Oscars 2011 fashion scene: Best-dressed stars, Vanity Fair party and more

Red carpet contest: Inside the Kodak, the nominees vied for statues, but outside, they vied for status.

Their assesment highlighted the best-…

Jennifer Lawrence, Best Actress nominee for “Winter’s Bone”: A perfect post-teen form, encased in an eye-popping Color of Now.

…and worst-dressed of the night’s nominees.

Nicole Kidman, Best Actress nominee for “Rabbit Hole”: An origami project in cloth (Amazing what waiters can do with napkins!)

Fashion writers Holly Thomas and Janet Bennett Kelly led an Oscars post-mortem chat where they covered everything from Reese Witherspoon’s ponytail to Mandy Moore’s gown:

Question: My girlfriend was appalled by Cate Blanchett’s dress, though I didn’t find it THAT that bad. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it. I take it I’m in the minority here?

Answer: I loved it … by far the most directional, interesting choice on an otherwise bland red carpet. And I want to know what she puts on her skin and hair to look that amazing.

After East Coast Oscars fans tuned out and turned in, another celebrity red carpet parade unfurled outside the Vanity Fair Oscars gathering. Style reporter Dan Zak was on the scene to decipher the antics and outfit changes at Hollywood’s biggest after party:

Another question: How does one pass the hours between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. at Vanity Fair when one doesn’t have a director to corner, or a starlet to seduce, or a powder to snort? One does what most everyone else does: play the world’s most opulent, expensive game of musical chairs. Turn and pose and sit here, in the glow of George Hamilton’s tan. Turn and pose and sit there, in the shamrock-green shadow of Gayle King’s gown (just in case Oprah shows). Someone bid $80,000 at Elton John’s party for two tickets to this one. The cost of a top-tier college education — for what? To get elbowed in the ribs by the most skilled crowd-parter in the world: Serena Williams, whose backhand is crippling in a roomful of people who ignore every “Pardon me.”

The crowd is extra knotty around a particular booth on the terrace, underneath planet-sized white balloons that change from yellow to green to purple as colored spotlights revolve on the roof. What rank of celebrity commands such commotion?

“It’s a cluster [expletive],” mutters a waiter, emerging from the pile, dressed like a naval midshipman and balancing a teetering tray of beverages.

Let’s crowbar our way toward that booth, toward the entity ensconced in admirers. And now, a glimpse of the person at the center. She’s petite, button-nosed, doe-eyed, with a boyish thatching of short hair flopped over her forehead.

She’s Justin Bieber. BIEBER. We should’ve known. What a kick in the teeth. We were hoping for a Beatty, a Julia, a Mr. Sidney Poitier perhaps, not this … this … this haircut. We must seek consolation elsewhere.

Who else commands one of these semi-circle booths along the perimeter of the terrace? The two Janes — Fonda and Lynch — sit shoulder to shoulder (the former’s is bare, the latter’s is covered by a glittery lady blazer) in a booth back by the bar. A rakish Paul Rudd captains another, and George Hamilton’s tan has the next one over.

More from The Washington Post:

Photos: Red Carpet Fashions

Celebritology: Oscars Best and Worst Dressed

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I have just bought a blouse that has waist ties – two long narrow (1cm) lengths of material sewn in to each side. I really like the blouse but I don’t know whether to tie these at the back or at the front. If I tied them at the front, do you tie a bow and do you have it central or to one side. Or shall I cut them off! What is the fashion just now? I would like to make use of them as I have a narrow waist and the fit looks better when tied, but whatever I do, I’m not sure if they just end up looking a mess. They give a more flattering fit when tied at the back, but I don’t want people to laugh at me.

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Missoni RTW Fall 2011

A quick glance at the program uncovered Angela Missoni’s premise. “Fairy-tale creatures,” it read, “enchanting and enchanted fairies.” Indeed, the collection proved a wondrous flight of fancy, yet one wonderfully flush with gorgeous real-world clothes. Missoni’s dreamy references were everywhere, particularly in the color palette. With everyone jumping on the punchy brights bandwagon, she struck a bold move in choosing gentle pastels — sorbet yellow, lilac, blush pink, baby blue and popsicle orange, softened even further with an overarching dégradé motif. The embroideries, too, were sweetly charming, including one adorable version featuring princesslike figures. (Some gals sported crowns; others, parasols.)

But Missoni kept things from veering too saccharine with plenty of smart counterpoint. For starters, all the models wore biker boots, albeit done in pretty suedes and snakeskin. She also cast everything in slouchy, boyish and street-urchin silhouettes, with ample strains of Nineties Seattle made delightfully upbeat. Pants came baggy; loose jackets and shorts were in raw-edged bouclés. The knits were extra exquisite this time, superbly chunky and oversize, tuck-stitched, intarsia-ed and lushly folded into basketweave patterns. And, as elsewhere, coats were standouts, especially the floor-sweeping versions in patchworks of colored snakeskin. What made this collection so refreshing was the optimistic overhaul of the grunge. Then again, Missoni is no stranger to reinventing tradition. On that point, the house zigzags were reinterpreted here as a striking Norwegian pattern on a plush mink coat. Simply meraviglioso.

