Vanity Fair's event is notable for its ability to draw a majority of Academy Award winners each year. It also creates a chance for those who did not actually attend the ceremony to parade the countless costumes available to anyone who may draw the attention of a photographer.
The rock star and part-time fashion designer Gwen Stefani was there in one of the most stunning dresses seen in Los Angeles all week, a black Versace with heavy embroidery and sequins, and a cobweb of netting in the back.
Stefani was part of a more authentic fashion spectacle taking place at Morton's away from the red carpet, featuring celebrities who had dressed themselves without benefit of design-house enablers.
Mandy Moore, the singer and actress, found a vintage Pierre Cardin dress made of black origami bows, which she bought at a store called The Way We Wore.
"I was just watching the Oscars on TV, wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt," Moore said. "I picked this myself."
Nearby, Vanessa Getty, a West Coast social figure, wore a white pleated gown designed by Carven in the 1930s that she found at Decades, the vintage emporium. Getty said she considered her ability to dress herself a badge of honor. "I'm a buyer, not a borrower," she said.
A bit farther down the banquette from the alabaster goddesses sat the Zeus for the evening, Vanity Fair's editor, Graydon Carter, with his fiancee, Anna Scott. Carter kept an arm snaked around Scott but lasered his attention on Meg Ryan, seated just to his left.
America's favorite girl next door had her hair in that wavy, Harry Met Sally style. She had a girlish smile on her face too.
But then nobody scowls at the celebrity lovefest that is Oscar night.
By 2am, the last of young Hollywood was making its way out of Morton's. Gyllenhaal and Kirsten Dunst were huddled at the exit. Scarlett Johansson, in a black Roland Mouret sheath that drew mixed reviews but managed to channel Breakfast at Tiffany's, was one of the last to leave. Her dress looked much better at that hour.
"After the safe styles we've seen worldwide, we're finally coming to a new step," said Mouret, who said he was happy that Johansson was not interested in appearing as a red-carpet clone.
"This is about creating the icons for the 21st century," he said.
RSS