Oscars 2014 Fashion Wrap Up!

You know what time of year it is, right?  It's that time of year where I take a break from whatever other nonsense I'm usually blogging about for something TRULY important:  The Academy Awards Gowns!!

This year my overall comment from the Oscars was "Meh."  Truly!  With one exception, and I'm sure we all know who that is, there just wasn't much that stunned me, for good or for bad.  But here are a few of the ones I picked out that warranted any comment at all.

BEST:
1)  As if it needed any explanation, the beautiful Nairobi blue Prada gown worn by Lupita Nyong'o was breathtaking.  Just breathtaking.  Elegant, soft, ethereal, perfect.  And her darling headband and gold earrings were just the right touch of warmth.  LOVED it.  

2) Cate Blanchette's dress truly enchanted me.  The sparkley bits, the cut, the fit....I enjoyed every minute of it.  



3) My next favorite was on Portia Di Rossi.  I just adored the interesting pattern and the unique neckline.  She looked statuesque in it. 



4) LOVED Penelope Cruz's pink and black gown.  I am pretty sure she's pregnant.  And if so, she definitely wins for best maternity gown.  And if not, WHOOPS!  But still a totally gorgeous gown (FYI, it makes you look pregnant, Penny!)


5) I really liked Amy Adams' navy blue gown with the little folds around the bodice and at the hip.  The color was so sedate, though, that she could have used some dramatic jewelry.  Not sure what those weird rust colored danglies she had on were!



6) I don't know who Olga Kurylenko is, but wow!  Her amazing dark pink satin gown with that amazing twist of fabric along the top was stunning!  I can't believe she didn't get more press for that.  Probably because no one else knows who she is either.



7) I loved the intricacy of Kristen Chenoweth's gold gown.  The color suited her so well and it was just so fun to look at.


8) Along the same lines, the architecture of Lady Gaga's gown was so fascinating.  But...what the heck was she doing at the Oscars??



9) Kelly Osborne gets a serious honorable mention (or is that honourable?) because this is the most amazing and classic I've ever seen her look.  Is this picture photoshopped?  Because, Wowza!!!

 10) Emma Watson gets my final nod for this category.  It didn't blow me away, but I really liked the unique cut and the black and silver together, and I thought she looked more grown up and sophisticated than she's ever looked before.

The Middle

Making up the largest group of dresses were a whole bunch of really unimpressive, blah, flesh-toned dresses: gold-ish, peach-ish, silver-ish, blush-ish, off-white-ish BORING.  So many that they just did nothing for me and deserve no mention.   

 Then there were a few others which were just OK.  These include:

1)  Gabourey Sidibe.  I loved the color.  I loved the fabric.  But I thought the cut was a bit safe.  I realize she's a big girl, but I feel like so often the bigger dresses get the same exact cut, year after year.  I wish she would risk something more daring.


2)  Sandra Bullock.  Didn't hate it, didn't love it.  Interesting in the front.  The dark color didn't do much for me.  



3) Charlize Theron.  She's amazingly beautiful.  But another stark, structured gown on the red carpet?  No big surprise.  
 

4)  Jennifer Garner.  I actually would have LOVED this dress in another color.  I'm so glad she did something unique like fringe, and the cut was absolutely perfect on her.  But once again, that same bland silvery flesh tone....it lost big points for me.



5) Jennifer Lawrence.  She is so incredibly beautiful!  And she has such a lovely curvy body.  This dress was just so underwhelming.



6) Anne Hathaway.   Ya, we've seen this dress before.  You wore it last year, only it was pink.  I'm not a fan of the big metal studs.  The pink version was better.  Time to pick a new shape, Girlfriend.




The Bad
It seems like every year there are a few dresses that horrify me.  This year I can only think of one that stands out as awful.   But there were quite a few that I thought were just the wrong choice.  And here they are.  

1)  Absolute WORST dressed was Liza Minelli.  Seriously, Liza?  You couldn't manage a skirt or dress.? OR BRA???  A lady of your considerable age and bosom needs a bra!  I hate to get all Joan Rivers on you, but those things hang lower than a....(you fill in the blank.)


2) Angelina Jolie.  What was she wearing??  Something she stole from the set of The Golden Girls??  It was just awful.  AWFUL!!



