It was all red on the night

The best word to describe the red-carpet fashion at the Academy Awards: red.

Katherine Heigl, Helen Mirren, Miley Cyrus, Ruby Dee, Anne Hathaway and Heidi Klum were among the stars in red gowns Sunday night at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Shades of plum were worn by Cate Blanchett and Jessica Alba.

"The actresses went regal and royal with rich reds and purples,'' said Oscar.com fashion analyst Tom Julian.

The other buzzword? Safe.

"I thought people looked generally really good - and really safe,'' Hal Rubenstein, fashion director at InStyle magazine, said. "I don't know if it had to do with the mood out there with the strike just over and parties canceled, but in fashion now so much is about sheer, print and color, but this was one solid strapless dress after another.''

Rubenstein added: "There was a kind of uniform timelessness, which is very nice, but considering those who watch this show do it to get a fashion cue, I wish they were a little more timely than timeless.''

He labeled French actress Marion Cotillard's ivory-and-silver gown by Jean Paul Gaultier with scalloped fabric that looked like fish scales the most distinctive of the night.

Jennifer Hudson, who caused last year's biggest fashion flap with a futuristic bolero jacket, was more appropriate this year in a white halter gown.

Pregnant actresses Blanchett, in a Dries van Noten halter gown with floral beading on the skirt, and Alba, in a strapless Marchesa gown with feathers at the bustline, both embraced their revised shapes in empire-waist gowns. Nicole Kidman, also pregnant, went with a simple black gown by Balenciaga and a show-stopping necklace - 7,645 diamonds totaling nearly 1,400 carats by L'Wren Scott.

Feathers were a recent trend on the runway and Penelope Cruz's black strapless gown had them too.

W magazine fashion market editor Treena Lombardo reminds at-home fashion followers not to take trends from the red carpet too seriously for their own lives. "I don't think any of the trends the Oscars hit are trends the rest of the world needs to know about,'' she said.

She did notice all that red, though.

"Heidi Klum was the most beautiful I've ever seen her,'' Lombardo said. "Amy Ryan was the opposite. She was very minimal and very chic - an exact 180 from what Heidi was doing.''

Klum's full-volume gown was by Galliano and is being auctioned as part of The Heart Truth campaign to raise awareness about women and heart disease. Ryan's one-shoulder, midnight-blue dress was custom-made by Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein.

One-shoulder gowns were also popular, worn by Hilary Swank in Versace, Olivia Thirlby in Vera Wang, Hathaway in Marchesa and Heigl in Escada. Heigl's gown had a slim-fitting draped bodice, and the front of Hathaway's gown was covered in fabric roses.

Tilda Swinton, who told E! she had never even seen the Oscars on TV, wore an odd one-arm gown by Alber Elbaz for Lanvin and no apparent makeup, a look that seemed in character for the actress, who was born in London into a patrician Scottish military family.

Calista Flockhart went for a vintage ice-blue goddess gown from Rare Vintage.

Several stars opted for strapless styles, including Renee Zellweger in a silver lace gown by Carolina Herrera. The dress had sparkle but was otherwise simple to complement her short hairstyle.

"It was a gloomy, cloudy, wet Oscars and she looked drop-dead gorgeous and radiant,'' said stylist and style commentator Mary Alice Stephenson. "She looked like what she was supposed to look like at the Oscars, she looked her most glamorous.'' Jennifer Garner and Laura Linney also chose strapless gowns and then accessorized them with prominent necklaces. Garner's black Oscar de la Renta dress had an almost flamenco-style skirt and was accessorized with an art deco-era necklace with 61 carats of diamonds from Van Cleef & Arpels, while Linney's dark-blue gown with a bustle back by Michael Kors highlighted a gold pendant-style necklace with diamond and blue topaz by Cathy Waterman.