Best Dressed Oscars 2010 - Carey Mulligan, the Gamine Oscar Queen

Last night Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin co-hosted the 82nd Annual Academy Awards Ceremony and brought a Martin & Lewis-like lightness to the show that hadn't been there in years.

There were a few surprises that ruined my chances of winning some Oscar ballot booty, but they were good surprises with The Hurt Locker's Kathryn Bigelow beating out her ex, Avatar's James Cameron, in the Best Director category (making history as the 1st woman to take home the statue for directing). Kathryn also won the biggest award of the night for Best Picture. Ahh, sweet revenge. You might have been the King of the World over a decade ago Jimbo, but your ex-wife is now the Queen. Bow down before her and enjoy your Visual Effects win.

Fashionably speaking, the fanciest frocks of the night ran the gamut from Posh to Ginger and Baby Spice with black beaded encrusted and metallic gowns, to scarlet fever hued haute couture creations and pink and purple prom ready confections.

No one looked Scary Spice though, which is a good thing.

My award for Best Dressed goes to the angel who wore Prada. Best Actress nominee Carey Mulligan for An Education channeled both Audrey Hepburn and Mia Farrow last night, with her Rosemary's Babyish blond cropped do and her black Prada gown that was age appropriate, graceful, daring and a bit on the rebellious rock star side without being over the top...the stuff that every memorable Oscar gown is made of.

My second favorite dress was worn by the ever so romantic, always simple, always elegant Rachel McAdams who flowed down the red carpet and the stage as a presenter in a soft, ethereal print Elie Saab gown that was truly a work of art.

There was a definite Old Hollywood vibe in the air with the glamour gal duo from The Holiday - Cameron Diaz who glowed in a beaded Oscar de la Renta gown with Veronica Lake side swept hair and the regal Kate Winslet, ending her reign as Best Actress in a structured metallic YSL creation that had a hint of the days of old, but will not be forgotten.

Best dressed boys? Tie between Twilight's Taylor Lautner and the Prince of Persia Jake Gyllenhaal. Yum.

Most improved: You were at the bottom of my lists last year and look at you now. Meryl Streep - In an exquisitely flattering crisp white gown designed by surprise surprise, Project Runway's usually campy contestant, Chris March.

With the good comes the bad. Here were my worst dressed:

Sarah Jessica Parker in Chanel. I adore you Carrie Bradshaw, but this mellow yellow shade cast a similar yellow glow to your teeth and you looked older than your years with your Maude'ish dress and Big Mac of a bun... and hello, flyaways.

Best Supporting Actress Nominee Anna Kendrick - Your pale Elie Saab gown was lovely, but the muted color washed you out, so you came off looking more like a vampire like than any of your Twilight saga Cullen co-stars.

Zoe Saldana - You've been doing so well this award season, taking risks and standing out, but although your lilac Givency gown was decent on top, it appeared as if a gang of Muppets were fighting under your skirts, not to mention the fact that the slit down the center almost brought a Basic Instinct element to the evening.

Charlize Theron - In my opinion you are one of the most gorgeous creatures that has ever graced the red carpet. Why are you covering up your spectacular boobs with a pair of strategically placed Cinnabons?

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Grammy Awards Best Dressed 2010

The 52nd Annual Grammy's Awards were on last night and I was lucky enough to catch a few memorable moments and some unforgettable fashions, both good and bad.

It was quite a show with stellar performances by Beyoncé, the Black Eyed Peas and my girl Pink who astounded us when she stripped down to a nude bodysuit, took an unexpected dunk in a tub and performed a daring wet act on the flying trapeze (or some other Cirque du Soleil type concoction).

Big winners of the night were Beyoncé, who took home six Grammys with her smashing girlpower anthem - "Single Ladies" winning Song of the Year and Best R'n'B Song, while an exquisitely dressed Taylor Swift came in right behind her with four award honors including Album of the Year. No appearance by Kanye West who finally decided imma let people finish accepting their awards.

