Oscars 2011

Well, I have to say it wasn’t a waterfall of high fashion, but there were some lovely hits and some  reliable misses; you can always count on Nicole Kidman right?

Starting with Cate Blanchett in Givenchy Couture and please understand that mere mortals could not pull this off, and I have no idea why this works but it does and she looks incredible! I love all the beading and the surprising flash of yellow at the back, the pale purple colour and pleated skirt just look amazingly good on her, so hail to the stylist who thought this would work and to Cate for making it stunning.

Hailee Steinfeld in Marchesa. After the austere black she wore at the Baftas it’s nice to see her back in something lovely. I think the hairband on her looks really pretty and the dress looks light and youthful but just princessy enough for a young girl going to the Oscars and with all Marchesa’s usual stunning sophisticated bead work.

Natalie Portman in Rodarte. She looked amazing and she needed to for collecting her Oscar. It made the most of her blossoming figure, the colour is absolutely stunning and I love the one-sided hair with the tassle earrings. I wish the dress went all the way down to the floor but I understand that you need to be safe. Love the beaded trim on the neckline and the just off the shoulders look.

Michelle Williams in Chanel. She looks beautiful, effortlessly chic. This dress is just the kind of thing she should be wearing: it’s flattering to her body, feminine and yet subtle and not too in your face.  I love the white blond hair too.

Sandra Bullock in Vera Wang. Ignoring the facial expresion, I think she looks pretty good. It’s a lovely red and I like the two layers on the breasts, it cinches in her waist beautifully and thank god the awful bangs are nowhere to be seen. Maybe she could have worn just a little more jewellery and definitely not a matching red bag.

Amy Adams in L’Wren. I like this look, the blue looks great with her strawberry blonde hair, it sculpts her body beautifully and although the jewellery is a bit random I honestly don’t think it would have worked without it. It also helps that it’s not just a simple diamond necklace, the big stone at the bottom is great.

Gwyneth Paltrow in Calvin Klein. I just don’t know about this dress, it has potential but I don’t like the belt which looks like an afterthought nor that the clasp on it matches her earrings; when was that ever an accepted fashion practise? Also the hair is just a bit catalogue model.

Mila Kunis in Elie Saab. Again this is another one I’m not sure about. It’s just a little to0 nightie-esque.  I like the bodice but then you lose me on the semi see-through vaguely shaggy bottom half. Lovely colour but a bit disappointing.

Scarlett Johansson in Dolce & Gabanna. I don’t like this, it’s far too matronly and the two tone raspberry colour mixed with flower pattern lace just doesn’t work. Is it me or has she lost her way with her look recently? Also it seems as if she is wearing dark underclothes, although this may just be the odd placing of the lace or the colouration.  In the close-up pictures you can see that she’s wearing orangey eyeshadow which is very random.

Anne Hathaway in vintage Valentino. Some of the dresses she wore during the show were good but I don’t like this one for the red carpet; the whole thing is quite oddly proportioned, I think it needs to be pulled up or have the hair down or something, it’s so bottom heavy. I think for the Oscar host something a little more dramatic or sexy would have been good. I don’t see her stylist Rachel Zoe going ‘bananas’ over it, but maybe she did.

Reese Witherspoon in Armani Prive.  The awful piece of hair on the back really doesn’t work and makes her look cheap and Princess Barbie like. The dress is ok but a bit mature I think for her. She can do old Hollywood so well and I don’t understand why she settled for this.

Jennifer Lawrence in Calvin Klein. Is it me or does she look like a blow up sex doll? Way too much hair and not enough jewellery. For someone so California pretty she could easily carry a more edgy, fashion forward dress. She looks like Donald Trump’s new wife not a hot young starlet.

Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine looking awful in who knows what (actually Valentino). It looks so much like your granny’s marriage bed attire. Why the high neck? Why the long sleeves? Why wear a colour the blends into you skin tone? I’ve seen her perform and she is incredible and she can carry off something much more radical than this. Her Givenchy Couture at the Grammys was so much more haute.

And finally Nicole Kidman in Dior. Now Dior could do with some good press right now but it’s not going to get it from this dress which is just odd.  It looks heavy and bizarrely brocaded, like home embroidery or an altar cloth. Maybe she got up from the table too quickly and took the cloth with her. And I’m sorry but that piece of hair on her face is so not ok; why is her hair always so bad?

Source: Zimbio

Mary Katrantzou A/W11 London

I love it when there’s a collection that reveals something new and fascinating every time you look through it.  Mary Katrantzou’s does just that. Her shapes are so bold and the prints and the placing of them so perfectly put together. Last season lamp shades are still here but with a whole museum’s worth of faberge eggs, ming vases, koi carp and marble pillars. My particular favourite was the inverted skirts that hung away from the hips and funnel down, so the body rises above like flowers in a vase; so different and interesting.  Many of these looks are not very ready to wear,  but like art they are inspirational and make you want to touch them and look closer. She uses a lovely and varied colour palette of oranges, purples, yellows, turquoises, cream and black.  The styling of the models with slicked back hair and clean skin was a perfect fit.

