Despite a rather wet start, it was another night of glitz and glamour at the 82nd Academy Awards. Surprisingly, pastel tones and light coloured gowns were the order of the evening. Nude, blush pick, lilac, silver grey and metallic shades were a plenty. There were few black and red gowns, many more patterned gowns and virtually no necklaces.

Here’s my rundown of the gowns and suits. First, the best dressed lasses:

1. I have a tie for first place! Both Vera Farmiga and Helen Mirren took my breath away. Vera’s dark red sculptured pleated gown was spectacular and the colour was delicious against her creamy white skin. Unfortunately, the picture you see below does not do her dress justice, so I hope you saw her on stage in all her glory. Helen’s silver grey dress with tulle shoulder wrap was simply stunning. Perfectly age appropriate and alluring at the same time.
2. Sandra Bullock was beautiful in a sleek and retro shimmery gold gown with lace insets. She epitomized old Hollywood glamour perfectly, the red lips and asymmetrical hairstyle adding a great final touch. Her acceptance speech was the best of the night and I’m thrilled that she won the award.
3. Queen Latifah was dazzling and so, so, so pretty in an extremely flattering one shouldered lilac gown. The colour against her skin was magical and she looked as elegant as ever.
4. Jennifer Lopez wore a dramatic gown that was a technical work of art. Wow! It was a little too pastel for my liking, but exquisite nonetheless. A real show stopper.
5. Oprah Winfrey never looked better. Her midnight blue, wrap top gown was gorgeous and she oozed femininity and a regal grace that was hard to beat.

I also liked Rachel McAdams’s muted water colour floral gown and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s printed strapless blue gown because they were different and risky. Tina Fey looked lovely in a beaded black asymmetrical gown. Sarah Jessica Parker‘s dress was fab from the side and back, but I wasn’t fond of it from the front. Meryl Streep looked classy in a long sleeved white gown with a plunging neckline. Good for Meryl! I loved Barbara Streisand’s tuxedo’d dress ensemble and immediately thought how fashion forward she was compared to many of the other women. Zoe Saldana’s gown was my least favorite of the night until I saw it on stage. It’s astounding how much better it looked on stage than on the red carpet.

The best dressed blokes:

1. Alec Baldwin was flawlessly clean cut in a classic tux with bow tie and later a black suit with skinny black tie. I loved his slicked back hair and the way his white cuffs peeked out from under his jacket sleeves. He and Steve Martin made the best Academy Award hosts ever.
2. Robin Williams was fabulous in an all black, textured tux. His goatee and specs absolutely rocked.
3. Gerard Butler was devastatingly handsome in his classic tux, but his accent is still his best accessory.
4. Tom Ford was just what you’d expect: PERFECT.
5. Jeremy Renner looked dashing in a black suit with silver grey tie and twinkle in his eye.

Robert Downey Jr. was adorable in an oversized blue bowtie and blue tinted specs. Super cute. Zac Efron looked superb is a 60’s inspired black suit and hip hair. Morgan Freeman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Colin Firth looked distinguished and fabulously polished.

I wasn’t very impressed with Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Keanu Reeves and Sean Penn. Perhaps unruly hair and unkempt facial fuzz can be explained by their current acting assignments, but there is no excuse for a sloppy top button on a dress shirt. This is the Oscars and you should look exceptionally turned out.

I’m excited to compare Oscar fashion notes, so over to you. Who made your best and worst lists?

Today’s post is written by forum member Kim (“queenie”), who lives in San Jose, CA with her adoring husband and four teenage sons. In a house full of boys, girly time is precious and rare! So I asked fab, fun-loving, exuberant Kim if she’d like to road test some accessories from Outfit Additions, and here’s the result. Be sure to catch the opportunity to win a gift coupon at the end of Kim’s review.

I love to play with accessories to add style quotient to my outfits, so I was honored when Angie asked me to review some of the silk items from Outfit Additions. After browsing the website I chose the small wallet in carbonado, the clutch in cherry red and two belts — one in turquoise and the other in a lovely midnight blue vine design. The clutch, wallet and turquoise belt are 100% silk, while the midnight belt is 100% polyester.  I was quite impressed with the quality of these items. The fabric is of beautiful quality and each item is meticulously crafted. There are no loose threads or crooked stitching on any of the items I received. The colors are vibrant and rich.

