Oscar fashion: fabulous and faux-pas

Part of the fun of watching the Academy Awards is to see what the celebs are wearing on the red carpet. There are everything from fashion duds to fashion "wow's" and for those who strike out where it comes to their choice of gown, I really have to ask....."What were they thinking?" You'd think that Hollywood people, who are doubtless handsomely paid, could do a better job of dressing themselves on just such occasions. But maybe some of them do the outrageous thing just to get attention. Who knows. But I just can't understand why anyone would be caught dead in some of the clothing I saw on this year's red carpet. Let's start with the image on the left. Writer Diablo Cody, who won an Oscar for writing the comedy film "Juno", wore this animal print gown. Um, why? Sure, it's wacky, it's different, it's eye catching, but it's still not my idea of appropriate red carpet clothing. Oh, and it revealed a rather ugly tattoo on her right arm. Now, call me old fashioned, but I cannot understand the current popularity of tattooing and piercing. It just looks tacky and I predict that within 10-20 years, a booming business in tattoo removal will spring up as these youngsters age and realize that their once fashionable tattoos look hideous on their middle aged, bulging and sagging flesh. Anyway, my vote for one of Oscar's worst dressed women goes to Diablo Cody.

Now, take this number worn by last year's Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson. Can you say, clams on a beach? Why on earth would someone with such an ample bosom like hers wear something with an empire waist? Not exactly the best choice of gown to wear if you're on the top-heavy side. I would have chosen something that would have de-emphasized my bust line if I were her, something classy that would work with her body shape. I have no objections to the color. White is always classic, chique and stylish, but this was, simply put, the wrong choice of gown for a woman built like Jennifer Hudson. One can only hope that this can be chalked up to Hollywood inexperience and that in future years, her walks down the red carpet will be characterized by a better choice of gown. Get this woman to a fashion consultant! So this counts as another one of my Oscar red carpet "worst dressed" choices for this year. Sorry, Jennifer, you may have a fabulous voice and are a budding

acting talent, but your fashion sense leaves a lot to be desired.

Helen Mirren has long been one of my favorite actresses. I first saw her years ago playing Morgan LeFay in John Boorman's "Excalibur". She was beautiful then and she's still beautiful now, even as she grows older. As she does so, she grows more regal in her bearing. I simply adored her in "The Queen" and in "Calendar Girls" and there are quite a few other movies of hers that I have not yet seen that are on my list. This choice of gown that Helen Mirren wore on the red carpet is just gorgeous and emphasizes her regal bearing even more. Red is the perfect color for her and she wears it extremely well. Red seemed to be the choice of color for the night, as at least a half dozen actresses chose the bright scarlet color for their red carpet gown of the night. Some of the red gowns were....well, not so great. Everyone lauded Heidi Klum on her red gown but I thought it was ugly and atrocious. This red gown, with its subtle sleeves, is the perfect gown for an older but still very vital woman. It's stylish without being overbearing. It really gave Ms. Mirren the look that draws attention, but so glaringly that it screams to be paid attention to. Congratulations go for this choice of gown that rates as one of my favorites of the night.

By far, this gown worn by Amy Ryan, who starred in Ben Affleck's surprise directorial hit "Gone, Baby, Gone" ranks as my absolute favorite of the entire night. Its midnight blue color is classy, regal and eye catching without being too audacious. It has a classic, almost Greek goddess look about it, with its one shoulder styling and narrow band at the waist. It's understated without being underdressed, but still classy and beautiful. It's a gown that probably would have been my choice of the night had I been chosen to walk the red carpet myself. This style also works beautifully with Ms. Ryan's body type, which is a very important consideration when choosing a gown to wear. Compare this with Jennifer Hudson's obvious fashion faux-pas and you can see that some people obviously went to great lengths to find someone who knew how to dress them and do it well to complement their body type and build. Another thing that I like that works with this gown is the fact that Ms. Ryan has orange-red hair and orange is a complementary color with blue. Her hair color is subtle enough, though, not to clash with her gown. This excellent choice of gown gets my vote for "Best in Show" for Oscar night. This is one stylish, classy, understated but elegant gown that I would choose in a New York minute for what I would want to be seen in on Oscar night.

So there you have it, Oscar fans, my votes for best and worst dressed on the red carpet for Oscar night. I read in today's paper that the television ratings for this year's Oscar night were pretty abysmal, and that's probably because there were no really big name films or big name stars that had been nominated for Academy Awards this year. Mostly they were small films that became surprise hits like "Juno", "La Vie En Rose" and other lesser known films. It's not that Hollywood failed to come up with any big blockbusters this year, it's just that none of them were really Oscar worthy and the smaller films seemed to catch on with very dedicated audiences. And that's probably not a bad thing, either. It speaks well of small movies that they can garner the attention of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences enough to be nominated for awards. Congratulations to all Oscar winners and nominees this year!