Oscars 2008: Red Carpet Commentary (part 1)

If the Grammys were all about the blue, then the Oscars were all about the red. And the black. And the baby bumps.

If there were awards for dresses, Heidi Klum would have won the Best Dramatic Performance award for her John Galliano for Dior gown, with its extravagant train and collar. And Anne Hathaway though would have been a shoo-in for Most Like A Classical Statue But In A Good Way trophy. The slightly more muted red of the Marchesa dress looked fantastic with her pale skin and dark hair.

Katherine Heigl, in Escada, pulls off her brighter red too - evoking old school glamour with her big curls and letterbox red lipstick. And in contrast to her white dress from the Grammys, Miley Cyrus looks beautifully sophisticated in her Valentino gown - even though it still manages to not be too old for her tender years. The plethora of red dresses has been said to be in homage to Valentino, who retired from his namesake fashion house last month at the age of 75, but Miley was the only one that got to wear his trademarked rosso Valentino.

As older women, Helen Mirren and Julie Christie went for slightly more forgiving tones for their red gowns: last year’s Best Actress Helen’s Georges Chakra gown was a gorgeous rich colour and the Swarovski-encrusted sleeves actually work instead of looking an incongruous bolt-on. Julie Christie though should have made do with cold arms - while the ruching of the cocktail dress is a little too much, her hair and make-up could have pulled it off for her - if it wasn’t for those god-awful gloves. Ick.

Moving swiftly on, Hilary Swank looked pretty in Atelier Versace, just a little like she was in a wedding dress that had been dyed black(ish) for a second life as an evening dress. Jennifer Garner also looked pretty, accessorised with diamond jewellery but while the body of her dress was great, the skirt was just too fussy.

Similarly “nice but…”, Penelope Cruz would have benefitted from losing the hairy edgy on her Chanel Haute Couture gown and the body of Vanessa Paradis‘ gown is perfectly cute, the skirt is unnecessarily bunched around the crotch - and that is never a good thing.

But at least those dresses were interesting in their wrongness, Ellen Page and Laura Linney played it a bit too safe for my liking. The Juno star looks very pretty and I think the necklace and spaghetti straps are very age appropriate but the dress itself is unexciting. Laura Linney, who was also up for Best Actress, also looked very nice, just bland.

Tilda Swinton, always one to shake it up, shook it up a bit though with decision to go both shapeless and make-up-less to pick up her Best Supporting Actress trophy - but as ever, she kinda gets away with it because it’s hard to judge her outfits by usual fashion standards.

Nicole Kidman has been wearing some almost-Tilda outfits recently but she decided to play it safe for the biggest event in the Hollywood calendar with a dull dress, obviously with the hope that her elaborate diamond necklace would do the talking. It didn’t really. The high-waisted gown did sit beautifully over her bump though and speaking of which…

• On to Part Two of the Oscars 2008: Red Carpet Commentary - baby bumps, pastels and sparkles →

 

See more Red Carpet Commentaries

• The Brits - Feb 2008
• The Grammys - Feb 2008
• The BAFTAs - Feb 2008
• SAG Awards - Jan 2008
• The Emmys - Sept 2007
• The MTV Video Awards - Sept 2007
• More…