EMMA JOHNSON
IT WAS ALL CHANGE AT THE OSCARS
As much as I love having a big ‘do’ to look forward to, I find the whole process of choosing The Right Outfit for the occasion somewhat stressful.
I will spend hours and hours poring over websites, looking for the perfect dress, then I might need shoes, possibly a bag. If the neckline requires jewellery, that is extra labour.
I realise those sentences represent the very epitome of first world problems but I typed them because last weekend saw the 94th Academy Awards, aka the Oscars, take place in Hollywood.
You may have come across a headline or two about the event.
And while the world has been focussed on the antics of two rather foolish males, for the purposes of this column, I have spent my time thinking about the women in attendance that evening.
You know, those guests who didn’t take it upon themselves to say anything cruel about anyone or thought that what the night was missing was a little spontaneous violence.
And what I noticed while looking at said women was that, this year, almost all of them changed their gown between the main event at the Dolby Theater and the Vanity Fair after-party. That means they had to find not one perfect dress but a pair of them.
Well, their stylists did.
The Oscars has long been the world’s biggest fashion show and designers fall over themselves to dress A-list guests. If said guest has a chance of going home with a little gold man then the stakes are even higher.
Celebrity stylists are courted by the luxury labels and in recent years it has been claimed that some actresses are not just loaned frocks for the night, they are actually paid eye-popping sums to wear them.
So, I guess we should not be at all surprised that so many of them are now taking the opportunity to wear two.
There is more to this though than just double bubble for the fashion brands.
When you see some of the over-the-top, oversized and likely very uncomfortable dresses on the Oscars red carpet, you can understand why the stars might be itching to get out of them.
Case in point singer and Best Original Song winner Billie Eilish, who swapped her enormous gothic ruffled Gucci gown for a dancefloor-friendly knee-length design between events. Coda actress Emilia Jones and Best Supporting Actress winner Ariana Debose also changed into more party-ready looks.
In Olivia Colman’s case, I think the decision to switch her stunning silver Dior design for a maroon Dolce & Gabbana dress was less about comfort and more to do with the Dior number bearing quite a similarity to the ivory Stella Mccartney dress The Lost Daughter star wore to the
Vanity Fair party in 2019, the year she won her own Oscar.
Best Actress winner Jessica Chastain was also part of the quick-change crowd.
By the time she reached the VF party she had stepped out of her lilac and bronze Gucci dress and into a mermaid-esque emerald one, also Gucci.
Both were beautiful but the first had the edge.
If I got to wear that gown, forget ditching it for another one after just a few hours, you’d have had to have it surgically removed from me under anaesthetic.