease and comfortable with herself. Totally confident. She looks lovely.

This is by far the least favorite outfit I saw her in, but no one is perfect:



I don’t know if this was during the time she was pregnant or not, but this outfit makes her look like she is. Which if you aren’t pregnant, is obviously a bad thing. The super high waist is just unflattering. It’s a look that I don’t think anyone can pull off, unless you are practically a twig. And even then I don’t think it would be the most attractive thing. And I don’t even want to get started on the hat. Ugh.