Oscar Wrap Up 2013

This is an indulgence.  Pure, unadulterated pleasure.  There is no purpose to this post other than to think about and talk about something I really love: gowns.  Oh ya, there are the awards, the host, the speeches and all that.  But the real reason I watch the Oscars is for the amazing dresses.

Unfortunately, I forgot to tape the pre-show this year, so when I watched the Oscars I could only see the dresses of the ladies who either presented or won awards.  But I did my homework the next day and watched Fashion Police, several belated red-carpet shows, and also checked the internet for a more comprehensive list of dresses.  And here are my comments:

1)  Lady In Red:  Red was in.  Red is such a lovely color on most complexions, from pale to golden to brown.  But you have to be very careful about clashing with the red carpet.  This year's biggest success in red goes to:  Sally Field, one of my Best Dressed nominees. That dress was exquisite!  It was a fun nod to the era of her movie, Lincoln,and you hardly ever see a mature actress wear something so fun!  I loooooved it! 

2) Beyond the Pale:  There are some women who look lovely and ethereal in pale. But most look just washed out.  Why women insist on wearing blush/champagne/nude almost every year is beyond me.  Jessica Chastain got so much press for her dress this year, but it just didn't do it for me.  It probably was an amazing dress with that intricate beading, but who knows?  It just didn't show up. 



My only favorite pale dress of the bunch was one of the least favorite of almost everyone else:  Anne Hathaway's pale pink satin.   I loved the color, I loved the neckline.  I thought it was such a different look than we ever see!  Ok, the nipple darts were extreme.  And the necklace didn't suit the high square neckline.  But the dress itself, I thought, was chic and fresh.



3) Metal-head.  Did you notice all the metallic-looking dresses this year?  I felt like there must have been a sale on chain mail somewhere!  Some were good (Halle Berry and Norah Jones) some were bad (that strange concoction of Naomi Watts's).  But this was definitely the hot trend of 2013!




4) Women Of Color:  I always like it when stars are willing to wear a bright, unique color.   Last year there was lots of emerald green.  This year, it was deep blues.  Like Jennifer Hudson's deep blue lace.  YUM!   I loved that Jennifer Garner wore a frothy purple color.  But there was too much froth on the back of that dress!  Kerry Washington wore that coral dress with the beading on the top.  I am not a huge fan of coral, but it was a bold move and the beading was divine!





5) Skin!  I completely reject the idea that a woman of a certain size has to come dressed like a nun.  When a curvy woman is willing to bear a little leg or, gasp, have her elbows show, I applaud it!  Why shouldn't she look sexy too?  So I had to give a thumbs down to Adele and Melissa McCarthy's dresses for being so boring and prudish.  Even though I wasn't crazy about Octavia Spencer's dress color, or the material, or, well, really anything, I loved that she had the confidence to wear an off-the-shoulder dress with her arms showing.  And Queen Latifah wore that flowy, showy white gown like a true queen.  You go, Girl!! 






5)  80's Rewind.  I don't know if it's because I was there for this decade of dresses the first time, or if it's just because I hate shoulder pads so badly, but the last 2-3 years when these super-80's dresses have shown up, I have just wanted to gag.  No more so than with Jane Fonda's yellow dress this year.  Because she might have actually pulled it out of her closet from 40 years ago!  And again, the same stigma that applies to curvy ladies seems to apply to the older crowd too. "If you've hit 45, you must be disgusting and we must cover you up."  BAH!  Helen Miren dresses with class but also skin every year and she looks amazing. 

6) Baby Bumps:  Usually the pregnant ladies go for a long, flowy chiffon thing with tons of cleavage.  I know, it's hard to dress a giant belly and you think your boobs will distract!  But that look gets old.  This year I saw two of the most original and attractive looks on pregnant women I've ever seen.  Yay!!!



Additional Thoughts:

7) I've never seen Helena Bonham Carter look so good.  Ever.  I mean, the girl likes to wear hideous dresses for some reason.  It's almost like she is constantly channeling Bellatrix Lestrange!  But this dress, although I could still find complaints about it, was the most normal, attractive dress I've seen her in since she did A Room With A View.  I'm surprised she didn't make it onto Fashion Police.  Those girls rag on poor Helena every time.  I think they might have had some positive things to say this year!  (Until her hair, at least.)

 

 

8) Most original dress goes to this lady.  No idea who she is (Sunrise Coigney?)  But her dress is very very unique.  I don't care for the leather top, but I LOVE the skirt.  And I think she made the boldest fashion statement on the carpet, so I had to include her. 



9)) I'm not a big fan of Renee Zelweger.  Not even close.  And what was up with her not being able to read the award cards?  TWICE?   But I have to admit, she looked amazing in her gold dress.  Like she was poured into it.  The woman does have a good body.

10)  I can't tell you how sick of Kelly Osborne's lavender hair I am.  I'm all for funky colors.  But the lavender looks like old lady hair!  It just doesn't suit her. But the dress she wore...now that suited her!  I loved it.  The architectural lines around her shoulders and neck were so beautiful.  And she is a woman with a few curves, so even better.  Well done, Kelly!

 

 

11) My favorite movie of the year, perhaps the decade, was Silver Linings Playbook.  I didn't know how I'd like Jennifer Lawrence as someone other than Katniss, but she pulled it off.  WELL!  And so I became a reluctant fan.  I can't say I was such a huge fan of her stiff bell-like dress.  But when she fell on the stairs when accepting her award, and picked herself up laughing and just went on with it, I became a huge fan. There is nothing I admire more than grace under pressure...or total, worldwide humiliation!




12) EW!  Usually there are 3 or 4 dresses I don't care for and 1 or 2 that jump out as horrific.  This year there was only one for me.  One horrific dress, paired with one horrific hair-do, atop one horrific actress.  The trifecta.  And the award for Worst Dressed (+ Worst Hair + Worst Actor) goes to Kristen Stewart!   Hint: Before you wear a bustier top, get something to boost! 



Though this gunny sack look on Helen Hunt did run a close second.  UGG. 

 

 

13) And The Winner Is: Two more of my best dressed nominees (along with Sally Field) are Alecia Vikander and Zoe Saldana.  Zoe Saldana's gown, which got no press coverage at all, was breathtaking! The subtle grey layers at the bottom and the flowers at the top? Amazing.  I have no idea who Alecia Vikander is, but her pale blue lace dress with the 3/4 sleeves was so beautiful.

But ultimately, the prize goes to Zoe Saldana.  I just adored this dress!

So enough of the dresses. (Can there ever be enough of the dresses??) My only other thoughts on the Oscars are that Seth McFarlane was hilarious.  He got mixed reviews, but I loved him. 

And, ARGO?  REALLY??? ARGO?!?  You don't know what a huge Clooney fan I am--it's borderline obsession.  As in, almost all my "celebrities-I-bump-into-who-end-up-falling-in-love-with-me fantasies" are of Clooney.  And I have a decent sized crush on Ben Aflack.  And I liked the movie.  So I really say this reluctantly, but, ARGO???  It was good.  But not Best Picture good.  I would have voted Silver Linings Playbook.  And I would have totally understood if Django won.  But Argo was just a movie to me.  In 5 years, I won't even remember it. 

So there.  That's my 2013 Oscar recap.  Bring on the Emmys!!!


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