As far as who wore what, the overall trend seemed to fall under long, dramatic gowns, intricate necklines and neutral/navy colored numbers. Who were my favorites? I thought the Victoria's Secret Angels dominated the red carpet while standing out in pretty minis that were chic, short and so rock and roll.

Bronzed beauty Marisa Miller wowed in a simple yet stunning strapless white minidress accessorized by a pop of ruby red platform pumps while her angelic counterpart Heidi Klum showed off her post-baby body yet again in a long-sleeved, low-cut 80's style sequined mini to support her man who was up for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. I'm sure he gave her the Seal of approval.

As for the low notes, Britney Spears failed to impress in a sheer black Dolce & Gabbana dress, Nadeea needed to be covered by some nice man's tuxedo jacket and Lady Gaga was... well, Lady Gaga. Seriously though, if Lady Gaga showed up in a plain black evening gown, we'd all feel let down now wouldn't we? These awards shows require a bit of risk, something to talk about and Lady Gaga's totally tubular dress and our Lady of Liberty getups give us the little bit of Björk that we need to get through the show.

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Sag Awards Best Dressed 2010

I lagged on my 2010 Sag award coverage. Sorry guys. I missed the broadcast, but I've scoured all of the image banks and have tallied my ballots. Without further ado...

My favorite look of the night was elegantly worn by my favorite Inglorious Basterdess, Diane Kruger, with a marigold, off-the-shoulder Jason Wu gown that was reminiscent of Michelle Williams' still talked/blogged about curry-colored Vera Wang Oscar dress that she wore as a Best Supporting Actress nominee back in 2006. The resemblance is uncanny, is it not?

Who else impressed? Best Comedy Ensemble winner Lea Michelle in a plunging emerald Malandrino gown, Carey Mulligan in a lovely red Lanvin gown, and Kate Hudson redeemed herself after her double red carpet bombs at the VMA's and the Golden Globes in a white plunging back Pucci number. Kate's Nine co-star Nicole Kidman, however, went all Bollywood in a hippie maxi dress looking rather dazed and confused. Just because it's Oscar de la Renta and sparkly Nicole, doesn't mean it looks good, although it was a nice shout out to last year's Best Acting Ensemble Winner, Slumdog Millionaire.

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Golden Globes Best Dressed 2010

Sophistication and timeless elegance ruled the red carpet last night at the 67th Annual Golden Globes with A-list ladies skimming their way down the red carpet with strategically held umbrellas protecting their fab frocks and customs coifs. Black and red ribbon pins supporting the relief efforts in Haiti made appearances on a number of gowns in the crowd but not on all, which made me wonder if some starlets had refused to be pinned for the cause. How awkward must that have been... "Uh no, I don't care to show my support for Haiti, I only want to show support for my cleavage."

But alas, the big question is - who reigned supreme? In my humble opinion, the Jens had it.

It was all about Jennifer to the 2nd power with Jennifer Aniston in a safe yet stunning simple black plunging Valentino gown with a side split that showed off some nice gams while Jennifer Garner sans Ben, dazzled in an asymmetrical slim, beaded lilac Atelier Versace gown.

There were far more good looks than bad ones, too many to name in fact, so here are a few most honorable mentions - Christina Aguilera classed it up in a peach Versace chiffon gown with metal-lined bodice, Anna Paquin shone in a gold Stella McCartney sheath and Olivia Wilde was a statuesque beauty in a sequined Gucci evening gown that she auctioned off after the show with proceeds benefitting Haiti.

Okay, she's off the hook for not wearing the pin.

As for the bad? Cher is a given, Kate Hudson's white Marchesa structured gown wasn't close to a Nine or ten in my book, January Jones looked Mad in a macabre black Lanvin gown and matching headband and Mariah Carey's blatant boob display was far from Precious.

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American Music Awards Best Dressed 2009

If you didn't catch the red carpet arrivals at the American Music Awards last night, here is a quick recap on the styles that were off key, as well as the looks that were music to my ears.

