EMMA JOHNSON
ANYONE FOR SECONDS?
SO, THE Oscars... This year’s ceremony didn’t exactly set the world on fire did it? (Actually, can I still use that phrase in these climate-conscious times?)
Other than Korean movie, Parasite beating 1917 to Best Picture, the rest of the night’s recipients were such a foregone conclusion I am surprised they even made the actors wait until the night to get their names engraved on the gold statuettes.
They could have saved precious drinking and networking time by having them inscribed in advance.
Not that I am watching the Academy Awards to see who wins, I want to see what people are wearing.
And on that front I have to say I was a little disappointed this year.
It all seemed a bit samey and in a few cases, a bit like we’ve seen it all before.
Then again stylists, contracts between actresses and fashion houses and, in some cases just cold hard cash, have largely seen off any independent spirit on the red carpet over the last decade.
I didn’t like it but I suppose at least Billie Eilish stood out in her grungey oversized Chanel tweed suit. What Coco herself would have made of it who knows, although the designer did once say “in order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different,” and you can’t accuse the young singer of failing to fulfil that brief.
But, Billy Porter notwithstanding, I struggled to be truly wowed by any of this year’s gowns at the ceremony at least.
Where Oscars fashion did get good at the weekend was the Vanity Fair afterparty.
I can’t remember a time when so many stars opted for an outfit change between events.
And this was not a case of ‘slipping into something more comfortable’, in a lot of cases the second ‘look’ was as big, risque and high maintenance as the main event one.
In every case I thought the follow-up frock was better than the original.
Florence Pugh’s shimmering gold bodycon Louis Vuitton dress was sharper and sexier than the green tiered number she wore for the ceremony, Charlize Theron’s fringed Dior couture flapper dress blew away the structured black gown she’d worn earlier, and while Oscar winner Laura Dern’s second Armani Privé dress was very simple, I was just happy to see her out that awful ‘saloon girl’ frock she had on when she picked up her Best Supporting Actress statuette.
One person who didn’t feel the need to switch things up between shindigs on Sunday was Best Actress winner Renée Zellweger.
The 50-year-old Judy star arrived at the Vanity Fair do still wearing the very same sequined white Armani Privé gown she’d walked the red carpet in.
I don’t blame her. If I owned a dress that was that flattering – apparently it took 12 fittings to get it sitting exactly right on her frame – and that fabulous, I’d wear it till the damn thing fell off.