OSCAR roundup : WORST DRESSED

SIGH (shakes head disapprovingly)

The ladies that have landed themselves on the WORST dressed list all have class, style and sophistication. IT just didn't show up on Oscar night. I've added some recommendations....'cause goodness knows some of them need help. Disagree if you must, but I have my reasons. Forgive me, I didn't want to do this. I love Jennifer Hudson. Really I do. But this needed to be said.

1) Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer what happened?!! This was YOUR night! You knew you had the Oscar was in the bag So what gives?

I propose the following explanation. Too much thought went into her look. For her entire award season, Andre Leon Tally has functioned as her red carpet stylist. Andre , Vogue's Editor-at-Large, is a man who possesses a knowledge and insight into the fashion world that can only be described as comprehensive and esoteric. He has HUGELY influenced my interest in fashion. I look up to him a great deal. It is with Andre's help that Jennifer squired the March cover of Vogue, and thus becoming only the THIRD African American woman in history to do so. He's put together some looks for her that have come to define full-figured sexiness for modern women. Jennifer has been at the top of EVERY best dressed list during the award season, all thanks to Andre's help and fashion knowledge.

I'll demonstrate this point.

Exhibit A : J-Hud has exuded pure class at all her Dreamgirls Premieres. My personal favourite? Her gold brocade Carolina Herrera gown @ the Paris premiere. She has worn some serious labels (Michael Kors, Costello Tagliapietria to name a few) and her midnight blue custom made Vera Wang gown @ the Golden Globes showed the crassly dressed Beyonce exactly how to be sexy and sophisticated (without having to undress in front of the world).

In brown Costello Tagliapietra

@ the Paris Premiere in Carolina Herrera

@ The Golden Globes in Vera Wang

@ The SAG Awards in Michael Kors

If you look at a timeline of all her looks leading up to the Oscars, you'll see a masterful build up of sophistication and glamour. As the Oscars grew closer, her outfits and looks became increasingly sophisticated and elaborate. This is exactly how it should be done...with the Oscars being the Pièce de résistance - the masterpiece, the ultimate moment to shine. The reason for this is simple, the award show season starts in late November and culminates with the Oscars in mid Feb-mid March. In that time frame, they're tons of award shows, galas and premieres to attend. Not to mention all the talk shows appearances starlets are expected to make in a final lobbying effort for Oscar gold. If you think I've gone delusional, look at seasoned stars like Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Catherine Zeta Jones, and even Julia Roberts during award season. Julia played it safe with simple Armani dresses in all her pre-Oscar appearances, but on the night of The Academy Awards, she pulled out all the stops in a vintage black and white Valentino couture gown that will go down in history as one of the best Oscar looks -ever.

But back to Ms. Hudson. As I said, her pre-Oscar looks were perfection. This shows the deft hand of Andre Leon Talley. But something went wrong on Oscar night. They put so much careful thought into her outfit that they OVER thought the whole thing. Yes! Too much thought isn't always a good thing.

J-Hud's Oscar look is a perfect example of following all the rules, yet completely missing the picture, by about 10 miles.

Why do I say so? Well, at first glance, it didn't work. I tried to convince myself for days that I loved it...liked it even. But alas, I had to come to grips with reality. It was just too much. Of everything. The dress, custom made for her by Oscar De la Renta (someone who I also admire greatly for his humanity and talent) was done in a colour that was perfect for her skin. But the execution was flawed. It draped and grabbed in the wrong places and made the lusciously curvaceous and full-figured Jennifer look much larger than she actually was. If that wasn't bad enough, the dress was topped with a metallic python bolero that made her look like an extra on Star Trek. To add even more insult to injury, her hair and makeup were way overdone. The hair looked unnaturally teased to the side of her face and her makeup artist applied enough mascara to repave a highway.

I give her mad props for taking a chance (the bolero) and trying to fuse it with elements of classical elegance (the pockets in the skirt). This last part has Andre written all over it. He's an advocate of skirts with pockets - it gives the impression of detached elegance. This was championed by none other than Coco Chanel herself. I agree. But in my humble opinion, it's only successful on a full skirt. (as in Amy Adam's chocolate brown Carolina Herrera from last year's Oscars)

Sorry Jennifer, but it didn't work.

@ The Vanity Fair Party in Roberto Cavalli

But what I find truly perplexing is the fact that the gold lace Roberto Cavalli gown she slipped into after she won the Oscar was PERFECT. So why didn't she also wear it before she won the damn award? I don't know....I just don't know.

My recommendations? I love the fact that she was the only starlet in custom made Oscar de la Renta. (Yes, I know Jessica Biel wore Mr. de la Renta as well, but her's was an off-the-rack gown from his Autumn/Winter 2008 ready-to-wear collection & in my opinion, it wasn't special enough for the Oscars) I would have put J-Hud in a fabulous gown from none other than His Worship, Valentino. And in keeping with the same theme of exclusivity, I would have demanded that she be the only girl in Valentino that evening. Normally, fashion houses don't do this, since more dresses on more stars mean more publicity. But ever so often they'll make an exception if you have enough fashion clout or are a guaranteed lock to win. Case in point - Cate Blanchett, on her request, was the only person to wear Valentino @ the 2004 Oscars . Everyone knew she was going to win. She's also very well regarded in fashion circles. Because of her request, even Giselle Bundchen, Valentino's favourite model, was reportedly turned down for a dress loan. Another example is Nicole Kidman's Jean Paul Gaultier couture gown @ the Oscars in 2003. Few people carry more fashion clout than Nicole. Apparently even Cameron Diaz was turned away when she tried to borrow a gown.

Here are my recommendations:

My personal favourite. My advice - I would have ditched the coat and made this dress floor length, with a small train. Then I would have made sure it provided more chest coverage and have the entire dress done in a colour that complemented her beautiful skin tone.

However, this one number would have worked as well, albeit with some minor alterations to suit Jennifer's figure .