The most hotly anticipated night of the year is undoubtedly the Academy Awards in Hollywood.
For me though, and I am quite sure many other fashion lovers, it is much less so about the films themselves and more about the glamour of the red carpet.
Staying up until 1.30 in the morning watching the stars arrive on the red carpet and tweeting about who they are wearing is one of my favourite past times.
One of the first glamorous ladies to grace the red carpet was Milla Jovovich who looked utterly gorgeous in Elie Saab. The fashion at the Oscars is such a unique event in that it is more about evoking Hollywood glamour and less about wearing the hottest dresses off the runway and being 'on trend'. This Elie Saab Couture gown was actually from the Spring/Summer 2009 collection but such a breath taking gown such as this heavily beaded one shoulder silver gown will never go out of style. The red lips and old-Hollywood hair was perfect for the dress.
Another lady who was early to arrive to the awards was The Help star Jessica Chastain. Her bold Alexander McQueen gown would certainly not be to everyone's taste but I thought it was absolutely stunning. She wore it beautifully and her hair and skin tone with the dress were perfect.
Gorgeous George Clooney and his lovely girlfriend Stacey Keibler were the hot-to-trot couple of the night on the red carpet. George always gets it right in a simple but effective Armani tux but Stacey really stole the show in a beautiful off the shoulder metallic gold dress with giant rose detailing at the waist. It accentuated her amazing figure perfectly and her hair and make up were just right too. I have been really impressed with Stacey during her first red-carpet season. Her choices have been gorgeous but always verging on the understated side and she hasn't tried to steal the lime light from her super successful and talented beau. Last night she got her look just right.
George's 'The Decendants' co-star Shailene Woodley was another of my fashion favourites last night. She rocked an all white long sleeve, high neck Valentino gown. The detailing on the front of the dress wasn't over the top but made sure the dress wasn't too simple. I loved the fact that someone so young, she is only 20 years old after all, would wear such a unique dress. She has an amazing figure and could have gone for the predictable, sparkly, embellished gown flashing a lot more flesh but she looked extremely chic and sophisticated in the Valentino.
Best Supporting Actress winner Octavia Spencer of The Help looked stunning in Tadashi Shoji. The heavy embellishment cleverly drew your eye in to her waist and she looked extremely elegant and poised. A worthy winner all round.
Glen Close is such a classy lady and I actually loved her Zac Posen dress with tuxedo jacket. She has a fantastic figure and the body hugging dress was one of the most fitted dresses on the red carpet last night, she really pulled it off to perfection.
I must admit, when I first saw Michelle Williams take to the red carpet last night I was slightly disappointed in her gown. However, after looking back through the pictures, I have done a complete U-turn and I now really love the Louis Vuitton peplum dress. Personally, I could have lived without the peplum detailing and would have preferred it if it was just completely fitted to her tiny frame. From the TV pictures last night, the dress looked bright red but in the pictures you get a better idea of it's true colour which was a lot more pink than blood red.
When I first saw Emma Stone in Giambattista Valli I loved the rich raspberry shade against her pale skin and red hair. Looking back at the pictures this morning, I'm not sure I love the overall look as much as I first thought. The over sized bow at the neck was gorgeous but I feel the dress could have been slightly more fitted or had a few less pleats at the skirt. Hmmmm.... lets just say she has gone from an A- to a B+.
One look I really didn't like from last night was Anna Faris in Diane Von Furstenberg. The black sequined dress looked a bit Liza Minelli for me and, dare I say it, a bit cheap and tacky.
Another couple of misses for me were Penelope Cruz and Natalie Portman. Ms Cruz wore a blue off the shoulder Armani Prive gown but for me it was just all wrong. I didn't like the colour, the fit and actually think it looked a little dated. I also thought the jewellery, hair and clutch bag were also quite ageing for the gorgeous senorita.
I was thoroughly underwhelmed by Natalie Portman in vintage Christian Dior. The dress I don't mind but think she got the hair, make-up and especially the jewellery choices, all wrong. Again, like Penelope, I thought it was quite ageing and I didn't love at all.
Rooney Mara's style choices have been stealing all the headlines recently and I absolutely loved her white Givenchy Couture gown. The uber-low neckline was stunning and the back of the dress was just, WOW!
As much as I love Marchesa AND Sandra Bullock, I really didn't like this look. The dress looked too big for her and her hair looked as though she had just scraped it back into a pony tail herself.
One look I really can't decide if I like or not was Cameron Diaz in a nude Gucci gown. The dress itself was beautiful but I just didn't think it did anything for Cameron's figure. I feel like it made her shoulders look extremely broad and muscular and made her figure look really straight up and down. She is so stunning but feel like another dress would have given her more of a waist and made her look a bit more feminine.
Angelina looked amazing was a little predictable for me. The black Versace dress was gorgeous but I didn't like the fact that she really had to stick her leg out in an un-natural way order for it to be seen through the split. Her shoes could have been a lot more dramatic and I wasn't overly keen on her lightened hair, especially against her red lips.
Last to take to the red carpet but most definitely not least was Gwyneth Paltrow. She tweeted a picture of herself in the limo on the way to the awards giving us a quick glimpse of the Tom Ford white dress and I was SO excited to see what it would be like. I was completely overwhelmed when I saw her overall look - it was just so beautiful. Gwyneth hasn't put a fashionable foot wrong for a long time and she look statuesque in the long, white fitted dress with cape. I didn't think the large cuff was necessary but she looked so amazing I will let her off with it. My a mile, it was undoubtedly my favourite look of the night. Mr Tom Ford, I salute you....
I'm off to try and find a cape and look as fabulous as Gwynnie...
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