­

Red Carpet Recap: Academic Achievment

By |February 22nd, 2015|Celebrity Style, Red Carpet Recap, Why Did You Wear That?|

dakota johnson rosamund pike behati prinsloo Dakota Johnson in Saint Laurent, Rosamund Pike in Givenchy, Behati Prinsloo in Armani

The red carpet was red hot this year at the 87th Annual Academy Awards.  While it poured down rain in Los Angeles, causing a hot box effect with plastic tenting literally wilting A-list hairstyles and melting perfectly made up faces, nominees and future winners did not let us down in the dress department.  While there was nothing truly offensive, there were also very few that inspired any standing ovations, which would be saved for John Legend, Common, Patricia Arquette, and Graham Moore.  Saint Laurent on both Dakota Johnson and Margot Robbie were two of my early favorites.  When Rosamund Pike arrived in a perfectly fitted Givenchy frock only two months after giving birth, I shed a tear and poured out a little bit of alcohol, which my dog quickly lapped up.  A few debatable dresses were worn by Lupita Nyong’o, Nicole Kidman, and Felicity Jones.  I’m not sure why, but Khloe Kardashian was recruited by E! for her opinions on red carpet arrivals, to which she held nothing back.  I zoned out from the actual awards show after Neil Patrick Harris’s first failed joke, but I did catch Julianne Moore’s well deserved acceptance speech, Common’s freckles, Lady Gaga’s epic cover of The Sound of Music, and the absence of Joan Rivers in the Memoriam.

Citron Sirens:

nicole kidman emma stone oscarsNicole Kidman in Louis Vuitton, Jennifer Hudson in Romona Keveza, Emma Stone in Elie Saab

Blushing Beauties:

jennifer anniston jennifer lopez oscarsJennifer Anniston in Versace, Zoe Saldana in Atelier Versace, Jennifer Lopez in Elie Saab

Petal Pushers:

kiera knightley gwyneth paltrow chloe moretz oscarsKiera Knightley in Valentino, Gwyneth Paltrow in Ralph and Russo, Chloe Moretz in Miu Miu

White Hot Women:

faith hill zendaya jenna dewan oscarsFaith Hill in J. Mendel, Zendaya in Vivienne Westwood, Jenna Dewan Tatum in Zuhair Murad

julianne moore lady gaga lupita nyongo oscarsJulianne Moore in custom Chanel, Lupita Nyong’o in Calvin Klein, Lady Gaga in Azzedeine Alaia

 Metallic Mavens:

laura dern naomi watts oscarsLaura Dern in Alberta Ferretti, Anna Faris in Zuhair Murad, Naomi Watts in Armani

felicity jones chrissy teigen

Felicity Jones in Alexander McQueen, Chrissy Teigen in Zuhair Murad, Kerry Washington in Miu Miu

Black Betties:

margot robbie sienna miller oscarsMargot Robbie in Saint Laurent, Sienna Miller in Oscar de la Renta, Cate Blanchett in Margiela

Black and White Babes:

reese witherspoon meryl streep arquetteReese Witherspoon in Tom Ford, Particia Arquette in Rosetta Getty, Meryl Streep in Lanvin

Navy, Baby:

rita ora jessica chastain oscarsRita Ora in Marchesa, Jessica Chastain in Givenchy

Red Carpet Recap: Are We There Yet?

By |March 3rd, 2014|Red Carpet Recap, Why Did You Wear That?|

lupito nyongo cate blanchett oscarsCharlize Theron in Dior, Kate Hudson in  Atelier Versace, Cate Blanchett in Giorgio Armani, Lupita Nyong’o in Prada