Osman A/W11 London

This was a show where you really noticed the setting.  There was a beautiful ‘oil spill’ back drop that cascaded down onto the floor and lots of the editors arriving late for the show were told off for putting their 5inch stilettos on the paint work. Cleverly this effect was echoed on the bodice of a pink dress and down the side of another yellow one.  Osman continued the trend for colour blocking with lots of pinks and oranges against some nudes and black. Textured fabric and the soft sheen of leather broke up some of the single colours as did stripes, mostly horizontal and there were some interesting uneven hemlines.  The models had very intense hair and make-up.

John Rocha A/W11 London

This collection was all about texture, with fur, leather, wool, lace and some glitter highlights competing to give a mixed vibe. In fact a “love of apparent contradiction” was John Rocha’s inspiration this season.   The clothes looked heavy to wear, as were the huge knitted hats, and with a lot of black relieved only occasionally by some pale colour there was a sombre feel to the show, carried through into the models’ messy hair and wistful faces. Top model Abbey Lee Kershaw opened and closed the show.

Basso & Brooke A/W11 London

Once again it was the digital printing that made this collection so stunning.  This was a series of camouflage effects drawn from the world of nature and birds, even from a photograph of organic decay on a wall.  You all know I love pattern and the patterning here was highly complex and subtle and played interestingly on the two-sided idea of both standing out and blending in.   I also love stand-alone clothes that do everything you want them to do and for the most part these looks were stripped of design ‘extras’.  The hair however was highly distracting and seemed almost to blend into the fabric which might have worked, but especially with the turtlenecks it looked as though all those lovely patterns had sprouted brown hairy shoulders.

Source: Style.com

Bora Aksu A/W11 London

Back at Somerset House for Bora Aksu’s collection, showing in the main tent for the first time.  This was a hard one to pin down as it was part futuristic, part theatrical, part Victoriana.  The unifying factor was the colour, mainly pebble greys and beiges with just a flash of sharper greens and blues.  Beyond that there was a lot of very intricate and contrasting panelling, neat bodices on top of puffball skirts, sheer sleeves under wide capes, cabled wool cascading over metallics as well as lace.  It was beautifully constructed and looked pleasingly autumnal.

Bernard Chandran A/W11 London

I apologise for the disappointing photos from this show, I just couldn’t avoid the strong lighting from where I was sitting. Bernard Chandran loves to play with shapes and there were all manner of varieties of peplum here, side swept, up-swept, soft and stiffened. He added even more interest by placing barely attached pieces of contrasting fabric onto the dresses almost like bustles or floating scarves, sometimes catching them loosely in a belt.  There were lots of strong reds, pinks, oranges and blues too, as well as lace and feathers, though one huge feathered look perhaps went a bit far towards candy floss.  Altogether not a collection for the retiring type but full of innovation and interest.

Falguni & Shane Peacock A/W11 London

As you will know if you read my blog, I assisted stylist Marcella Martinelli for a while and she used to style Falguni & Shane Peacock’s shows, so I am pretty well acquainted with this husband and wife duo. Their style is always flamboyant and strong and they stick to what they know. I was lucky enough to find myself on the front row and had a great view of all the amazing beading, plumage and feather work. With a more punky feel to this latest collection featuring lots of leather, metallics and sheer fabric this was not for retiring types. You can see a couple of their looks during the fight scene in Britney Spear’s new video, which will have gained the label some notoriety. The only negative that I would say is that the models really were far too thin and actually detracted from the enjoyment of the show.

Maria Grachvogel A/W11 London

Maria Grachvogel’s show was held in the Savoy Hotel ballroom, which made a beautiful setting with a lovely calm atmosphere despite the usual melee. The clothes in her collection were, as always, sleek, fluid and subtle. There were lots of lovely sheath dresses and tunics, some soft wide trousers, the loosely fitting fabrics draping beautifully over the body, and this movement was echoed by the soft necklines and the watery patterns. As with other designers, I didn’t feel this was a particularly wintry look, apart from the big white coat. My favourite was the orange dress I’ve featured two photos of below.  The models had a strong look with almost dark blue lips and severe hair but still managed a confident, elegant slouch around the room.

Jonathan Saunders A/W11 London

With a lively colour palette and some great patterns  you could be forgiven for thinking this was a spring collection. It did start more subdued with darker suits and the shapes were generally demure, but then it flourished into full blown colours.  I really liked this collection: the strong colours were boldly used to complement and contrast, sometimes with the overlay of pattern or different textures, all combining to produce the sort of statement items that really appeal. One small styling caveat, the models’ makeup was rather sickly, with an unflattering colour around their eyes.

Source: Style.com