this is the best they've got?

After the loss of the Golden Globes this year I was traumatized, but I assumed that the stars and all of the other powers at be would really pull it out for the Oscars. Alas, I was obviously let down by last night's performance.

Before we get to the fashion (or lack thereof) I just want to say how incredibly freaking happy I am that Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova won. I am so so so obsessed with Once, as I am with the Frames, and this was (in my opinion) the only truly original song up for the award. I had it on repeat for about 2 weeks straight after seeing the movie and never got sick of it. After crying along to their performance, I could hardly stay in my seat when they won. Their acceptance speeches (thanks to Mr. Stewart for letting Marketa say her piece) were genuine and heartfelt. Congrats congrats!

Ok, now to the dresses. I was, in a word, underwhelemed. Apparently the only color choices this year were black, red, and metallics. What, is there a shortage of dyes at the moment? No one could muster a springtime palette, maybe even just a jewel tone? Is it really that hard to step a wee bit out of the box?

Here are my top picks from the evening:

Marion Cotillard in Jean Paul Gaultier.
Although I wasn't wowed by this dress on the red carpet, I thought it was much more stunning when she got on stage with all of the lights on her. It was one of the few truly special dresses I saw all night.

Jennifer Garner in Oscar de la Renta.
The dress didn't do much for me: just a pretty simple black strapless gown. Plus Jen loses major points from me for gushing about Rachel Zoe and her skills as a stylist. Ugh. On the plus side, Jen's hair and makeup is perfection and I am obsessed with the vintage necklace she's wearing.

Nicole Kidman.
Again the dress was nothing special... I even thought it was a good inch too short. Still, this necklace is faaaaantastic and worthy of a mention.

Eva Herzigova at the Elton John afterparty.
I just loved the soft yellow color and the ruffle along the side. Very architectural yet still soft. I'm not a big fan of her hair and makeup, but the dress more than makes up for it.

And now for the worst:

George Clooney and Sarah Larson.
Yes, of course George looks dreamy as always in his classic tux. But that arm candy is just nasty. I'm not sure what she was thinking when she picked out this pastel disaster that smacks of early-80's bedroom drapery, but if she's going to be on his arm, she really needs to step it up.

Cameron Diaz.
You would think that with all of the people that are involved with getting the ladies ready for this night, someone would have thought to press the dress before Cameron hit the red carpet. The wrinkles are just awful and the dress just isn't good enough to be fabulous despite them.

Petra Nemcova at Elton John's afterparty.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeek. Why is she so blonde? And so fake tanned? And so... yellow and shiny. This is all so very very wrong. The dress is gross, the red lips are awful on her, and there's just nothing worse than the slicked back dirty looking hair. Oh Petra, this is wrong. So very very wrong.

Lindsay Lohan and Sharon Stone.
I just don't think anything else needs to be said here, do you?