BEST: Queen Latifah and Rachel McAdams
WORST: Sarah Jessica Parker

Of course, I only have the stills to go from, but those are my picks.

(deep breath) Okay, here goes…

Best
1. Carey Mulligan- I take back what I said before about her style being overrated. This dress perfectly walked the line between “classic red carpet style” and “fashion fierce”. The blonde pixie set it off superbly.
2. Rachel McAdams- I loved the colours on her and the bodice was lovely. So ethereal.
3. SJP- Besides the fact that when I see her these days I feel like I need to make her a sandwich or something, I loved almost everything about this dress.
4. Maggie Gyllenhaal- She almost always gets it right. I really liked the colours and cut of this gown- shame it was so wrinkled by the time she walked the carpet.

Worst
1. Vera Farmiga- Oh Angie, do you still like me? I actually gasped and had to step away from my computer when I first saw this monstrosity. It’s like a collection of ketchup-flavoured Ruffles chips on a dress. Somebody needs to stop Marchesa already. (It’s one of my most reviled lines.)
2. Sandra Bullock- Yay, more Marchesa! I loved her hair, makeup and speech- the gown, not so much. Looks very dated to me, and ages her.
3. Diane Kruger- Just because it’s Chanel doesn’t make it nice. It was like some kind of Oscars practical joke. I can just picture Karl Lagerfeld laughing evilly in his atelier.

Of Note…
Meryl Streep- I’m laughing at your “Good for Meryl!”, Angie. I agree that this was lovely on her and it’s so rare that you just want to give her some kind of award.
J.Lo- She’ll always be J.Lo to me, and I’ll always love her style. Sometimes it’s OTT but she always wears it well.
Charlize Theron- I know the breast rosettes are dividing people, and I didn’t like the dress in that colour, on her. But in black? On Nicole Kidman? In the pages of Vogue? Love.
Miley Cyrus- This colour was so pretty and it it hadn’t been about 3 sizes too small, I might have liked it.
Penelope Cruz- Why does she always wear the same dress!? Seriously, I feel like we’ve seen this on her ten times before. I love her but she needs to mix it up.

Okay, sorry for the novel. I told you I take red carpet style very seriously!

I’m so glad someone else noticed Queen Latifah and Oprah. I thought they both looked FANTASTIC and no one even mentions them! Of the two, I liked Oprah’s dress a lot better as a dress, but QL’s just fit her so perfectly and she looked so great in it.

I liked Demi Moore’s dress but I don’t understand the dress-same-color-as-skin trend. Loved Helen Mirren also. And I actually loved the outfit of the obnoxious woman who won for costume design. Sarah Jessica Parker and Miley Cyrus looked wretched.

I love seeing descriptions of how everyone looked!! Makes me want to get all swanked up.
I read your choices to Corey, who’s interested in understanding the general aesthetic preferences on ylf. Angie, he’s wondering what you thought of Kathryn Bigelow. He thought she looked great but was interested in your take. He totally agreed with your read on Helen Mirren, Oprah and Sean Penn in particular.

I loved Vera Farmiga’s dress and it’s interesting to hear Eve’s take on it. The over-the-topness and the color were what did it for me.

Second best, I loved SJP’s dress. That one, I won’t forget. I give her points for being totally different from everyone else and pulling it off.

Third, Maggie Gyllenhaal. That blue graphic/brushstroke print was edgy and modern, just like her.

I VASTLY preferred Penelope Cruz’s red dress to Vera Farmiga’s – which was TOO MUCH, and also loved Tina Fey’s very unique look.

It’s so interesting how different fashion experts have different fashion opinions! I’ve read a lot of very negative critiques about Vera Farmiga and Jennifer Lopez’s dresses! It’s nice to see different opinions and not uniformity. Keeps it interesting!

I really think the plus size women did a great job this year and we had a lot of representation. It was nice to see. Lots of cobalt/blue dresses though. I thought Mo’Nique’s dress was very flattering.

