Lady Gaga sported the Tiffany Diamond around her neck and Glenn Close wore 40 pounds of gold dress to the Oscars. Charlize Theron rocked a bob in transformative dark brown and Jennifer Lopez was fit for battle in a head-to-toe mirror mosaic on a mighty silver dress.
Hollywood’s fashion show Sunday in Los Angeles went technicolor and soft, ruffly and classic. It showed off pink and red, white and black, all in plenty of tulle, chiffon, crepe and velvet.
Theron donned Dior in dusty periwinkle, a color called “unexpected” by People’s style and beauty director, Andrea Lavinthal. Regina King “looked so elegant in her perfectly-tailor white gown” by Oscar de la Renta, and Lopez took Lavinthal’s best-dressed spot.
Photo: REUTERS
Some highlights as the awards season comes to a close:
LADY GAGA
Her platinum locks were high in a side-swept updo. Her Alexander McQueen gown had an Old Hollywood feel, with long gloves to match. But it was the hefty yellow bauble around her neck that stole her look.
Photo: REUTERS
Weighing in at 128.54 carats, the 142-year-old diamond from a South Africa mine is one of the world’s largest yellow diamonds and rarely worn. In fact, it was only the third time it has been worn and the first time it has appeared at a major award ceremony and on a red carpet.
“From Lady Gaga debuting Tiffany’s most precious diamond to Charlize Theron dripping herself in Bulgari earrings, necklaces and bracelets, bling is most certainly back,” said Joyann King, executive digital editor for Harper’s Bazaar.
Gaga’s diamond was previously worn in 1957 and by Audrey Hepburn in 1961 publicity photos for Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Gaga was more Old Hollywood than her usual shock-flash.
She really toned down the theatrics during award season but not at the expense of her style, said Channing Hargrove, a fashion news writer for the millennial-focused site Refinery29.com.
PARADE OF PINK
It came in a variety of shades, from a honeysuckle pink lace gown by Jenny Packham worn by declutter guru Marie Kondo (she has a Netflix series) to the tiered confection donned by Kacey Musgraves, by Giambattista Valli Couture.
King said Gemma Chan’s voluminous bright pink Valentino Couture dress with a high ruffle neck “stole every fashion editor’s heart.” And, bonus, it had pockets.
But Avril Graham, executive fashion and beauty editor for Harper’s, said Chan’s large and loose dress proved that hugging every curve “does not always a successful Oscar red carpet gown make.”
King said Musgraves’ gown “may have had one too many ruffles to be taken seriously for years to come.”
Julia Roberts wore bright pink to present the best picture award.
Overall, major pink gowns, including Angela Bassett in custom Reem Acra, were showstoppers.
THE WARRIORS
Lopez, with Alex Rodriguez at her side, was ready for battle in a long-sleeve silver Tom Ford gown that stood out for its chunky embellishment.
“Tom Ford famously only dresses one star every season on the red carpet. When it comes to rocking a mirrored metallic sheath, no one could possibly work the look more elegantly right than Jennifer Lopez,” said People’s Lavinthal.
Brie Larson and Emma Stone were also fierce, Larson in silver Celine by Hedi Slimane. It was a sparkly halter look with a high neck, another trend of the evening. The Lopez look also included a high neck.
Stone was in burnished Louis Vuitton with structured short sleeves that could have taken flight.
Glenn Close may not have won a best actress statuette, but she won the carpet in a gold gown with long sleeves and a long cape by Wes Gordon for Carolina Herrera.
Graham’s best in gold was Danai Gurira in textured Brock Collection. She called her gown with black detailing “a beautiful take on a strapless princess look.”
Gurira wore “just the right amount of jewels,” including sleep droplet earrings by Fred Leighton.
The look, Graham said, was ornate, luxe and elegantly red carpet perfect.
THE GUYS TOOK IT
Nicholas Hoult wore lopsided lapels with a side sash piece, thanks to Dior Men by Kim Jones. There was color, including Stephan James in red velvet custom Etro and David Oyelowo in custom Etro done in green velvet.
And then there was Billy Porter, dressed in a custom tuxedo and a tuxedo ball gown combined, by Christian Siriano.
The dudes took risks and they paid off.
Chadwick Boseman wore Givenchy Haute Couture, designed by Clare Waight Keller. It was a play on classic tails, with the tail hanging nearly to the ground, in a Japanese design embellished with black and blue beads and sequins.
Jason Momoa wore pink Fendi, telling The Associated Press it was likely the last custom look Karl Lagerfeld designed for Fendi before he died last week.
“I loved all of the black men who were not afraid to shy away from texture,” Hargrove said.
Siriano said on E! that Porter’s dress was pulled together in a week, using the Pose actor’s assistant as a fit model.
“Billy looked great,” Hargrove said.
So did Spike Lee, in purple from head to nearly toe. On his feet were golden custom Air Jordans.
Exceptions to the rule are sometimes revealing. For a brief few years, there was an emerging ideological split between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) that appeared to be pushing the DPP in a direction that would be considered more liberal, and the KMT more conservative. In the previous column, “The KMT-DPP’s bureaucrat-led developmental state” (Dec. 11, page 12), we examined how Taiwan’s democratic system developed, and how both the two main parties largely accepted a similar consensus on how Taiwan should be run domestically and did not split along the left-right lines more familiar in
As I finally slid into the warm embrace of the hot, clifftop pool, it was a serene moment of reflection. The sound of the river reflected off the cave walls, the white of our camping lights reflected off the dark, shimmering surface of the water, and I reflected on how fortunate I was to be here. After all, the beautiful walk through narrow canyons that had brought us here had been inaccessible for five years — and will be again soon. The day had started at the Huisun Forest Area (惠蓀林場), at the end of Nantou County Route 80, north and east
Specialty sandwiches loaded with the contents of an entire charcuterie board, overflowing with sauces, creams and all manner of creative add-ons, is perhaps one of the biggest global food trends of this year. From London to New York, lines form down the block for mortadella, burrata, pistachio and more stuffed between slices of fresh sourdough, rye or focaccia. To try the trend in Taipei, Munchies Mafia is for sure the spot — could this be the best sandwich in town? Carlos from Spain and Sergio from Mexico opened this spot just seven months ago. The two met working in the
This month the government ordered a one-year block of Xiaohongshu (小紅書) or Rednote, a Chinese social media platform with more than 3 million users in Taiwan. The government pointed to widespread fraud activity on the platform, along with cybersecurity failures. Officials said that they had reached out to the company and asked it to change. However, they received no response. The pro-China parties, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), immediately swung into action, denouncing the ban as an attack on free speech. This “free speech” claim was then echoed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC),
RSS