It feels as if this particular awards season stretched out a bit longer than years prior, but maybe that’s the overall theme of 2014 thus far.  Long winters, long award shows, long winded speeches.  Tonight’s award show, the 86th Annual Academy Awards, was no exception.  Seeing as the red carpet arrivals started at five thirty (Eastern time) and the actual show didn’t commence until midnight, I literally spent six and a half hours of my life staring at dresses, listening to sometimes awkward interviews with Seacrest, and holding my breath in hopes that the music didn’t come on during winners’ acceptance speeches.  I couldn’t tell if I was still exhausted from the weekend or if the cold had finally taken a toll on my cognitive thinking because I’m pretty sure that every actress on the red carpet was required to wear the same dress.  Either that or I was watching 1984 and didn’t know it, which is entirely possible.  Fortunately, for the first time in WhyDid’s history, I was unable to award an entire category to the worst dressed women of the night.  Instead it went to our charitable roast beef hat wearing friend, Pharrell, who decided that full trousers were not fully necessary for the red carpet.  I might have let it slide because he’s so darn cute if he hadn’t somehow convinced his lovely wife, Helen Lasichanh, to dress in tandem.  I guess it would be hard to say, “no,” to those dimples.

As for the rest of the red carpet, nudes, metallics, and soft whites and pastels were the overall theme with a spattering of both basic as well as embellished black.  Navy was a trend for both men and women and first time Oscar winner, Lupita Nyong’o, deemed her hue Nairobi blue.  Everyone was going nuts over her headband, which I hated because it made her look too “costumey” and would have preferred she’d accessorized her decollete with a delicate lariat, but she gets a pass for that stand out shade of blue.  Speaking of hair, cropped pixie cuts were the biggest trend and soft subtle styles as seen on Jessica Biel and Naomi Watts were the second runner up.  Jennifer Lawrence in a pixie cut and who wore red, didn’t even wait until she was inside before repeating last year’s tumble.  She either needs a better seamstress or a higher tolerance for champagne.  A notable trend for men was wearing a white jacket with their tuxes and why, why, why is Jared Leto so damn pretty?  Rarely do I covet another’s hair, but if someone can get me in touch with his stylist, I’ll be forever grateful… or at least for the next month or two.  And while I finished wrapping up the red carpet, I realized that the real style mavens held out until the afterparties.

Pretty in Pewter:

oscars red carpet Giuliana Rancic, Jessica Biel in Chanel, Jennifer Garner in Oscar de la Renta

Long (Sleeve) on Shine:

angelina jolieAngelina Jolie in Elie Saab, Sarah Paulson in Elie Saab, Julie Delpy in Jenny Peckham, Sally Hawkins in Valentino

Flesh and Gold:

oscars red carpet Kristin Chenoweth in Roberto Cavalli, Jenna Dewan Tatum in Reem Acra, Portia de Rossi in Naeem Khan

Bright Whites:

kelly-osbourne-naomi-watts-oscarsKelly Osbourne, Calista Flockhart in Andrew Gn,  Naomi Watts in Calvin Klein, Laura Dern in Alberta Ferretti

Petal Pink Princesses:

camila alves penelope cruz Penelope Cruz in Giambattista Valli, Cristin Milioti, Camila Alves in Gabriela Cadena

Lavender Ladies:

kristen bell oscarsLady Gaga in Versace,  Kerry Washington in Jason Wu, Kristen Bell in Roberto Cavalli

 Basic Black:

julia roberts oscarsGlenn Close in Zac Posen, Julia Roberts in black Givenchy, Karen O in Camilla Staerk, Olivia Wilde in black Valentino

Embellished Black:

oscars red carpetAnne Hathaway in Gucci, Emma Watson in Vera Wang, Anna Kendrick in J. Mendel, Chrissy Teigen in Monique Lhuillier

Moody Blues:

amy adams sandra bullock academy awardsAmy Adams in Gucci, Sandra Bullock in Alexander McQueen, Kevin Spacey in Burberry, Liza Minnelli in Halston

Red on Red:

jennifer-lawrence-oscars-dressJennifer Lawrence in Dior, Ireland Baldwin, Bette Middler in Reem Acra, Olga Kurylenko in Alice Elia

