Stars hit the red carpet at Golden Globes
IT'S time for the 69th Golden Globe Awards, an anniversary setting itself up to be lampooned by host Ricky Gervais.
THE Australian's fashion editor Damien Woolnough commentates on the best and worst dressed as the stars arrive on the red carpet for the Golden Globe Awards in Hollywood.
IT'S time for the 69th Golden Globe Awards, an anniversary setting itself up to be lampooned by host Ricky Gervais.
Of course, this festival of back-slapping is as much about fashion as finesse on film and television. Traditionally the Golden Globes are a try-out for the Oscars, giving starlets and red carpet regulars the opportunity to test drive new looks, new stylists and new facial injections.
In recent years, however, the Golden Globes have become a watered down version of the Oscars. Adventure and couture courage have been ditched in favour of the safety of mermaid and Grecian gowns and intricate up-dos.
Fingers crossed that this year stylists take their inspiration from Cher and Helena Bonham Carter rather than Charlize Theron, Kate Winslet and Nicole Kidman as a new crop of actresses take to the podium and give the ceremony a fresh look.
12.52pm. The Help actress Emma Stone is doing just fine on her own on the red carpet in a plunging aubergine gown by Lanvin. The sparkling eagle belt toughens up the look and the deep colour is a cool contrast to Stone’s revived red locks.
12.43pm. I’m sure actress Jessica Biel has done something since Seventh Heaven apart from Revlon commercial. Here she has given up on Justin Timberlake ever waiting for her at the altar and worn an Edwardian influenced lace gown with a bridal touch by Halle Berry favourite Elie Saab. The result is very Cold Mountain. The loose fit around the top does as few favours as her shoes, with one toe desperate to escape.
12.35pm. Glee’s Lea Michele gives every performance 100 per cent, including posing for photographers. Michele really needs to dial the enthusiasm back a few notches. In her intricate appliquéd, silver Marchesa gown the singer/actress takes out this year’s Bjork Award for courage in the face of the style police. How can something so wrong almost be right?
12.28pm. The Zac Posen renaissance continues with Reese Witherspoon selecting a blood red, strapless, floor-length gown by the designer. Normally Witherspoon channels the hot girl next door. This time the hot girl next door must have been Jessica Rabbit.
12.25pm. I’m always relieved to see Madonna covered up on the red carpet and not dressed like a woman the age of her latest boyfriend. The capped sleeves on her ornate gown with silver beading and an awkwardly woven skirt soften her aggressively toned body. The motorcycle gloves might be rock and roll but come off a little bit Joan Collins.
12.20pm. The only person looking in greater pain than Michelle Williams on the red carpet is our Nic. In studded, body-hugging Versace with breast-baring cut-outs Kidman looks as though she will have trouble sitting throughout the ceremony. Why does Kidman insist on wearing shades that blend with her eerily perfect skin? It’s a little too Cougartown even for Hollywood.
12.10pm. You can feel My Week With Marilyn’s Michelle Williams’ pain in growing out her pixie cut and the headband does little to improve her spirits. Add a heavy navy velvet gown with cropped sleeves by Jason Wu and you have to feel sorry for the actress who hasn’t been allowed to smile on screen since Dawson’s Creek.
12.07pm. I think that Natalie Portman in Black Swan is as daring as the actress gets. Yes, she looks pretty in her hot pink strapless gown by Lanvin with a swipe of red across the top but for some reason I prefer her with feathers coming out of her back. Admittedly it’s a hard look to pull of on the red carpet. Portman’s look is very old Hollywood glamour but it’s time for some actresses to look to the future.
12.04pm. When your husband runs the company it makes sense to wear something from the stockroom. A dutiful Salma Hayek still looks stunning spilling out from a deco-inspired, strapless Gucci dress in black and gold. The pocket rocket is giving Elle Macpherson a run for her money in the hair department with tousled hair borrowed from J-Lo’s styling catalogue.
11.59am. Charlize Theron now has back-up in the plunging neckline department thanks to Evan Rachel Wood in Gucci. The halter-neck poison green dress begins with an array of sequins at the bodice before finishing in a cascade of feathers. The nominee for Mildred Pierce makes looking like a cross between a mermaid and a bird smoking hot.