Neutral and metallic shades sparkled at the AMA's this year and if you weren't sporting some serious sparkle, you might as well fire your stylist because she or he definitely did not get the AMA dress code memo.

Blonde bombshells reigned supreme with country cutie Carrie Underwood and Kristen Bell rocking it in a gold lame one shouldered dress by THEIA and silver lurex seperates by Christian Cota, respectively. At first glance I thought "Really Kristen, a shiny bra and skirt?" But then I realized I had to give the gal props for making a bold choice that was surely noticed, plus it's okay to have a little belly pride when you have a midriff like the one on Veronica Mars.

Now for the bad news. Gowns that Randy Jackson would describe as "pitchy dawg" were surprisingly spotted on former red carpet A listers Nicole Kidman and Kate Hudson.

Nicole's dress wouldn't have been that bad if it didn't look like someone painted a sick pair of pink stripes diagonally across her body and Kate came desperately close to pulling a Tara Reid boob flash while introducing the Black Eyed Peas. Oh Kate...I know you're dating A-Rod and you're the envy of every woman/gay Yankee fan in America, but I do not envy this silver jumper look unless you are competing for the gold medal in solo figure skating and/or starring in a remake of Staying Alive.

Kate - heed my advice - you are dating hot Yankee, this is not the time to give up. Save this dress and use it as a cute beach cover up and next time you're invited to walk the red carpet make sure you're not tripping, because this fashion fall was worse than Adam Lambert's and Jennifer Lopez's AMA whoopsies combined.

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Bestie Emmy Dresses - The Best Looks from the Emmy Awards 2009

The 61st Annual Prime Time Emmy Awards celebrated the HD screen last night, hosted by former Doogie Howser star and jilted How I Met Your Mother Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy nominee, Neil Patrick Harris. Mad Men, 30 Rock and Grey Gardens swept the big awards, but we don't really care about who won or lost... we only care about what the gals wore.

Overall, the fashions glimmered more than a 5+ carat sparkling diamond with a brilliant variety of gowns that embraced the 3 C's of red carpet regality - cut, color and clarity.

My favorite look of the night - Blake Lively's low-cut ruby red Versace gown, hands down. Blake is never one to shy away from sexing it up on the red carpet and her look was bold, risky and totally made up for the fact that she screwed up announcing that winning writer's name. I wasn't crushing on her Amish-like mega long braid, but her nude Christian Louboutin shoes and Lorraine Schwartz jewels more than made up for it.

I'm happy to report that there were more flattering looks than fashion train wrecks, other favorites were Sandra Oh who was oh so glamorous in gold, Damages star Rose Byrne was a vision in Valentino, Blake's co-star Leighton Meester looked virtuous in white chiffon, Alyson Hannigan - a MILF if ever I saw one, and Debra Messing in a chic Michael Kors number that complemented her fiery locks Will and Gracefully.

Now for those exhibiting a total lack of clarity and fashion focus...

Sarah Silverman - Your joke moustache was more attractive than your sad blue gown that made you look three times hippier. You won't be effing Matt Damon for much longer if you keep dressing like this.

Phoebe Price - Repeat after me, "I am not Lady Gaga or Charo".

Victoria Rowell - I voted for Obama and think he's the bee's knees. Wear it on a Barack the House tee, not on an Emmy gown.

Other disappointments were Melora Hardin of The Office who looked kooky in a big yellow Spring Fling-like frock, Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi with a weird floral growth on her abdomen and House star Olivia Wilde fell somewhere in between with a mullet gown that looked gorgeous from the front and a hot mess in the back resembling a dolled up Frankenstein with a giant zipper holding her together.

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Best Dressed at MTV's VMA Awards 2009

Alert: We interrupt NY Fashion Week Spring 2010 coverage to bring you a quickie rundown of the MTV VMA Awards. Fashion Week has made me a little more critical, sorry ladies.

Beyonce - Our girl Bey Bey took home the pinnacle Video of the Year Award beating out Britney Spears, Eminem, Kanye Pest and Lady Gaga. Beyonce also nabbed the Award for classiest VMA nominee after inviting Taylor Swift onstage to enjoy her one moment in time after Kanye West took it upon himself to figuratively urinate all over her win.

