London really is the fashionable place to be this week! Not only are we deep into London Fashion Week (top faves so far: Erdem and Aquascutum, watch this space for reviews!) but Sunday night saw the pre-Oscar film showdown, hosted as usual by Jonathan Ross at the Royal Opera House. I was particularly glad that Colin Firth won for the beautifully shot A Single Man, and loved Vanessa Redgrave getting the Academy Fellowship. But obviously, the real reason I was watching was for the dresses, which came up trumps with some elegant, perfect ‘winter red carpet’ pieces and some awful outings of what were surely nice dresses in isolation.
First up, let’s start with the classics – in both actress and designer terms. The ever-chic Kristin Scott Thomas managed to make a traditional evening gown look relaxed and understated, even though she was established-label heavy with dress and cape by Louis Vuitton and clutch by YSL. The lovelier-every-year Kate Winslet may not have been up for an award this time around, but she pulled off an immaculate red carpet look in Stella McCartney simple black, with delicate lace panels at the sides. She kept her hair wavy, tousled and loose to keep the whole look sexy yet fresh.
One of the big winners of the night was Carey Mulligan, who got her hands on the best actress award for her role in An Education. Reviews have been mixed about her floral full-length Vionnet gown, with one editor chastising the choice (apparently she should have chosen British labels) and some in the US commenting that the dress was too old for a young girl. In my opinion the dress was actually a fresh, young choice for the petite actress, especially with the slinky cut and heavy pattern. Many younger women stray into the ball-gown territory which can look severe, or set out to be too sexy which can also age them. Mulligan’s gown played up to her cute, elfin looks perfectly.
One of my other favourite dresses of the evening came courtesy of Rebecca Hall, there to present an award, who chose a stunning, sculptured black dress by Gianfranco Ferre. As I watched her take to the stage on television the dress looked elegant and the shapes worked, with the sharp shoulders and fitted waist. Unfortunately none of the print photos seem to have done it justice, proving that a beautiful dress can often be overlooked in the press, especially in black, if the detailing is hard to translate from real to photographic life. However, Rebecca Hall looks like a vintage Hollywood starlet as it is, and with the black gown, Forties waved hair and jewels she looked classy and confident.
I haven’t seen Claire Danes around in a while, and was surprised by her silver Burberry gown and red lips, as I tend to remember her as a demure star of the red carpet. But surprise is not displeasure, and I thought the colour complemented her skin wonderfully, allowing her to carry off the red lips and blonde hair without becoming washed out. Another ‘oh!’ moment came when I saw Anne-Marie Duff, another suspect for not really standing out on the red carpet, who looked stunning in Alberta Ferretti, which hugged her pregnancy curves and gave her an enviable décolletage.
The jury’s out on Audrey Tautou’s pink Lanvin number. I adore Tautou and I love Alber Elbaz and Lanvin, but wondered if perhaps the pink ruffles were a little too froufrou for a French girl who so often oozes understated Euro-chic appeal. And as she did so well in playing Coco Chanel in the film that was the basis for the appearance, I would have loved her to wear vintage Chanel for the outing. Perhaps at the Oscars?
Unfortunately, no points are awarded from me to Kristen Stewart, who was wearing Chanel. She was deserving of the Rising Star award, but took to the red carpet with unwashed-looking hair and smudged makeup, which did nothing to lift the relatively sedate strapless number, which was not flattering to her figure or her new stature in the acting community.
Over to the gents, and all the imaginary points I have go to the delectable Colin Firth (my eye candy of choice with no Clooney present) who not only gave the best speech of the night but who looked as trim, toned and sexy as he did as George in A Single Man, this time wearing, of course, a Tom Ford tux. Yum yummy yum.
