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Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

It's Oscar night

Tryphena Absent

22:03 / 29.02.04

How insane to think that we've never had an Oscars thread in this forum before! I know it's the subject of gossip and some of you may want to escape but since I'm stuck in little England, far from the glamour of Oscar night, I feel the need to discuss it in depth.

Obviously there are staples to Oscar fashion that we can expect. Jennifer Lopez will be adorned in Versace and two or three leading ladies in Valentino. Someone will have gone all out vintage and someone else will probably make a fashion designer tonight. Clearly this ceremony with its ability to elevate a dressmaker to unexpected heights is incredibly important. It makes sense that fashion and Hollywood's film awards are so intrinsically linked together. The film industry is completely image orientated and rightfully so but I suppose that questions arise from the relationship between these industries.

So, are the Oscars a viable night for fashion considering that they really apply to something else entirely?

Is it acceptable to advertise Haute Couture through gossip magazines and the red carpet runway of an Awards Ceremony?

Rather more importantly who's dressed well and who looks like someone made the biggest fashion mistake ever?

22:27 / 29.02.04

Is it true that the designers specifically pick and choose which stars will wear their frocks on the basis of whether they're nominee's or not?

If it is, then the only star wearing an interesting designer will be one who is a/ not A list, b/not nominated, or c/cool enough to walk away from the Versace/Valentino/Armani hype and pop on a dress from an unestablished designer out of principle.

Oscar night is amusing, principally because there is always someone who gets it completely wrong. I just don't (as you have said already in the Late Shift) get how these people, who spent thousands of pounds on stylists can end up in appalling outfits, such as Gwyneth did in this:

I mean, where was her best friend in all this? Her Mum? Her stylist? Why didn't anyone say, "Nice frock, Gwyn' but you look like you could tuck your nipples in your knickers in it."?

20:51 / 01.03.04

Niomi Watts looked nice (I have no idea who she is)- she was wearing a champagne coloured dress- not groundbreaking, but nice and classic. Also, the lady who sang the song with Sting and another song looked loverly.
Renee Zellweger's was gorgeous, showed her figure off beatifully, but I think she could have done with a darker shade. Also, white's gonna be a nightmare to clean the underside of that train.

Nicole Kidman is in the AOL best dressed bit. Am I a freak in thinking she doesnt belong there? What was going on with the bust of it? Its way too... it looks like a shelf. A too small shelf. Please take one, $5 each. And then feathery legs...no no no. Has she not shaved them? And who wears grey to the Oscars?

Catherine Zeta Jones and Angelina Jolie were also on this list. CZJ was wearing a red fish (nice shape though), and Jolie's was the other way round. White satin- nice idea and because of her colouring she can pull it off better than renee zellweger, just a bad shape I think. Made her boobs look saggy. Sofia Coppola's dress didnt deserve best dress status either- too many seams on the torso, and then a sash as well.

Uma Thurman was quite rightly at the top of the worst list. It's almost to the tune of Gweneth Paltrow's afforementioned disaster. She looks like a tired swan. But Scarlett Johansson's shiny green liney unflattering blech..
I may sound like I have high standards, but do they not look in the mirror? Some of them- it was screamingly obvious that they looked terrible; could they not have put on a nice pair of plain trousers and a nice top, gone relatively unnoticed and not been critisised. For the rest of their lives. Sometimes I wonder.

nedrichards is confused

09:15 / 02.03.04

Gingerbop, that singing lady was Alison Krauss whom some might know better from the 'O Brother Where Art Though' album. Still sad that they nominated Sting and Elvis Costello but no Jack White. i would have *loved* to see what he would have worn.

Jolie gets +5 attractiveness for not having those stupid oversized lips anymore. As a personal style choice that has to be the most improving thing *any* big star did in 2003 and quite outmeasures anything she did with a dress.

I thought Keisha Castle-Hughes looked wonderful for a 13 year old. Not lolita-ish but just a really nice frock. (the fact that she melted over el depp helps a little too). Hope she's back.

12:50 / 02.03.04

I almost posted yesterday to say that Renee Zellweger looked awesome, but held off because if she turned up to the Oscars in a binliner I'd still be there saying "And didn't Renee Zellweger look great?" after seeing the photos.

Catherine Zeta Jones and Angelina Jolie were also on this list.

I've been trying to work out what was wrong with Catherine Zeta-Jones' dress, and just can't pin it down to anything specific. Might be that it's too patterned, because the cut is actually quite flattering. Or perhaps it's just because Jennifer Garner overshadowed everyone else who chose to wear red.

Tryphena Absent

15:20 / 02.03.04

Actually I think it was constructed really badly around the hips. The designer clearly meant it to be a period piece but failed because CZJ wasn't skinny enough to pull it off (and good for her, she clearly couldn't give a crap!). I really liked Coppola's dress, it was just textured anough and the sleeves were lovely.

16:11 / 02.03.04

Renee Zellweger looked OK from the front, but had this dreadful train-cum-plumage; it looked like a length of bogroll stuck to her arse. Nuls points.

18:55 / 02.03.04

From the photos I've seen, Nicole Kidman looked fine, and Scarlett Johanssen looked a little WRONG. Holly Hunter? What's your MOTIVATION?? Charlize Theron got it right. Although... what was with all the damn feathers this year?

I also loved Peter Jackson for simply being himself -- shaggy, top button undone, totally what he is.

Oscar photos here.

Oh, the Kidman picture I saw was full front. What a hideous profile that dress gives her....
Oh, wait -- it was Julianne Moore I was thinking of! All those skinny redheads blur together, I guess.