3)  The worst thing about Anna Kendrick's dress was that the back was really amazing.  But the front...what was that weird red fabric in the middle?  It look like her dress had torn in half and they grabbed a nearby curtain to sew the two pieces together.  And that leg... AWKWARD.  She obviously hadn't practiced how to do an Angelina-Jolie, so she kept moving that leg around, trying to find a good pose in the high slit.  She didn't.   So unfortunate.  


4)  There's a great way to show off a baby bump.  The Santa's Giant Beer Belly look is NOT it.   Maternity FAIL.  (LOVED the fabric and color, however.)



5) Julia, oh Julia.  Why?  This dress...can you say Barbara Bush?  It's so matronly, and that weird lace peplum and bodice insert...it just looks cheap.  The fit is off, the color is blah.  I hate everything about this dress!  And the hair....have you just given up?

6) Julie Delpy.  Oh sweetheart.  There is flattering, and there is not flattering.  And this dress, in every single way is NOT flattering.  I remember those hips.  I have had those fatty hips, Honey.  But you've got to learn to camouflage them!  Yuck.  

Well, that sums up my takes on the gowns of 2014.  What are your thoughts?

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Choosing Paint (AKA How a Decorator Saved My Sanity)

It's done!  ALL the paint colors are picked out!  (Oh wait. I haven't figured out the master bath.  But I'm leaning towards white. That room's got a lot going on in there already.)  But anyway, I'm rejoicing because after months of stressing out to the point of hives over what colors to paint all the rooms in the house, it's finally all decided.  I did end up having to hire a designer to figure it out.  This was due to a little incident where, after weeks of planning colors for the basement to go with our milk chocolate brown sectional, making 3 trips to the paint store to get more samples and more paint rollers, painting 7 different swatches on several walls to observe the effects of light on each color, and eventually mixing 2 colors to get the exact perfect shade of pistachio green, Big Daddy came to look at the color I'd picked and announced that not only did he hate the pistachio green, he also hated that milk chocolate brown couch.

Commence tearing out of hair.

Followed by some heated discussions about color, furniture, who's watched more hours of HGTV, and whether the couch might seem a fun place to sleep for the next 2 months.  But then we realized this might all be solved if a professional became involved.

Enter the decorator.  She was referred to us by friends.  I had seen her work, scouted her pinterest page, and felt fairly sure there was a chance she could find just the right colors to save our marriage.  But still...picking paint colors is HARD.  And it took a lot of faith to put these choices in her hands.  But I think we have it done.  The winners are:

Kitchen/mud room .  A lovely shade of subtle blue-ish aqua -  Copen Blue (Sherwin-Williams)

Pantry and Main Floor Mini-Laundry.  A pale creamy yellow - Open Window (Kwal)

The rest of the main floor (living, dining, powder room, office, master, master closet).  A warm beigy grey - Siberia. (Kwal)   (I know, "Siberia" just sounds warm and inviting, right?)


Then there's the basement.  This is where my previous favorites "Refreshing Tea" (Behr) and "Soothing Lime"  (Olympus?) got mixed to make the perfect pistachio.  Which got nixed.  So our designer came up with her own idea:

Willow Herb. (Behr)  It's hard to explain, but it's a sort of pale golden green.  Very neutral, but fun.


Upstairs things get more colorful.  Pippa's room will be pink.  "Canuck" to be exact. (Kwal)  It's a soft ballet pink.

Daphne's room, which is getting a vinyl raindrop treatment of coral, grey, aqua, and turquoise will get white walls underneath.  "Mistaya" is it's name.  (Kwal)

Beck's room, which will be nautical themed, will get a pale grey-ish blue called "Sea Fog"  (Kwal)

The hallways and laundry room will be "Siberia" grey.  For now.  I want to put an accent color in the reading nook and eventually some kind of fun wall treatment (maybe a stencil, or some stripes) in the laundry room. But that's enough for now.  Six colors, plus white.  Not too much, right??

The new/replacement baseboards, crown molding, and door frames are already going up and have received their first coat of paint in some of the rooms.  We decided to replace the existing rosettes and plinths, which had a Victorian bullseye design, with perfectly plain ones to modernize the trim a little bit.  I bet you don't know what a rosette or a plinth is.  Well neither did I.   But now I do so, here you go!

So those are the little changes in the house this week.  And although they may seem small, once the paint starts going up, this house is going to begin a LOT different.  I'm so excited!


Next stop....tile!

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