The Oscar round-up

Here it is - Kelley's Oscar Awards fashion report! I have a Top 10 for both best and worst dresses. Since it's hard to go wrong in a tuxedo, I have two favorite men's outfits, but no "losers." So let's start with them!

I'm always fascinated by watching all the different types of tuxedos at awards shows, trying to pick what Chuck might look good in while conducting. :) I'm his celebrity stylist.

LEONARDO DiCAPRIO

Leo could have worn jeans and a t-shirt and still managed to look elegant, but of course he went formal. I loved his tuxedo - I think it was a different kind of material than tuxedos usually are made of. It looked like it had some texture to it - not quite velvety, but something like that.

DJIMON HOUNSOU

I loved Djimon Hounsou's tuxedo. I loved the detailing around the lapel and the pocket, but most of all I loved that it was brown! It was a great new color spin on the tuxedo without looking crazy. LOVED it.

So on to the dresses.
My favorites were (in order):

1. ANIKA NONI ROSE

My absolute favorite dress was the one that Anika Noni Rose wore when the "Dreamgirls" sang during the show. She had a really fun silver dress on for the red carpet, but I thought this red one was stunning. I want that dress!

2. PENELOPE CRUZ

Penelope absolutely looked like a Best Actress winner. Because she was nominated for a big award, I think she had a little more leeway in wearing a "bigger" or more eye-catching dress, and this was a great pick. She kept her hair and jewelry very simple and let the dress make the statement. I loved the swirling pattern on the top, and the shape of the dress in general. At first, I was a little skeptical about the feathers, but in the long run I think they gave the skirt an interesting texture, and made the dress stand out more in a positive way.

3: REESE WITHERSPOON

Reese looked fabulous, as you can see. No explanation needed.

4: QUEEN LATIFAH

I am always impressed with Queen Latifah's choice of dresses. She has a fuller figure to work with, and always looks great. What I love about this dress is that it's a feminine take on the tuxedo - the stripes are like those on tuxedo pants, and it has a cummerbund.

5: JENNIFER LOPEZ

Next, I liked Jennifer Lopez's dress. At first glance, I thought she was perhaps pregnant - I caught a weird angle of the draping of the skirt. But that was not the case. While I wouldn't wear this dress, I thought she looked absolutely iconic in it. And her hair looked beautiful!

6: TIPPER GORE

I am letting a non-movie star on to my top ten list. It was Al Gore's big night, and his wife looked great. I think her gown was a deep brown, and the sleeve over one shoulder was very elegant. Not as flashy as some others, but very "first lady." (Second lady?)

7: ABIGAIL BRESLIN

How cute is Abigail Breslin? She looks like a little girl dressing up as a princess - I'm sure she must have felt like one!

8: RINKO KIKUCHI

Rinko Kikuchi redeemed herself after her pink poodle-dress fashion disaster at the Golden Globes. She looked very elegant in this beautiful black lacy dress, and her hair was beautiful.

9: JADA PINKETT SMITH

My only complaint about Jada Pinkett Smith's dress was that she looked like an Oscar herself! Maybe that was her goal. It is a really pretty color on her, but it does border on resembling C-3PO a little bit. I loved the shape of the bottom of the dress. Also, I've seen her at a lot of awards shows with really severe hairstyles - pulled back really tightly - so I liked her hair better here. Their whole family looked good!

10: CELINE DION

Well, I didn't see everything that is showing in this picture when Celine was on TV, if you know what I mean. I loved her dress, though, and I love the green color. The pin on her hip was very pretty.

The next three left me with an overall positive impression, but I'm not putting them on my favorites list.

BEYONCE KNOWLES

This dress would be perfect if the sash across her shoulder wasn't so prominent and if the slit wasn't so high. But who am I to criticize Armani?

NICOLE KIDMAN

Nicole Kidman's dress was a case where I didn't really like her dress, but she looked very striking. It had a big "WOW" factor. I don't think it would look as good on anybody else. And the bow was nowhere near as frightening as Charlize Theron's dress was last year.

HELEN MIRREN

Even though Helen Mirren looked very nice, and her dress was age-appropriate (unlike her chest-revealing Golden Globes dress), I was underwhelmed. She knew she was going to win the Best Actress award - this was her evening to shine! She should have gone with something more interesting. She could have made Oscar fashion history!

So now we'll move over to the negative end of the spectrum. This list is in order from not-so-bad to horrible.

10. ANNE HATHAWAY

(Valentino) The problem, of course, is the big black bow. It was not flattering to her figure because of how the bottom of the bow was angled on her dress. Plus, there was a big bow on her butt, too! I think she had good intentions, but it just didn't work.

9. JENNIFER HUDSON

(Oscar de la Renta) The whole hour of the red carpet coverage before the Oscars, I was praying that the gold shrug thing was not actually attached to her dress, and that she would take it off for the ceremony. And, thank goodness, she did! But again, for one of the big stars of the evening, the dress was not very exciting. Maybe a different color would have changed that. She did almost have a fashion disaster on stage while singing - there was almost a wardrobe malfunction moment because she got really into the singing, and almost popped out of her dress. Yikes!

8. MAGGIE GYLLENHALL

This dress is just trying too hard. I hated the shoulder strap that attached front and center, and I don't like the blue and black combination.

7. JODIE FOSTER

Snooze. Not only was this dress boring, but it fit really weird. It had a kind of belt, and all the fabric above the belt was kind of bunchy. And a boring color.

6. GWYNETH PALTROW

Gwyneth was wearing Zac Posen. I was actually surprised there weren't more Zac Posen dresses on the red carpet - I think only hers and Portia de Rossi. Last year I think he had a lot of dresses at the Oscars, including Felicity Huffman's, who was up for Best Actress. I really wanted to like Gwyneth's dress, but I just couldn't. I don't like the top - it looked like she put on her shirt backwards - and all of the lines draw your eye directly to her stomach. What bugged me the most is that she was really adamant about keeping all of her hair swept in front to that one side. Why? To hide the ugly dress? Did she spill something on it?

5. CAMERON DIAZ

A lot of people said "good for Cameron" for "taking a risk" - well, fine, but the risk didn't pay off. Ugly dress! And does she ever do her hair? It always looks like that.

4. EVA GREEN

I have no idea who Eva Green is. Maybe she was in a "Living Dead" movie because she really looked like a zombie!

3. KIRSTEN DUNST

I just felt bad for Kirsten Dunst in this dress. It was kind of sad. It's Chanel couture.

2. JESSICA BIEL

I just really didn't like this. It was kind of 80's, with the yucky black belt, and it wasn't a nice or interesting shape. Ew!

1. MERYL STREEP

Meryl's Prada dress (how appropriate) gets the Worst Oscar Outfit award. What was she thinking?

I think I've been watching too much "E Network" on TV because I'm starting to sound like their annoying fashion commentators. Of course, my opinions are much more valid, right? :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the Oscars if you watched the entire long ceremony, and if not, I hope you enjoyed my little fashion round-up.