PREDICTING OSCAR FASHION
THE WINNING HAUTE COUTURE BEST SUITED TO AWARD FAVOURITES
She might not have been in the front row at the Dior haute couture show in Paris last month, but it’s a given that ‘It girl’ Jennifer Lawrence, said to be about to sign a new deal with Dior, will wear Dior to the Oscars.
What if her sausage-belted white gown at the Golden Globes was a bust, spawning caricatures of bedsheets tied with belts? She is the adorable beauty — and a fine actress — who can wear the proverbial paper bag and look divine.
We’d be daft to suggest she appear in Chanel, say, or Valentino, or Armani — even though Raf Simons’ spring collection was young, fresh, light and almost casual, with a majority of short voluminous dresses with open cutwork — not exactly the Oscar code.
With the Paris and New York spring shows over, actresses everywhere will be vying for the best dresses as the houses woo, tempt and solicit the best actresses for Oscar red carpet glory on March 2.
Haute couture, of course, is the crème de la crème, with a ball gown that might cost $100,000; ready-to-wear is not too shabby, either. But in the spirit of no limits, let’s play dress the nominees in the hautest.
The showpiece of the Dior collection is a black number, short in the front, long in the back, with appliquéd flowers on chiffon, but we assume Simons will adapt it or whip up something even more special for the muse of the rejuvenated house.
Cate Blanchett wears everything with elegance and style. The black lace Armani at the Globes, the pink Givenchy at the SAG awards, even the Chanels, Missonis and dental smock in her Oscar-nominated role in Blue Jasmine attest to her dominant fashion gene.
Perusing runway pictures, it seemed anything would suit Blanchett, but we see her in fuchsia by Giambattista Valli.
As for Chanel, it struck a chord for the trend of the season — sporty — and all women who are hobbled by high heels, with Karl Lagerfeld pairing shimmering tweed suits and diaphanous ball gowns with sneakers — on all 65 models.
That makes Emma Thompson, who hilariously tossed her Christian Louboutin killer heels over her shoulder on the podium at the Globes, a shoo-in for Chanel.
Over at Valentino, Amy Adams might do better with an austere but sumptuous beige lace gown. It would even pair well with the braided hairdo she sported at the Globes, along with that plunging caricature she wore, channelling her American Hustle character. Funny how one house can put out a collection so severe that some pieces could be worn by a nun, while the Adams dress was risqué beyond all expectation for the house of Valentino.
Her gazillion-dollar smile did not outshine the rather odd, derivative white-shirted Dolce & Gabbana at the Globes, but Julia Roberts redeemed herself with an ultrahip pink Valentino jumpsuit at the SAGs. Let’s see her in beaded Elie Saab at the Oscars.
Side note on Valentino, which is certainly having a banner red carpet season: Katy Perry wore a spectacular musical-note motif Valentino, hot off the catwalk, to the Jan. 26 Grammys.
Meanwhile, Tilda Swinton (not a nominee this season, but never mind) has always been the perfect canvas for Montreal’s Rad Hourani unisex ideal.
As for Lupita Nyong’o, every style she wore this season was perfection: the red caped Ralph Lauren at the Globes and the turquoise Gucci at the SAGs suited her beautifully.
So beautifully that we dare not try to dress her for the Oscars. She’s fine and well on her own.