Working it in red, Beyonce showed off some skin and leg with a plunging ruffled neckline and thigh baring skirt that made Jay-Z very proud that he had indeed put a ring on it.

Ashley Greene - Ashley Greene has done it again, stealing the best dressed spotlight from former mulleted and newly bobbed co-star of Twilight, Kristen Stewart. Rocking out long extensions (give 'em a try sometime Kristen) and a sweet retro half updo, Ash played it cool in a hip, age appropriate top paired with a solid gold metallic skirt winning me over with her silver bullet style.

Leighton Meester - Leighton was my Prom Queen at the Teen Choice Awards and was as stunning as usual in her sequined Christain Cota shift dress with pretty petal sleeves. From the thighs up Ms. Meester was right on target, once I caught a glimpse of her feet, I was texting Gossip Girl myself with a hell to the no to the shoes.

In other VMA Fashion news, Pink and Shakira wore the same dress (repeat after me, awkward)...

And as for Lady Gaga... I still need some time and therapy to process this.

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Teen Choice Styles and not so Choice Styles from the Teen Choice Awards '09

I caught a bit of the Teen Choice Awards last night, and although I felt a good decade older than the intended demographic, I still found myself slightly fascinated...like that time I was up until 4am watching Kids Incorporated clips on YouTube.

Hosted by a trio of Jonas Brothers, the show catered to a boisterous bubble gum and surfboard loving Cali crowd and the teens and pre-teens in the audience reminded me of a small, four-eyed dorky girl in middle school who used to perform the New Kids on the Block Right Stuff dance every night on her bed (Oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh).

Rather than compile a best and worst dressed list, I'm honoring these kids with the ultimate teen honor - the Senior Superlative. In the Teen Choice Award 2009 Yearbook, here are the stars I'll be remembering.

Teen Choicecoming King and Queen - When it comes to Teen Choice royalty, Chace Crawford and Leighton Meester from Gossip Girl receive double honors as King and Queen and Best dressed male and female. Leighton looked young, fresh and adorable in a Louis Vuitton Resort striped silk taffeta dress paired with the perfect bright-red platform pumps by Brian Atwood. Chace Crawford looked sexy in slate with a gray long sleeved shirt and vest combo and a new manly do with bangs styled away from his forehead.

Most Likely to molest a Jonas brother - Kim Kardashian

I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU ALL! HAVE A GR8T SUMMER AND KIT!!!

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Best Dressed at the MTV Movie Awards - The Hot and the Not

Last night, New York City's SNL master of the digital short, Andy Samberg, officially arrived on the West Coast shining his brightest and radiating more heat than a Laser Cat during his first big hosting gig for the MTV Movie Awards. Andy came well equipped with more than a few tricks in his box and rocked young Hollywood like a hurricane with his clever song stylings and goofy sweet presentation style.

All of the "It" guys and gals of young Hollywood were dressed up for the rockin' affair with a colorful crowd of fashions for me to go Lady Gaga over. My top honors for the night go to Sienna Miller in a glam, glitzy green sequined mini from her own sexy line Twenty8Twelve, The City's reigning fashionista Whitney Port in a drapey white goddess number that showed off her LA girl at heart bronzed glow, and Kristen Stewart - the Twilight girl of the hour who might not have won marks for classiest ensemble, but she stayed true to her personal style and her young age rocking black hi-top converse and a cool scarlet mini that I'm sure Robert Pattinson thought was bloody hot.

I'm not going to hate on anyone because the Movie Awards are ultimately a time for irreverence, a time for kids to take risks and experiment without it counting against them on their permanent fashion files, so I won't mention Megan Fox's slicked back mullet hairdon't, Miley Cyrus's desperate need for a bra, and Bruno's (aka Sacha Baron Cohen's) less than angelic bikini line.

