Hollywood’s Leading Ladies Give The Red Carpet The Bare Shoulder Treatment

The parade of beautiful people on this season’s plush scarlet carpets were just a warm up for The Most Important Red Carpet Ever–the Oscars.

But for all of the style anticipation and ABC’s CIA-like ploy to keep the presenters a secret to sucker us into watching the telecast instead of just watching clips on YouTube, the mood and the looks were muted compared to year’s past.

No instantly iconic gowns like Julia Robert’s, Halle Berry’s or Charlize Theron’s.  But no Bjork swan dresses or Lara Flynn Boyle Ballerina Barbie get ups, either. Even Tilda Swinton, who can usually be counted on to bring the WTF, managed to wear something that didn’t resemble a Princess Avant Garde of the Glargflong Galaxy ensemble.  And she wore lipstick!  We were so stunned we missed about five minutes of the celeb arrivals.

The night’s style memo: elegant but not ostentatious, which translated into lots of safe, one-shoulder gowns in white and pale hues.  And instead of thousands of dollars of borrowed bling, celebs kept it simple with a key piece of statement jewelry.

We literally gasped out loud when cameras first snapped Angelina Jolie’s arrival on the red carpet.  She looked AMAZING.  Yes, Angelina wore yet another black frock, this one by Elie Saab, but the insanely good looking Changeling star went total Hollywood glam with big hair, a tasteful amount of cleavage, and green Lorraine Schwartz earrings with a matching ring for some pizzaz.  Now that is a movie star.  Jennifer Aniston didn’t stand a chance.

Oscar winner Kate Winslet capped off her fabulous red carpet streak in a flawless nod to Old Hollywood in a one-shoulder, gun metal gray Yves Saint Laurent gown with a lace embroidered sleeve and a retro coif. If you’re going to win, this is the dress to do it in.

Rachel Getting Married star Anne Hathaway looked the part of a Hollywood ingenue in an intricate white Armani Prive beaded dress covered in pailettes that just screams “I’d like to thank the Academy for this award.”

Sex and the City’s Sarah Jessica Parker didn’t need statement jewelry to accessorize her dramatic light green Christian Dior Haute Couture gown.  Her décolletage was speaking loud and clear. Wow.  Are those new or just a really good Victoria’s Secret push-up bra? God bless her, the dress was the night’s one true moment of fantasy.

Penelope Cruz did not wear black or Oscar de la Renta as was heavily predicted.  What was expected, though, was her win for best supporting actress in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She claimed Oscar gold in a  vintage Pierre Balmain Haute Couture gown (it’s more than 60 years old!) that is a little bit David’s Bridal, but all big screen glamorous.  Although this strapless dress is a familiar silhouette for her, the print gives it added interest and detail.  The style is a bit reminiscent of Gwyneth Paltrow’s pink Ralph Lauren Oscar dress, no?

One of the few stars to go for a bright color, Slumdog Millionaire star Frieda Pinto stood out like a jewel in a brilliant blue John Galliano gown with a single sheer sleeve that hinted at sari chic.  We love that she wears looks inspired by her Indian heritage.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button best-supporting actress nominee Taraji Henson went from singing “It’s Hard Out Here For a Pimp” at last year’s ceremony to posing on the red carpet in a gorgeous white Roberto Cavalli dress and a STUNNING Fred Leighton statement necklace.  The total look says “I have arrived.”

In keeping with the toned down aesthetic, Stuart Weitzman did not send his signature $1 million dollar shoes down the red carpet.  But you can get that million dollar look in these ‘Warner’ heels by Caparros without spending a fortune.

By ShoeMinx Red Carpet Watcher Paige Muller

This is it.  In just a few hours, fashion and Hollywood fantasy will collide at the Kodak Theatre for the 81st annual Academy Awards (the Oscars to the rest of us).  And somewhere in the celluloid city, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer are plotting their red carpet navigation with the skill and precision of a military strike team.  Or a team of stylists backstage at Fashion Week.

Between host Hugh Jackman’s tongue-in-cheek, yet mentally tantalizing tease of a “naked Oscars,” a possible Aniston-Brangelina red carpet rendezvous, rumors of Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto’s secret marriage (no way will Ryan Seacrest and Guilana Depandi-Rancic ignore that gossip-y elephant in the room–or red carpet, as it were), the combined hotness of Twilight star Robert Pattinson and High School Musical’s flat-ironed hunk Zac Efron, who actually wins what awards is just the icing on a three-tiered cake of glorious-and-ridiculous excess, glamor and gossip goodness.

To whet your appetite until the spectacle begins, we present the ShoeMinx Pre-Oscars Interlude.

One-Million Dollar Shoe Discount. The effects of the plunging economy will rear its ugly head — or maybe we should say sole — on the red carpet along with all those plunging necklines.  Designer Stuart Weitzman has scrapped plans to send a pair of his $1 million dollar shoes down the crimson carpet, saying: “We very seriously took into account the current economic situation and what is considered appropriate in the world of fashion today, and we felt this was not a year to be extravagant.”

Last year, the fancy-footwear designer chose “Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody to wear his specially designed diamond-encrusted shoes to the ceremony, but Cody served up a plate of STFU, calling the selection “a cheesy publicity stunt.” She opted to wear a pair of simple gold flats under her flowing Dior leopard print dress instead.

Weitzman hopes his “big fan” Angelina Jolie, the best-actress Oscar nominee for The Changeling, who previously donned nude Weitzman heels to the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Golden Globes, will again wear a pair of his shoes to the ceremony.

Anne Hathaway Says “Yes” to the Dress. E! reveals that best-actress nominee Anne Hathaway is “in love” with her Oscar dress.  According to a partygoer at Perrier-Jouët champagne’s Women in Film cocktail soiree, “She said it’s a little out of her comfort level but hopes people love it as much as she does!”  Our fingers are crossed that the usually “Best Dressed” star avoids dipping her toes in the “WTF are you wearing?” goth pool that sank Gwyneth Paltrow at the 2002 ceremony.

Check the batteries in your remote and get the popcorn ready.  The Oscar fashion bash and awards anxiety is about to kick off.

By ShoeMinx Red Carpet Watcher Paige Muller