OSCARS 2010

For the first time that I can remember, I missed the live telecast of the Academy Awards. I was in Denver for the weekend to see my son play lacrosse and was flying home during my favorite show of the year. I had asked my daughter, who was staying with a friend, to go by our house and record the show for me but she forgot. Seems she was too busy cleaning-up my house from the party that she threw on Saturday night, but that’s another post on another day. Just don’t expect to she her “out” anytime soon unless she’s part of a chain gang. Now, back to the Oscars. I have done copious on-line research to bring you some fashion highlights of the evening along with some other “Oscar observations”.

The Hurt Locker was the big winner of the evening with six awards and I could not be happier. It took the prize for Best Picture which was the only surprise in the “big six” categories. Kathryn Bigelow deservedly took home the Oscar for Best Director—the first time a woman has won in this category. Casting is an especially strong suit for Ms. Bigelow. Placing an unknown, Jeremy Renner, in the lead was brilliant—it kept us guessing as to whether he would make it out alive or not. If she had cast Brad Pitt we would have known that he was not getting blown-up because he cost way too much money to die! I have a huge amount of respect for Kathryn Bigelow for thinking about story over opening weekend receipts. And while we are on the subject of Kathryn Bigelow…

One of my favorite looks of the evening was Ms. Bigelow who at 58 years old looked better than a lot of the actresses half her age. Her dress emphasized her tone arms and with her long hair down and slightly curled, she looked effortlessly elegant.

Best Actress winner, Sandra Bullock, looked stunning in a beautiful beaded Marchesa gown. Ms. Bullock’s simple and sleek hairdo and her red lipstick set-off her gown perfectly. As my good friend VJ said, “Sandra Bullock dressed to win.”

Other winners in the best-dressed category…Meryl Streep is a brilliant actress but has often shown up on the red carpet looking less that glamorous. Not anymore! She was stunning at the Golden Globes and was a winner (on the red carpet) at the Oscars in a bright white gown that showed of a smooth décolleté and a smile that conveyed a comfortable veteran enjoying herself. Helen Mirren is a master of dressing for her age—always elegant and sexy but never looking like she’s trying to compete with the ingénues that surround her. Kate Winslet was the epitome of elegance in an YSL gown that fit her perfectly and a necklace that completed the dress instead of fighting with it for attention. Sarah Jessica Parker’s gown was on as many “worst-dressed” lists as it was “best-dressed” but isn’t that what we’ve come to expect of SJP? I think she pulled it off with Carrie Bradshaw panache. I want Rachel McAdam’s Ellie Saab dress!

Now for some less than perfect looks. Vera Farmiga and Jennifer Lopez may have been two of the sexiest women on the red carpet. So why would anyone—especially the sultry girls—wear a dress that looks like a suit of armor? I just think that if you pass your sweetheart on the way back to your seat from the bathroom and he wants to grab you and take you into the coat room for a nice, long kiss, you should have a dress on that says “take me, I’m yours” and not one that says “you can’t come near me and if you try I’ll hurt you.”

And for the men…Tom Ford you were perfection and George Clooney, you were perfection that needed a haircut!

I was disappointed that Matt Damon wasn’t nominated for his role in The Informant, or Marcia Gay Harden for her role in Whip It and that the movie The Hangover didn’t get one of the ten Best Picture nominations. It was a joy however, to see Jeff Bridges finally win an Oscar to see him share the moment with his wife of many years.

I promise to never again miss the live telecast of the Oscars. If my son plays in Denver next year on Oscar weekend I will simple stay over and fly home on Monday. And as for my daughter, I’ve checked with the Presidio police (they had to make a trip to my house to break-up the party that my DARLING daughter threw) and they have assured me that if she doesn’t want to make the trip to see her brother play, they have a cell that rents for cheap.