The 80th Annual Academy Awards, or The Oscars as it is more affectionately known, were held on Sunday. The A List stars turned up in a range of gorgeous gowns to battle it out in the style stakes on the red carpet at the most glamorous celebrity event of the year.

Left-Right: Cate Blanchett, Laura Linney, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page and Julie Christie

The nominees for best performance by an actress in a leading role were also vying for best dressed on the red carpet! Up and coming French starlet Marion Cotillard won in both departments. The beauty looked fantastic in a cream Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 2008 Couture Gown and then took home the award for best leading actress for her role in La Vie en Rose.

Laura Linney and Ellen Page kept things simple in black. Laura wore a plain strapless Michael Kors gown which she accessorised with a classic silver and black pendant, whilst Ellen looked cute and young in a vintage black Jean Louis Scherrer. I love Ellen’s gown, but she always wears black!

Cate Blanchett usually looks great, but pregnancy is taking its toll on her fashion sense. She wore a satin blue Dries Van Noten halter neck dress which did nothing for her complexion or baby bump and just wasn’t fabulous enough for The Oscars.

She didn’t look as bad as British nominee Julie Christie though who wore a burgandy cocktail dress designed especially for her by a friend. The ruching was very unflattering and the Louis Vuitton long pink gloves made her look, as Phillip and Ferne on This Morning said, like she had “elephant arms!”

Left-Right: Miley Cyrus, Anne Hathaway, Katherine Heigl and Heidi Klum

Everyone agreed that red was the colour of the night, seen on youngsters Miley Cyrus and Anne Hathaway as well as glam ladies Katherine Heigl and Heidi Klum. My favourites were Anne and Katherine’s trendy one shoulder gowns. Anne wore a chiffon Marchesa Fall 2008 gown with rosette details in dark red whilst Katherine wore a sexy fitted Escada gown.

I also liked Miley’s pretty Valentino Resort 2008 gown which made the Hannah Montana Star look very classy for a change, especially since she’s got rid of her tacky hair extensions!

Left-Right: Diane Lane, Kristin Chenoweth, Jennifer Garner and Penelope Cruz

Of course there were plenty of classic black gowns to be seen! It’s possibly the easiest colour to wear, but can be boring. Diane Lane avoided this with her sleek one shoulder David Meister gown which has a gorgeous silver embellishment on the side. Jennifer Garner chose a similar look, teaming her strapless black Oscar de la Renta gown with a dramatic silver choker and chunky silver bracelets.

My favourite black gowns were Penelope Cruz’s strapless fishtail Chanel gown with feather details and Kristin Chenoweth’s stunning strapless Armani Prive gown with sweetheart neckline. Both were unusal enough to be interesting while still being classic and chic.

Left-Right: Keri Russell, Cameron Diaz, Renee Zellweger and Rosamund Pike

And finally, to lighten the mood and remind us all that summer really is on the way, there were plenty of nude and pastel colour gowns. Cameron Diaz was pretty in pink with her strapless Christian Dior fishtail gown accessorised with a chic black and silver clutch. She kept her hair and make-up very natural and her jewellery minimal and I think she looked beautiful!

I also loved Rosamund Pike’s quirky pastel yellow gown from the RM by Roland Mouret collection – you know, the man who designed all those sultry little moon dresses that Carol Vorderman always wears on Countdown? Again, the dress had one strap, probably the BIGGEST trend for Spring!

Keri Russell kept things very simple and feminine in a nude Nina Ricci gown, which was glammed up a little with a vintage layered H.Stern necklace. I feel like she needed a little blush on her cheeks or a bright little clutch bag to bring some life to the look though. I loved Renee’s sparkly silver Carolina Herrera gown but something about her rubs me the wrong way, so I never like how she looks at events! Unfair I know but to be fair to me, her shoes were hideous!

So whose gown did you like best? And what did you think about all the Europeans winning the major awards?!

Tags: , Fashion, Red Carpet, The Oscars

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 at 11:20 pm and is filed under Celebrities, Fashion, Film & Tv. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.