JLo was my favorite! Angie, do you know what material that dress was made of? It was gorgeous. Despite the tanorexia, I thought Sarah Jessica Parker’s dress was beautiful. The contrast of the yellow and the silver with the sash at her neck I thought was really interesting and beautiful. Yes, Queen Latifah and Oprah were great, Kate Winslet was the height of elegant, and I thought Meryl Streep looked elegant as well (I seem to have a thing for white dresses).

Angie, I’m not surprised you loved Vera Farmiga’s gown – it reminds me of a certain Valentino handbag Thanks for the post.

Hah! Ele, of course I still like you! Remember that you don’t like red. At all :0). Not one person will have the same take on this night of fashion. The Fashion Police on the E-channel have a field day because they never agree on anything either.

Hi five, Laura! Vera’s dress stopped me dead in my tracks. It was so OTT but she just wore it so well.

Michelle, Kathryn Bigelow looked beautiful and was conservatively scraping 7 feet last night. She is so tall! I guess her gown just didn’t hit my “wow” button, and neither did Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, Charlize Theron or Carey Mulligan. They all looked wonderful, but didn’t make my top list. On the plus side, and as Laura mentioned on the forum this morning, there were no misses in my humble opinion.

Meredith2, J lo’s dress looked like it was made of a micro sequined fabric with lustrous lurex thread but I can’t be sure.

Don’t forget about the blokes!

Best Dressed:
Queen Latifah (The fit was perfection. A lot of women in Hollywood could take advice from her.
Rachel McAdams (It fit really well and I loved the pattern. It reminded me of a watercolor painting.)
Maggie Gyllenhaal (Also a great dress, pattern and fit)
Helen Mirren (So elegant, as usual)
Meryl Streep (I really like the sculptural lines of her dress on the red carpet)
Oprah Winfrey (She looked so beautiful. Her dress and makeup were perfect)

Worst Dressed:
Zoe Saldana (Imo, the bottom of that dress was terrible)
Charlize Theron (It looked like two cauliflowers on her breasts)
Penelope Cruz (Loved the dress, but the fit was terrible. It made her look much bigger)
SJP (My friends and I were joking that she looked like the Oscar!)
Diane Kruger (There was just way too much going on there)
Jennifer Lopez (As a fellow pretty pear, why would you purposely wear something that makes you look twice as wide???)

Hail to the Queen ! I loved Queen Latifah’s look. ( How did I miss Oprah – was I in the bathroom or snacking ? )

Helen Mirren looked great too.
Overall, I didn’t like all the pastels and nudes and greys. It remined me of a fairy convention.

Yay, I’ve been looking forward to this post!

The Women

- I agree with you about Sandra Bullock, Queen Latifah and and Oprah.

- I don’t think SJP looked that great, sorry. I have never really liked her fashions on the red carpet or on SATC. I loved the color of Vera Farmiga’s dress, but wasn’t crazy about all the ruffles.

- I also liked Kate Winslet, Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep. I also thought Cameron Diaz looked good for the first time in a while. I haven’t really liked all of her past awards show choices. Sigourney Weaver’s red dress was also great.

- I think Zoe Saldana and Charlize Theron are absolutely gorgeous, but their dresses weren’t my favorite.

- I noticed several presenters wearing high heeled platform shoes. I was nervous as they were walking down the stairs and across the stage!

- There were several younger presenters like Miley Cyrus, Amanda Seyfreid and Kristen Stewart that I felt dressed a bit too old. I wish they would have had a bit more fun with their dresses. Also, Miley needs to straighten her shoulders. I guess I’m turning into my mom, b/c she always used to say that to me.

The Men

- I agree with you on the men (both good and bad). I like a nice polished look.

- For the younger guys, I thought Taylor Lautner and Zac Efron looked good.

- I love Robert Downey Jr. The blue bow tie was great!

