OSCAR Roundup : WORST DRESSED Pt.2

Ms. Hudson was not the only one that night to commit a fashion crime. In one of my final Oscar posts, I round out the list with a couple more picks for Worst Dressed.

The following ladies have landed themselves on the list for one reason only : THEY KNOW BETTER. In all fairness, Jennifer Hudson can be completely forgiven because she's new to the fashion world. However, these ladies are not. They are seasoned professionals who have been doing this red carpet bump and grind for a few years now. They each have a fashion sense that is beyond the average "my-stylist-told-me-to-wear-this" starlet and they have access to garments that average mortals can only dream of. They've all done better in the past, so I'm not tolerating any sloppiness or excuses.


2) Nicole Kidman

Nicole made a lot of Best Dressed lists that evening, but she landed at the top of my disaster list for one main reason - This is Nicole Kidman. Not Nicole Ritche or some other mindless star turned out by a stylist. This Nicole Kidman, Hollyood's undisputed Queen of Fashion. She has more class and style in her little finger than all of Tinseltown combined...and then some. She understands the power of clothes and the power of the right image. She understands haute couture and appreciates it for the art form that it is. She's extremely fashion savvy and makes daring choices (both in her movie career and fashion decisions) that few would even consider. She has a class and elegance about her that emanates whether she's in a pair of jeans or a Chanel gown. And most importantly, she has single handedly rewritten Oscar Style. Talk to anyone deeply interested in Oscar fashion and they'll tell you of the Fashion Moment. In 1997, Nicole Kidman stepped out of her limo at the Academy Awards wearing a chartreuse Dior Couture gown from John Galliano's first couture collection for the House of Christian Dior and revolutionized modern Oscar style as we know it.

Why was it so revolutionary? Simple. Because it was the first time someone wore a couture dress to the Oscars with true conviction. The frocks worn by other stars in modern times had either been used to grab attention (yes Cher, I'm talking to you) or were just plain boring. Nicole matched the dress perfectly to the occasion, and in doing so paved the way for other moments like Julia Roberts' Valentino a couple years later. Now haute couture is so prevalent on the read carpet, it takes a true fashion geek to tell the difference between what is couture and what is ready-to-wear. Nicole started all of this.

In Chanel haute Couture @ 2004 Oscars

In Jean Paul Gaultier Paris @ 2003 Oscars

In Chanel again @ 2002 Oscars

In Dior Couture by John Galliano @ 2000 Oscars

Her looks from that moment on have really cemented her role as The Queen of Cool. She's gone everywhere from pastel hues to darkly gothic, while remaining consistently glamourous. I saw an interview with her once where she said that she takes her red carpet role very seriously. She sees it as an opportunity to inspire young girls to dream. She's also genuinely interested in fashion and this is evident in the clothes she wears in her daily life. I don't think I ever seen a photo of her where she doesn't look effortlessly chic.

So what happened this year? Two words - Nicolas Ghesquiere (say that 10 times fast). This young designer, now head of the hallowed house of Balenciaga founded in 1914 by Cristobal Balenciaga, is a talented designer. His collections every season are extremely influential and the fashion crowd flock to his shows every year to see what going to be 'the next' thing in fashion.

One problem - I wouldn't put his clothes on a blind person. He's talented, but somewhere in that head of his he thinks its okay to put women in cyber robotic boots or pants so skinny you have to have an eating disorder to fit into them (for the record, it was he who started the whole skinny pant/jean scenario that is all the rage right now). But I do respect his vision. It may be misguided and wack, but it is artistic.

Now back to Nicole. She sees herself as someone who encourages "real artists" (as she calls them) by spurring on their creativity. This explains her longtime association with Karl Lagerfeld @ Chanel. But at least her Chanel frocks worked for her. These new Balenciaga duds fall horribly flat. Her white dress at last year's Oscars was so hideous, i had to turn my face away. The hemline was all wrong, the colour and embroidery washed out her gorgeous alabaster skin tone and her hair looked unkempt.

This year it's much the same. Mind you she has resolved her hair and hemline issues, but ultimately, it just doesn't work. The silhouette is nice, but there are no details to draw us in. And most tragically, the colour is all wrong. I'm sure if all the lights went out during the ceremony, hubby Keith Urban would have been able to find her easily because she'd glow in the dark. The red is WAY too bright for her skin.....or anything else for that matter. I wouldn't even paint my walls in that colour. Most people didn't like the bow on her shoulder, but I loved it. It was quirky and imaginative. And her hair and makeup were simple, yet beautiful. Shame about the rest of her dress. However it is a testament to her inner beauty that she still manages to radiate sophistication and class in spite of wearing a colour that's visible from space.

So alas, she lands herself on my list for the second year in a row. Nicole, for the sake of my sanity- PLEASE ditch the guy with the name I can't pronounce.