ballgown time

Cathy Horyn and André Leon Talley Didn’t Hate Last Night’s Oscar Fashion

Both Times fashion critic Horyn and Vogue editor André Leon Talley have previously bemoaned red-carpet fashion this awards season. Horyn wondered if the good designers were avoiding loaning dresses, while Talley compared more than one actress’s red-carpet look to food — and no woman would relish a “roadside-diner peach melba” comparison. However, the two seem more or less pleased overall with what they saw last night. Horyn, who watched from Paris, found the gown parade “pretty funny”:

Here were all these gorgeous women with great bodies — I mean, we constantly hear about their workout routines, diets, etc. — and most of them were awash in ruffles and soupy drapery.


Horyn liked Sandra Bullock’s Marchesa number, a simpler silhouette than many, but writes that “Sarah Jessica Parker topped it all” in Chanel Haute Couture. Though it’s unclear if she means that in a good or bad way:

Ms. Parker is a beautiful woman, but the hairdo (and the Chanel column with breastplate) wore her on this occasion.


As did, in our opinion, her severe black eyeliner. Talley also wasn’t a fan of Parker’s “heavy chignon that looked like it was throwing off her carriage,” though he loved the Chanel dress. He also loved Sandra Bullock’s entire look — dress, hair, and makeup — noting that she “finally got the message!” But Talley’s favorite dress of the night was Jennifer Lopez’s Armani Privé, which was nice but looked like it had a vagina flapping off of it.

Charlize Theron, Zoe Saldana, and Maggie Gyllenhaal.Photo: Getty Images

Talley was less thrilled with Maggie Gyllenhall’s Dries Van Noten. Of Charlize Theron’s Dior, he only writes that the dress “was without question making a statement,” which had something to do with, oh, hmmm … her bosom. Finally, he was mixed on Zoe Saldana’s fashion-savvy choice — brand-new Givenchy couture — which is shaping up to be one of the most controversial of the night.

Zoe Saldana’s Givenchy Haute Couture looked marvelous, but the ombré poodle-like cancan dancer skirt was overkill — too much dress for her.


But going into it, did anyone expect Zoe Saldana to be the name on everyone’s lips the next day? In other news, Carey Mulligan wore Prada.

Paris: Minimalism Talks [On the Runway/NYT]
Oscars Red Carpet Report [Vogue.com]

Cathy Horyn and André Leon Talley Didn’t Hate Last Night’s Oscar Fashion