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Best dressed at Oscars 2009 - No one was slumming

Next to Christmas and my birthday, last night was my third most favorite night of the year. I've been a fan of the Academy Awards ever since I could pronounce the word "Oscar". While other babies called out for the unsanitary trash can resident of Sesame Street, I was calling out for a different Oscar. The first full phrase I ever uttered was asking my mom to hand me the envelope please.

This year I was lucky enough to see most of the major films nominated and was thrilled to see the little-India-film-that-could Slumdog Millionaire sweep a majority of the night's awards. Other highlights included Heath Ledger's win for Best Supporting Actor, and as I predicted Kate Winslet's Best Actress win. You all owe me twenty bucks.

This year there weren't many huge surprises on the fashion front. For the most part, everyone looked radiantly divine, although I was a little disappointed with all of the teen starlet gown choices. Miley Cyrus was wearing a dress that would have looked great on Lucille Ball circa 1955, but not on a 16 year old pop princess. Vanessa Hudgens followed suit with a gown that bore a striking resemblance to the dress seen on the Tattinger's champagne model. Best Supporting Actress nominee Marisa Tomei glammed up, trying to make up for her prior fashion offenses but her pleated Versace gown was more complicated that a Sudoku puzzle with a level 5 difficulty. To make a long Oscar fashion blog short....Sarah Jessica looked too poofy, Amy Adams too vampy and MIckey Rourke too Saturday Night Fevery. Now that I've gotten the Oscar ball rolling, here are my top three faves and my three least faves of the night...

Kewl:

Penelope Cruz : Last night was the night for the Latin goddess when she took home the statue for Best Supporting Actress for her scene stealing portrayal of a bipolar ex gone mad in Woody Allen's tribute to Spain: Vicky Christina Barcelona. Penelope wore a vintage gown and summoned up the spirit of Audrey Hepburn from the hair to the gown to her graceful acceptance speech. Felicidades Penelope! Besitos!

Natalie Portman: In a Beauty and the Beast like moment, Natalie saved us from changing channels during Ben Stiller's odd Joaquin Phoenix impersonation. Your exquisite pink gown from Rodarte looked great against your skin tone and was a pleasant distraction from all the black and white. Wish you could have shared the podium with a sharper dressed man instead of one half of ZZTop.

Anne Hathaway: Anne, you're my girl and I blogged with pride when your Oscar nomination was announced. You may not have won the li'l bald guy, but you won a spot on the Let's Talk Style best dressed list...isn't that reward enough?

Eww:

Tilda Swinton: No. Just, no.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman: hey Phil, I Doubt a stylist advised you to wear that hat. You may be one of the finest American male actors we've got, but that does not reserve you the right to wear a scully to the Academy Awards.

Whoopi: Whoopi, according to the fashion police, you in danger girl. Your leopard print dress was so not Oscar material. I'm sure fashionistas everywhere will share my View.

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Grammy Style 2009 - Sugar and Spice but not everything nice

Award season 2009 continued with the 51st Annual Grammy Awards last night at the Staples Center in LA, and although I wasn't able to watch the arrivals live on the red carpet, I've spent the morning poring over the cold hard evidence and have dutifully scored my rock and roll regalia ballots. Who hit the high notes and who fell flatter than Bikini Girl from American Idol? Read and rock on...

Sugar: Singer Sara Bareilles. She was nominated for her hit Love Song and dressed accordingly, showing up red carpet ready, looking like she just stepped out of an ad for Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely perfume. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea and crumpets, but I say Oui Oui to Sara's romantic Parisian frock. In a sea of leather, sometimes it's nice to look like you enjoy being a girl.

Spice: Call me crazy, but I think I loved David Cassidy's daughter's dress. Actress Katie Cassidy brought a bit of bohemia to the red carpet with a spicy look that definitely stood out from the collection of safe Grammy styles hitting the red carpet. Normally I don't dig the hippie headband look, but Katie made it work for me. Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus wore lovely black gowns, but were they memorable? I think not.

Most Honorable mentions: American Idol alums Jennifer Hudson and Carrie Underwood. Simon says, you both looked hot.