White Knights:

jared leto matthew mcconaugheyJared Leto in Saint Laurent, Ryan Seacrest, Matthew McConaughey in Dolce & Gabbana

No Pants, Well, Kinda Are a Problem:

pharrell williams Pharrell Williams in Lanvin

After the Party It’s the Afterparty:

vanity fair oscarsKarolina Kurkova,  Evan Rachel Wood in Elie Saab, Sofia Vergara in Roberto Cavalli, Diane Kruger in Valentino, Jane Fonda in Nicholas Oakwell 

xx,

WhyDid

Would You Wednesday: Thigh’s the Limit

By |May 16th, 2012|Why Did or Why Don't?|

angelina jolie anja rubik slitFirst it was side boob, now it’s the extreme leg slit.  Seems like ladies are looking for any place they can to show off a little bit of skin.  The first to really give it a go was Angelina Jolie at the Oscars.  Her leg caused such a stir that it got its own Twitter account.  She was not to be outdone by the beautiful Anja Rubik at this year’s Met Gala.  Her slit was dangerously high, though I doubt anyone’s complaining.  So, are legs the new side boob which were, of course, the new cleavage?

thigh slit skirtsEcote Double Slit Skirt, $69, Helmut Kinetic Jersey Slit Front Skirt, $160, Rick Owens Lilies Drape Maxi Skirt, $580, Nightcap Clothing Thigh High Skirt, $143

So would you wear a slit way up there to your derriere?

xx,

WhyDid

Monday Mashup: The More the Mara-ier

By |February 27th, 2012|Monday Mashup, Red Carpet Recap, Why Did You Wear That?|

oscars 2012 rooney mara kate maraRooney Mara in Givenchy and Kate Mara in Jack Guisso Couture

Two more of Hollywood’s leading ladies who deserve a little red carpet extra credit are the sisters Mara.  Kate Mara and little sis Rooney Mara both looked glam at last night’s Academy Awards, but I get the feeling if I hadn’t told you, you might not think them to be related… even distantly.  As Rooney has undergone quite the transformation from The Social Network to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, she appears to be her softer sister’s polar opposite.   Great granddaughters of founders of both the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers, it would seem to me that these siblings are familiar with a little friendly competition.  So, let’s put these DNA sharing darlings’ red carpet looks up to a vote.  Do you prefer the edgy modern look of Rooney or the romantic elegance of Kate?

Sister, sister.

xx,

WhyDid

Why Did You Wear That: What a SAG

By |January 30th, 2012|Monday Mashup, Red Carpet Recap, Why Did You Wear That?|

To be honest… I was almost so uninspired that I didn’t even bother with a Red Carpet Recap for this year’s SAG Awards.  While the dresses are a bit better than when they started this award season with the People’s Choice Awards, I’m still waiting to be wowed.  Having just finished up the Paris couture shows, one would think there would have been a little bit more drama on the red carpet… On a positive note, there was nothing this time that truly offended me either… that much.  As we all know, there are only so many designers to go around, so I will now present you with the good, the bad and the debatable (where you’ll be the judge of who wore which designer best).

The Good:

Rose Byrne in Elie Saab, Kyra Sedgewick in Emilio Pucci, Emily Blunt in Oscar de la Renta, Regina King in Alberta Ferretti

The Bad:

Kaley Cuoco in Romona Keveza, Gretchen Mol in L’wren Scott, Kristen Wiig in Balenciaga, Zoe Saldana in Givenchy

The Debatable:

Angelina Jolie and Ashlee Simpson in Jenny Packham

Viola Davis and Sofia Vergara in Marchesa

Julie Bowen and Sarah Hyland in Temperley 

Jessica Chastain and Julianna Margulies in Calvin Klein

Alright ladies, it’s time to really step it up.  I can’t sit through another boring awards ceremony if you’re not willing to wear something wow-worthy.  I will pretend it didn’t even happen next time.  Just remember what Rooney’s dad said… the Oscar’s are your Superbowl.

 Hut, set, hike.

xx,

WhyDid