By Tallyn Owens
Entertainment Editor
The Academy Awards are often regarded as the biggest night of the year in Hollywood and with big nights come even bigger, more extravagant fashion. Tallyn Owens, our awards show expert, gives her two cents on the night’s many looks.
Best Dressed:
Mandy Moore: She attended the ceremony to perform “I See the Light”, the nominee for Best Original Song from her animated Disney flick “Tangled”, along side her co-star Zachary Levi. On the red carpet before the show, she wore a nude Lhuillier dress with sparkles accenting her torso and the
top of the skirt. Moore paired her simple up-do with clustered Chopard earrings and bright red lipstick.
Grade: (10/10)
Mila Kunis: Kunis arrived early to the Oscar festivities in order to prepare for her duties as a presenter and to support her film “Black Swan”, co-star Natalie Portman who won the Best Actress statue and Darren Aronofsky, who was nominated for Best Director. Her ensemble was one of the most talked about of the night. She wore a subtly stunning lilac Elie Saab gown, complete with lace and layering. Kunis also wore Neil Lane jewels.
Grade: (10/10)
Hailee Steinfeld: Hailee Steinfeld, the14-year-old nominee for Best Supporting Actress in “True Grit” wore a custom-made nude colored Marchesca “tea-length” dress with a gorgeous, gauzy skirt that was surprisingly glamorous and age appropriate. The only downfall of Steinfeld’s outfit were the Ferragamo pumps she wore that were a bit too tall for the cut of the skirt on the already 5’8″ Steinfeld. Otherwise, she fit right in on a red carpet full of Hollywood fashion pros.
Grade: (9/10)
Worst Dressed:
Gwyneth Paltrow: Paltrow, who like my best-dressed of the night, Mandy Moore, performed at the Oscars singing “Coming Home” from “Country Strong,” a nominee for Best Original Song. However, she didn’t quite match Moore’s fashion sense. She sported a silver, sleek Calvin Klein dress, that wasn’t completely hideous, and in fact praised by some red carpet reporters. But it was too harsh with Paltrow’s nearly white-blond, stick-thin hair and overly tanned skin.
Grade: (4/10)
Nicole Kidman: Kidman, a nominee for Best Actress for her work in “Rabbit Hole” and a seasoned veteran of the red carpet, wore chunky, unappealing, white Dior number with odd, asymmetrical folds that made Kidman look like she was wearing a six-foot-long napkin from a very classy restaurant.
Grade: (5/10)
Helena Bonham Carter: Costume designer Colleen Atwood, who took home in Oscar on Sunday night for her work in “Alice in Wonderland”, created this custom gown for the always surprising Bonham Carter, who wore mismatched shoes to the Golden Globes. Bonham Carter’s black, large, velvety dress had cuts in the sleeves, with a matching bodice a skirt complete with a Union Jack garter on her lower leg. While the dress actually complemented her nontraditional style in most ways, it wasn’t visually appealing and the black color seemed too boring for the kooky British actress.
Grade: (5.5/10)