Oscars 2007: Best (and Worst) of the after-parties fashion

Here’s a quick round-up of the best and worst of the Oscars party fashion.

The Best

Like at the main event, the strongest dresses tended to be single colour and sleek.

Victoria Beckham’s outfit at Elton John’s annual AIDS Foundation Oscar Party is an example of this - bold, white, slinky - as is Donna Karan’s red gown at the Vanity Fair event - although Donna’s does seem to have given her a bit of an unfortunate hairy-chest appearance.

The Grecian overtones that we’ve seen at all the award shows this season made a play too - Mary J Blige (at Vanity Fair) went for a similar dress to the one she wore at the Grammys (why fix what isn’t broken - both looked great) and Petra Nemcova had a very pretty beaded belt at her high waist at the Elton John do (although for a model, she’s posing very poorly here).

Still, there were some dresses with a bit more of a flare for the original. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Dita Von Teese went a bit retro at Elton John’s party but while the shape of the dress borrows from the past, the neckline and sleeve update it in a really fun way. Ziyi Zhang went for a tiered look and the fresh colours with her fresh face worked really well.

The Worst

Since Katie Holmes didn’t attend the award show, she turned on the glamour for the Vanity Fair event instead - but it didn’t quite work and she seems to know it. The shape is nice but perhaps the nude colour is slightly too nude - and her hair is quite severe for her. Sometimes I wonder if she’s being rushed and/or forced into this haute couture fashion icon image and she’s not completely enjoying it.

Lauren Hutton’s outfit didn’t work either because it looked mismatched. The top and purse would look great with jeans but not with something as extravagant as that skirt.

Gwen Stefani (here with husband Gavin Rossdale) looked peculiar too - her dress was a pretty shape but looked like it had been made from bin bags and carrier bags. Props to her for recycling if she did that but I somehow doubt it. And speaking of sacks - is that what inspired Sarah Michelle Gellar?

I like the panelling on Oprah Winfrey’s skirt but the top looks like it was inspired by my swimsuit from when I was 13 and the sleeves are just terrible. And speaking of terrible, Linda Evangelista’s dress for the Vanity Fair party proved two things: 1) even models can’t pull off hideous outfits and 2) strong single colours are not always a good thing.