The small tri-fold wallet was put to use immediately. I like to carry two wallets — a full size to carry the myriad of cards and coupons that I manage to accumulate, and a smaller wallet that holds my driver’s license, bank card, credit card and cash. This is the wallet that I throw into my gym bag or grab for a quick trip to the store for one or two items. My current small wallet had seen better days, so I filled this pretty little wallet with my items and have been happily toting it along ever since. It feels soft and luxurious in my hands and services me quite nicely. The tri-fold design keeps everything put and I don’t have cards and coins spilling out into the bottom of my purse.

The clutch is actually more of what I would call a full size wallet. It has slots for several cards, cash and coins. I love the cherry red color of this clutch, although I would love for it to be designed more as a clutch handbag that I could fill with lipstick, cell phone and compact for an evening out. I did play around and snapped it over a long gold necklace I have. That proved to be a fun way to make it look more like a little purse.

To be honest, I was initially uninspired by the belts. While beautifully made, I was not thrilled with the design of the D-ring buckles and didn’t see the belts as ones that I could easily integrate into my wardrobe.  However, after playing around in my closet, I soon discovered that I was dead wrong. I used both belts to accessorize several different outfits from clothes that I already owned. I paired them with my fanciest black dress to create a slightly more casual outfit and was also able to add just a bit of pop and polish to a simple outfit of jeans and a knit top. I wore the belt both in the belt loops of my jeans and layered around my blouse or dress. I was pleased with both looks.

I would have preferred a more dressy buckle than the D-rings, but I played around a bit with weaving the belt through the buckle and found that creating a type of knot around the buckle and letting the end hang added some fun visual interest. The turquoise belt is 100% silk and will be a fun accessory to use in my wardrobe this spring. The midnight blue belt is 100% polyester and has a more matte finish than the silk.  This belt pairs well with the blacks and blues in my wardrobe.

If you’re looking for something different than the typical leather wallets and leather belts, stop by and browse the offerings of Outfit Additions. The selection of rich colors is quite enticing and the quality of the pieces is impressive.

Outfit Additions is giving away a $100 gift coupon to one lucky YLF reader. To enter the competition, please fill out this online survey. To confirm your entry, leave a comment here on YLF saying that you completed the survey. We will pick a winner by using a random generator. Please complete the survey and leave your comment by midnight, Wednesday 10th March.

If you loved the Brulees I posted last year, you might like the Smooch in this season’s Clarks collection. I find them even more comfortable and the studs are an edgy cherry on top. Soft footbed, buttery leather, roomy toebox and an ever so slightly raised wedge heel. No buckle digging or strap rubbing.

The Smooch is superior quality to the fabulous $40 Voyage sandal I blogged about earlier this week. It also comes in wonderful colours and the red, champagne and black get my top vote. Great with skirts and dresses, or under leggings and jeans.

I won’t be getting these sandals because I have enough pairs to see me through our short hot weather season. But I highly recommend the style if you need a comfortable flat Summer walking shoe. These probably would have been 8-hour city shoes for my fussy feet.

When I think of “power dressing”, the first image that springs to mind is actress Diane Keaton in the 80’s movie “Baby Boom”. She was a hotshot Manhattan business woman with a corner office, working 18-hour days in strong shouldered skirt suits and stiletto heels.

Power dressing is the type of professional attire men and women wear in corporate and government environments to make themselves look and feel authoritative, strong and capable. In essence, power dressing refers to outfits that make you look and feel powerful.

Most of us don’t work in corporate or government settings, but we all have moments in our day to day lives when we want to look and feel powerful. It often has nothing to do with business meetings and wearing career wear. Power dressing takes on a different meaning in this context.

I have a variety of outfit combinations that make me feel more competent and authoritative. I can’t tell you why they make me feel this way, but it’s definitely the case. Here they are:

• Boots worn with just about anything. I feel like Wonder Woman when I wear boots. (Hopefully I don’t look like Wonder Woman, though).
• Pencil skirts worn with low heels
• Tailored blazers worn with jeans
• Sheath dresses worn with dressy flats
• Skinny jeans paired with voluminous belted blouses and high heels
• A cravat style scarf

As much as I love wearing my suit, I don’t feel particularly powerful in it! Do you have wardrobe items and outfit combinations that make you feel powerful?