Although I’d like another peek at it, my favorite dress was worn by Morgan Freeman’s daughter. It was a gorgeous navy with diagonal pleating. Helen Mirran was my favorite of the older ladies. There were many interesting and beautiful gowns. Fashion watching was more fun than usual. Our newspaper this morning did a big photo spread and critique of looks. they panned Nichole Richie, Diane Kruger, Zoe Saldana and Charlize and felt Maggie Gyllenhaal should have a prize for “most improved” but that her dress looked like tie-dye.
I didn’t care for Kathryn Bigelow’s dress at all when seen on the red carpet because of the fit. It pulled across her tummy as she was interviewed. However, with her glow of excitement, it didn’t really matter what she had on or how it fit.
I totally agree with you on all counts about the blokes. Our local paper felt that Tom Ford had way too many accessories going on.

I generally agree with you, Angie – I was so relieved to see Maggie G in something elegant and formfitting, and thought Tina Fey looked fab. I seriously hope George Clooney is growing his hair out for a role, because the man looked downright shaggy!

I thought Demi Moore looked fantastic. Her dress was gorgeous and she looks better now than she did when she was in her 20s. My only quibble was that a color that was not as similar to her skin tone would have highlighted the incredible dress even more. I agree with the majority of people that Sandra Bullock was a standout as well.

I hated Zoe Saldana’s dress, and thought that it looked particularly awful when she had to hitch it up to walk down the stairs. The slit was dangerously high at that point. I also thought that Charlize Theron’s dress with what looked like an imitation Wonder Woman breastplate was not good at all.

I thought Kathryn Bigelow’s dress was very pretty, but I agree with Joy that it did not fit well, which was really unfortunate.

Best …Rachel McAdams, Miley Cyrus
Worst… Zoe Saldina tied with Charlize Theron(Whom I usually adore)

I only saw a few pictures, no moving images, so that is definitely influencing my judgement. I have to say, I wasn’t super excited about any of the outfits this year, nothing really struck me as spectacular.

Best: Helen Mirren, Queen Latifah and Maggie Gyllenhaal (Dries Van Noten, that a girl!-).
So so: Sandra Bullock (not liking her hot pink lipstick at all), Vera Farmiga (a stunning colour on her, but not a real fan of the dress itself – Sigourney Weaver and Molly Ringwald also know how to pick a fab colour!).
Not really nice: Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Richie.

The blokes I saw all looked dashing, Jeff Bridges is pulling off his beard methinks – his grin helps a lot – and I’m hoping George Clooney’s hair has something to do with an upcoming movie;-)

I like seeing the dresses, but I don’t form especially strong opinions about them and certainly don’t bother making “best” and “worst” lists. They ultimately all sort of look the same to me. I’m just not much of an glitzy formalwear kind of person. It gets boring. I can see only so much satin and tulle and organza and chiffon and ruffles before my eyelids start feeling heavy. I am also pretty clueless about celebrities in general, so I have no idea who most of these people are, let alone what their typical style is like. I kind of like it that way though. I can see things with a fresh perspective.

The only one I do have a strong opinion on is Vera’s: I’m with Ele, I think it’s atrocious, fussy, and overwhelming. But horses for courses. I rarely see a lot of consensus regarding red carpet looks.

I was actually a little bored by the lovely gowns. They were very safe, but nevertheless stunning. And of course, I would love to wear any of the above featured or mentioned gowns, but I really loved the looks of Nicole Richie, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Rachel McAdams. I also loved the lady that won the best costume design Oscar with her sparkly beret, flaming red hair and a stunning dress. I’d have to say she showed the most individuality while still looking elegant.

Helen Mirren and Maggie Gyllenhaal were my favorites. I wasn’t fond of Charlize Theron’s Dior gown. SJP was my least favorite since she was chewing gum in a Chanel dress!

My fave’s were Vera Farmiga (yes there was alot to the dress but I thought it totally worked) and Sandra Bullock– probably more for her gorgeous hair and make up than the dress. And I agree with you Angie- her acceptance speech was so gracious! It almost made me cry.

