Oscar Fashion
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Halle Berry arrived at Sunday's Academy Awards in a wine-colored, A-line ballgown with a sheer bodice and strategically placed beaded flowers — a sexy departure for her and a fashion moment on a night when many stars played it safe.
"She's the new, hot style icon," Cindi Leive, editor in chief of Glamour, said of the best-actress nominee. "People are enjoying watching her."
Nicole Kidman chose a Chanel pink-chiffon, spaghetti-strap gown with tiers of ruffles running down the bodice, and 200 carats of raw Bulgari diamonds wrapped around her neck.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Nicole's gown really showed how soft and pretty fashion is going," said Tom Julian, fashion commentator for Oscar.com.
The awards-show set generally chose classic styles, with relatively little jewelry and loose hairstyles.
Even Jennifer Lopez, known for some racy and risky outfits, wore a simple fitted pink strapless gown with gathered sides by Versace and a pearl necklace.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jennifer Connelly, another fashion "it girl," wore a champagne-colored strapless gown with a tiered skirt by Balenciaga with matching scarf.
Previous best-actress winners Julia Roberts and Helen Hunt went for simple — and covered-up — stlyes: Roberts in a black jersey Giorgio Armani gown with back and side cutouts, and Hunt in a black satin, long-sleeve gown with a deep V-neck and lace-up front by Gucci.
In another red-carpet highlight, Laura Elena Harring wore a 77-carat Archduke Joseph Diamond valued at $27 million and designed by Alfredo Molina, and $1 million stiletto sandals by Stuart Weitzman to complement her black-and-red, strapless, beaded, floral gown by Armani.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think they thought it was the Cinderella story. I come from a small town in Mexico," said Harring, co-star of Mulholland Drive.
Helen Mirren, nominated for best-supporting actress, was in a white Giorgio Armani ballgown, while fellow nominee Kate Winslet also wore red, an almost-strapless gown with a single floral strap. Marisa Tomei, also nominated in that category, had a similar one-strap look in a black gown with netted skirt and a diamond necklace draped around her neck.
Leive expected to see a lot of black on the red carpet, and black, she said, needs "the `oh-my-God, what is she wearing' necklace."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Reese Witherspoon was in a black cap-sleeve dress with black lace detail; Naomi Watts wore a fitted black gown with crisscross straps; and Glenn Close was in a Vera Wang gown with sheer black sleeves.
Will Smith, a best-actor nominee, wore a monochromatic shirt-and-tie look in champagne, and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, was in a white wrap top with yellow skirt.
Leive said the audience was hoping for another Bjork swan dress from last year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"A lot of people watch the red carpet for entertainment," she said. "They're not necessarily taking it as a cue of what they're wearing to tomorrow night's cocktail party.
"I think a lot of people secretly wish someone will look terrible, otherwise it's boring."