Dolce & Gabbana fall 2011 Milan Fashion Week handbags and the fanny pack

National

Change city

Platform shoes: New style sweeps women’s fashion

Stephanie Risi didn’t think twice about purchasing a pair of 5-inch platform shoes last week at Dillard’s department store. The 51-year-old said the shoes make her feel sexy.

“I think women of all ages look sexy in these shoes,” she said. “They make your legs look longer and leaner, and men love them.”

Platform shoes, also a fad in the 1970s, date back hundreds of years, according to the website fashion.telegraph.co.uk. Impractical high heels, known as chopines, were worn by upper-class women in Italy and Spain during the late Renaissance era, the website reported. Some shoes were said to be nearly 20 inches high.

It can be a challenge to walk in today’s platform shoes, Risi said.

“Though I could run in platforms when I was younger, today I don’t walk far in them,” she said. “I don’t wear them all the time — mostly to church. And you don’t have to wear them outside. You can wear them inside. They look sexy with lingerie.”

Dillard’s shoe department sales manager Luciene Dopwell said platforms have been popular for the last year. She credited celebrities such as Jessica Simpson for introducing the trend.

“Today’s platform shoes have padding in front that makes the taller heel seem shorter, so it is easier to walk in them,” Dopwell said. “The heel gives the shoe more balance.”

Whether it’s a wedge heel or a tapered stiletto, high-rise shoe styles are selling well, she said.

“I’ve seen women of all ages buy these shoes,” Dopwell said. “If you feel good in them, it doesn’t matter what age you are.”

Former shoe boutique owner Lori Walker Boyd said she’s been a fan of platforms since she first wore them back in the 1970s.

“I love them because they give me additional height. I am 5-feet, 4-inches, but I love to feel tall. Also, they elongate the leg, making it look more slender.”

Both Boyd and Risi said the shoes are more comfortable than they appear.

“You have extra material to pad your foot,” Boyd said. “And in many cases the platform is a wedge, which gives you the extra stability between the ball of the foot and the heel.”

Risi said she looks for styles with straps to secure her feet in the shoes.

The downside to platform shoes is that they can damage your feet, Dr. Aaron Solomon, an area podiatrist, said in a previous interview.

“Any shoe with a high heel, platform or stilettos are not good for the feet,” Solomon said. “They may look good on a woman’s leg, especially since they define the calf muscle, but they’re bad for your feet. The flatter the shoe, the less stress on the feet.”

Solomon said a high heel puts extreme pressure on the front of the foot, which aggravates existing deformities such as bunions and hammer toes. Additionally, the shoes also can cause problems such as neuropraxia, or the bruising of nerves.

‘Wolfman’ Makeup Oscar Man Rick Baker: Why No Oscar for ‘Planet of the Apes’?

Seven-time Oscar winner Rick Baker is philosophical about winning, losing and what would’ve become of him if being a Hollywood makeup genius hadn’t worked out.

A couple weeks before winning the best achievement in makeup Oscar for The Wolfman, Baker told The Hollywood Reporter you can’t count on anything when it comes to Oscars. “It depends on the year,” he said. “There’s always somebody that gets left out. Its just become five [nominees] for the visual techs. It was five for the visual techs for a while, then it went down to three and back up to five. It’s hard to say. Some years it’s hard to find three films, while other years some things get left out. …

“There were so many films that got left out. For example, when I did Planet of the Apes, which is one of the biggest films I’ve ever done and I think it’s one of the best makeups I’ve ever done, and it didn’t even get nominated. …

“Who knows? I had just won the year before; so maybe they thought … let’s give it to someone else. You never know what’s going to happen. I’m just really glad to be nominated first of all. The film meant so much to me, and it’s one of the reasons why I am the person that I am and do what I do for a living. I so wanted to do this movie. It was a troubled movie, but it’s like the icing on the cake. I just got nominated for working on a movie that came out a year ago. A year ago, it was considered not really successful. I was so afraid that it was going to be totally forgotten and ignored, so I was really glad to see that it wasn’t. …

“I think all the films that are being considered this year are all worthy, and they’re not necessarily the biggest films nor the most promoted.”

Even if he hadn’t won, Baker would’ve thought it a privileged just to be employed. “So many of my dreams were to actually be able to make a living of what I did as a hobby. I used to have to save my allowances to buy a quart of rubber to make a mask, and it’s how I spent all my free time. I still do. I got into this because I love the work. I didn’t know anyone in the film business, and I didn’t really have a plan B.

“It’s a good thing it worked out because I would be sitting on the side of the freeway with a sign saying ‘Will do make up for food.’”

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