I didn’t spend alot of time trying to figure out who I would vote worst… but I do know I wasn’t blown over by Barbara Streisand- I thought she has looked better.

Finally getting to YLF – it’s been a busy day at work, but I’ve been looking forward to reading the Oscar post all day

My faves were: JLo, Helen Mirren, Elizabeth Banks, Queen Latifah, Sandra Bullock (esp. loved hair and make-up), Penelope Cruz, Maggie Gyllenhal, Tina Fey (but hated the hair!). And Morgan Freedman’s daughter seemed to be wearing a very pretty blue dress with vertical ruffle, but I never saw the full dress so I can’t be sure.

My least faves: Charlize Theron (just couldn’t get over the flower boob placement), Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Kruger. I also was didn’t much care for Kate Winslet’s look, but just thought it was just “not that flattering”, not “extremely unflattering” like SJP’s…

I had mixed reactions to Zoe Saldana’s dress. Loved the upper part of it, loved the colors, but there was just too much going on at the bottom. Also, she couldn’t walk in the dress – I cringed watching her stumble awkwardly onto the stage. And a dress that you can’t walk on is just not right in my book.
I didn’t love Vera Farmiga’s dress. I thought it was a bit too stiff somehow, the color not ultimately flattering on her, and I felt a bit too much of “the dress wearing Vera” rather than the other way around. But it sure was stunning.

There were too many beautiful women to look at, I had no eyes to spare for the men

Aside from the fashion, I thought it was generally a pretty good show. I liked that they showed longer movie clips, and I liked how the leading actor and actresses nominees all got such personal little tributes. Nice. I adore Alec Baldwin and like Steve Martin, but I thought their intro was horrible – it was so lame and flat, and I really cringed for them. They got better throughout the show. I was glad they skipped the performances of all the best song nominees, but man, that dance performance we got instead? Yikes!

But of course, all in all it was a delicious evening and I got my fill of celebrities for a while!

I am very late responding – I only watched part of it, and I don’t remember everyone, but one thing stood out for me… did anyone else notice too many dyed-to-match bridesmaids’ purses? This bugged me so much, I barely noticed the gowns!

Best
Sandra Bullock
Cameron Diaz
Helen Mirren

Worst
SJP
Meryl Streep
Barbra Streisand

Some of the ladies others named did not make my list because they just look like they are trying way too hard. My “bests,” in my opinion, made it look effortless.

I loved the dramatic dresses best: Vera Farmiga, Jennifer Lopez and Zoe Saldana really took advantage of it being the most formal/glamourous event of the year. Where else can you wear a giant, boldly coloured ruffly extravaganza

I would have liked to see the younger girls be more adventurous, but they all looked quite nervous to even be there. I suppose when you’re surrounded by your peers and idols it’s hard to relax, and you want to make sure you don’t make a bad impression on people who can make/break your career. Hopefully as they get older they’ll be more confident.

My favorite dress of the evening was Sandra Bullock. I just thought she was stunning, though her dress looked more silver than gold on our telly. I also thought that Demi Moore looked amazing!

Poor Mylie Cyrus needed a bit of help with that corset top that was just too short. I was also not a fan of Sara Jessica Parker’s dress. Looked a bit mumsy for such a hot mama!

I didn’t get to see all the dresses, so I am going to go online to check out the ones I’ve missed. How I love the Oscars!

I don’t have a TV so these are the only AA pics I’ve seen…great to hear your take on the dresses. Maybe you could include more pics next time for those of us who won’t see any elsewhere? And no worst dressed list? You are too nice Angie!

Am I the only one who thought Meryl Streep’s dress looked like a bathrobe?

I know I am late to this but I just wanted to ask Angie: was John Travolta really wearing denim or was I having hallucinations?

