Our Two Cents about Oscar Fashion

Typically, this is the sort of occasion when we would simply defer to The Fug Girls, but, since everyone will have an opinion, here's ours. Reese Witherspoon is not exactly the one we would expect to be crowning the Queen of Awards Show Fashion, but she achieved a trifecta of sorts with her exclusive collaboration with Olivier Theyskens and his first dresses for Nina Ricci. He managed to give her a surprising shot of sex appeal this season while getting invaluable publicity for the line's relaunch. Everybody wins.
Special mention goes to Cameron Diaz in architectural Valentino that floated behind her as she walked across the stage, Maggie Gyllenhaal who brought Proenza Schouler to the Oscars, Kirsten Dunst in a spectacular Chanel, Gwyneth Paltrow in peach Zac Posen and Celine Dion (!) in vintage Galanos for the red carpet and J. Mendel for her performance. Jessica Biel went for understatement in fuschia Oscar de la Renta, which was perfect for her role as designated up-and-coming starlet and proved that you don't need a single sequin when you are that drop-dead gorgeous. Cate Blanchett's Armani column was a home run for standing, but, sadly, turned into a base hit when it came time to walk. We didn't quite get all the post-show hate for Anne Hathaway's black and white Valentino. The beautiful Eva Green did everything she could to undermine her considerable natural good looks with an unflattering hairdo, heavy eye makeup and a Givenchy that looked strangely lumpy, and Jennifer Lopez should know that full empire silhouettes make her look wider than she is, and so should Marchesa. But kudos to Jennifer Hudson for the kooky gold snakeskin bolero she wore over her Oscar de la Renta. It was the kind of glitzy, extra (removeable) touch that makes things interesting. Overall, though, people looked pretty good without resorting to safe and boring choices. We couldn't help noticing that the sweetly feminine Vera Wang dresses on Jodie Foster and Rachel Weisz bore little resemblance to the self consciously avant-garde things she has been sending down the runway these days. Perhaps Vera can glean a message from that.  Now, if only someone could get Nicole Kidman to stop doing stuff to her face, or maybe a bee just happened to sting her on the lips on the way to the Kodak Theater.
We saw all the pictures right away at Oscar.com

UPDATE: We would be remiss in our duties if we were to have any discussion about Oscar fashion without including Sally Kirkland. Sally was nominated for best actress exactly 20 years ago for "Anna", a little seen movie costarring supermodel and future "Dancing With The Stars" contestant Paulina Porizkova. It was a weak year for female performances. Since then, she has consistently appeared at the ceremonies in a succession of ridiculous dresses, like this one:
One of our favorite Oscar activities is finding Sally and seeing what she wore.
We are told this was designed and made for her by her Kabbalah Rabbi.
We were unaware that one of the many benefits of Kabbalah study was human flight, which Sally is demonstrating here.
Hard to believe that her mother was a fashion editor for Vogue and Life magazines.
Really.