11.55am. It often feels as though Tilda Swinton carries the hopes and dreams of the fashion world on her slender shoulders. Stylists will swoon at her choice of a languid Haider Ackermann gown with a matching blazer. Her fashion credibility is also increased by bringing the designer as her date. Unfortunately, the powder-blue shade diminishes the outfit’s edge but the David Bowie hair adds intrigue. Still a fashion darling.
11.50am. Women around the world breathe a sigh of relief as Angelina Jolie (with back up from Zooey Deschanel) gives them permission to match their handbags and shoes with their dresses again. In a cream Atelier Versace gown, slit to the thigh with a slash of red at the top of her bodice, Jolie has embraced old-school glamour. Her lipstick and clutch match the red top and the cream shoes match the dress. Elegant and unexpected.
11.46am. The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo actress seems determined to be typecast as a moody, semi-Goth, wearing a floor-length Nina Ricci with cut-outs around the bodice. Add her signature blunt fringe and a conspicuous lack of jewellery and Mara is working the edgy Hollywood outsider look. With the smoky eye make-up the result is dark, dangerous and quite delectable. A killer look.
11.38am. My earlier reports on the death of cleavage were somewhat premature with Charlize Theron breathing new life into daring décolletages with her blush-coloured, sleeveless Christian Dior couture gown. Theron is breaking all the rules by also revealing a lot of leg thanks to a thigh high-slit in the floor-length skirt. The sparkling Cartier headband crowns her a winner on the red carpet.
11.27am. New Girl actress Zooey Deschanel and Prada are a match made in heaven, or more likely a Rodeo Drive changing room. Her custom-made, halter-neck gown with a black and green beaded bodice and black skirt captures her adventurous spirit to perfection. The white beaded collar is also quirky. I’m loving the black, sixties inspired helmet hair do. It’s very Marlo Thomas in That Girl for the new millennium.
11.23am. “Difficult colour, green,” Dame Maggie Smith mutters in the film Gosford Park. She could have been talking about yellow after seeing the beautiful Paula Patton in this Monique Lhuillier, strapless mermaid gown. It takes courage to wear the colour of a canary but the Mission Impossible actress failed this assignment.
11.20am. I’m hoping that Elle Macpherson’s red carpet sashay doesn’t mean she’s taking another stab at acting. It’s already hard enough dodging her appearances in re-runs of Friends. There’s something strangely appealing about her frou frou concoction by US designer Zac Posen. The bodice belongs to a saloon girl and the tulle train is stolen from Barbie’s closet. Less controversial is the relaxed, blonde hair falling beyond those toned shoulders. This is the best hair on the red carpet so far. It seems that Elle’s also determined to keep stacking those bracelets up her forearm, whether she’s in LA or Byron Bay.
11.11am. Stacey Keibler knows that her job as George Clooney’s most recent girlfriend is to make The Descendants and The Ides of March star look great. The former wrestler wins the first round in a Valentino red gown with a bow at the back. The end result is a blonde Christmas present still waiting to be opened.
11am. The Good Wife actress Julianna Marguiles plays it safe but stylish in a Naeem Khan beaded gown the colour of Ribena. Marguiles’ back cut-out is on-trend, joining Nicole Richie and Claire Danes in showcasing their spines. It seems that cleavage is so 2011.
10.57am. I’m not exactly sure why Nicole Richie is at the Golden Globes but I’m just thankful that Paris Hilton isn’t with her. In Richie’s own words this dress by Julien Macdonald is “beaded and heavy”, not generally major selling points unless you want to burn calories as you walk down the red carpet. The result is polished but a little overwhelming for her petite frame. With the sixties hairstyle Richie looks as though she’s about to perform an impromptu rendition of the frug.
10.50am. The first Givenchy sighting on the red carpet with The Help actress Jessica Chastain in a white beaded gown from designer Riccardo Tisci. Unfortunately Tisci’s edge is blunted by Chastain’s hairstyle, which could have been delivered at Dolly Parton’s salon in Steel Magnolias. The Harry Winston pearl earrings make the ensemble look matronly rather than modern. So close and yet so far.
10.40am. Ever since Romeo + Juliet it’s hard not to love Claire Danes. The nominee for Homeland is the first fashion follower to hit the red carpet in J Mendel. Black and white is hardly trend-setting but the back cut-out adds some interest for this girl next door. Points for the relaxed up-do, although her blonde hair is looking more golden than the statuettes. Toner can be a great accessory.
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