LOVED Vera Famiglia’s OTT frock, Nicole Ritchie, Diane Kruger, Rachel McAdams, Carey Mulligan and Maggie Gyllenhaal. I also liked Cameron Diaz and Sandra Bullock’s dresses, although I thought both were fairly safe choices.

I really didn’t like SJP’s baggy Grecian number, although I like her a lot. I think she looked stiff and overly orange and the frock made her look like a skeleton. Pity! She usually looks fantastic and eye-catching.

Did anyone notice the woman in blue behind Q Latifah on the photo Angie posted ? It´s like an illustration of how a plus size should & shouldn´t dress.

I have seen so little of the Oscar coverage this year and my post is very late due to ignorance. I have to admit the dress which impressed me most was worn by Diane Kruger at one of the after show parties, it was knee length, very Dior new look in style and the most gorgeous shade of red imaginable. I didn’t even mind her white bra showing which is something for Little Miss Prude here. SJP had the best jewellery of the evening her stacked bracelets looked divine.

BEST DRESSED
#1 Demi Moore – stunning, took my breath away, and i don’t know why but I thought that in white it would make a perfect wedding dress.

#2 Cameron Diaz – Beautiful Oscar de la Renta and her hair was gorgeous too.

#3 Helen Mirren – I want to look like her in 30 years, such style and elegance!

#4 Rachel McAdams – Soft and feminine, and I love how she pulled off a pattern at such a glitz affair.

WORST DRESSED
#1 Jennifer Lopez – I’m not into the architectural styles and quite frankly I don’t love her booty all that much.

#2 Vera Farmiga – what a beautiful girl, her eyes are so captivating. But her beauty was lost in all all the material and the dowdy hairstyle. I see her looking beautiful in streamlined dresses in earth tones.

#3 Zoe Saldana – this goes without saying

#4 Mo’nique – she’s lost tons of weight and this dress did not flatter her at all, and the color and fabric look a little tacky in pictures and on screen.

Fact: Did you know that Meryl Streep’s gown was created by Project Runway’s Chris March?

I LOVED Carey Mulligan’s dress and I don’t even know who the heck she is. I loved loved loved that beading that tapered away, and I love how she/her stylist used the strappy shoes with the cutaway skirt.

Charlize Thieron looked like she was getting felt up by her dress. Does anyone remember what her hair or face or jewelry looked like? Of course not. That dress was wearing her.

Bit late to the party but how did you feel about Anna Kendrick’s dress? It was a blush-colored off the shoulder gown and I thought it looked lovely though her shoes were a little clunky.

I am very late to respond here but I really enjoyed watching the Oscars this year. I pretty much agree with your impressions Angie. The best dress of the night was J Lo’s for me, I love pastels.

Unbelievably, I got to go to the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party! My sister edited the film that won best short doc. Seeing all those celebs up close was dazzling. I can tell you that Maggie Gyllenhaal is stunning and gracious in person, and her amazing dress suited her perfectly. I got a fabulous photo of me with Keanu – he looks far too thin and scruffy; maybe he’s prepping for a role? Colin Firth is adorable up close. Ben Stiller and Jeff Bridges = scruffy. Jennifer Lopez changed into a tight black gown and feather-boa type vest and had her hair in a ponytail – you couldn’t get very near, though. Victoria Beckham is much too thin. Elton John is exactly as you’d expect, but shorter. Heidi Klum is not human – she is so tall and leggy it’s like she’s a giraffe. And there’s a photo on the Vanity Fair website of me walking in right behind her – what worse blow to self-esteem? Although I’m proud to say I’m wearing low cage heels like Angie recommends! WOOT! Be sure to watch Music By Prudence on HBO May 12th!

i have to admit i hardly pay any attention to the gents, but i’ll try to be more aware of their style next time. can’t wait to tweet the event with you again next year!!

Good deal. I like music a lot. It really irritates me when folks say things like since she’s 40 she shouldnt create music anymore. Thats silly. Bring it J.Lo!