Not nice: Most folks are going to point a finger at M.I.A. claiming she was by far the worst dressed of the evening, but I'm coming to her defense. To me M.I.A. came off as young, hip, edgy, fun and got points for being true to her ecclectic style while ingeniously covering up that baby bump...Plus, someone has to take over when Björk isn't invited. Paula Abdul on the other hand? If you were going for Barbarella, you ended up looking more like Barbarhella...Get sober and fire your stylist Paula. Your outfits hurt my eyes.

The big question of the night was what happened to the dynamic R&B duo no shows - Chris Brown and Rihanna? Turns out instead of beating his fellow nominees, Chris Brown was beating on his Rihanna. Next time Rihanna, hit him with your umbrella-ella-ella, hey hey.

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SAG Awards 2009 - The Good, the Bad and the Say What?

The stars and starlets were red carpet ready last Sunday night for the 15th Annual Screen Actor's Guild Awards with statues handed out by the actors, to the actors, chosen by other actors. Yep, that's a lot of actors. Silver, white, blue and sparkly seemed to be the running trends of the evening with sleek and sexy slip gowns stylishly sauntering down the carpet everywhere you looked.

Who dazzled and who disappointed? Here are Sammy's Saggy Awards for Best and Worst Dressed...

VA VA VOOM:

Emily Blunt - You looked like an Award yourself. Like glittered up Barbie. I likey.

Taraji P. Henson - You lived up to your character's name in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button looking like the Queenie of Old Hollywood in your white halter gown by Herve Leroux. Get down with yo sexy self.

Anne Hathaway - I have 5 words. Your Azzaro gown completes me.

POO POO POO:

Angelina Jolie - You looked like a great-grandma. Having six kids doesn't mean you have to dress like the old woman who lived in a shoe. You're Angelina Jolie, not Delta Burke. Dress like it.

Meryl Streep - Meryl, you're the most celebrated actress in the world. I know you weren't expecting to win, but don't phone it in, glam it up. Pretend you've just gotten the role of an actress nominated for a glitzy award. Now do your research.

Tina Fey - Tina, I love you. You know I love you. You are who I want to be. It hurts me to tell you that your dress was a bit too short for your age and looked like the dress I wore to my Senior Banquet in High School. Find a shop that specializes in floor length gowns Tina and say to yourself "I want to go to there".

Ba-dee ba-dee ba-dee -- That's all, folks!

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Golden Globes 2009 - The Best and the Worst of It

Everyone keeps asking me, "Sammy, what are your picks for the best and worst Golden Globe fashions?" I've taken some time to let the dresses, bling and updos from Sunday evening resonate, and am finally ready to go out on a limb with my list of Yays and Nays.

No doubt about it, the biggest trend of the night was the fitted fishtail gown. Everyone was wearing them, giving a shout out to Ariel of The Little Mermaid. Some did it right, some did it oh so wrong.

Yay: I'm a fan of fashion risks. That is when the risk fits the risk taker. This may surprise some of you, but my favorite look of the night was Drew Barrymore. Her Dior by John Galliano gown fit in with the whole fishtail under the sea theme, but it was soft and pretty and her big ratty hairstyle (à la Marilyn Monroe/Brigitte Bardot)contrasted the sweet frailty of the gown nicely. Drew actually looked ten years younger and seemed to be reincarnating her former bad girl, poison ivy self.

Fellow fashionistas may disagree, but to me Drew's look was memorable, true to her own personal style, and evoked the old style Hollywood glamour of yesteryear.

Honorable Mentions: Kate Winslet, Kate Beckinsale, Eva Longoria Parker and big winner of the small screen Tina Fey.

Nay: Renée, Renée, Renée. I have not one nice thing to say about Renée Zellweger's Globe getup, and when you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all.

Honorable Mentions: Marisa Tomei (Arg!) and Glenn Close who looked like a mixture of all four Golden Girls combined. Thank you for being a friend Glenn, but I hated your outfit.

See you at the SAG Awards!

Posted by Samara at 09:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)