Oscar Dresses: So What?

The older I get, the less I really care about giant award shows in general. But usually, my interest is at least piqued by the fashion. For some reason, this year I have experience a great shift in ambivalence towards the dresses I've seen at the Golden Globes, Grammys, and Academy Awards. Maybe it's because this is the year I really started to delve into personal, unique style, and have shifted my opinions about what fashion really means to me. Starting this blog, then discovering and exploring an endless stream of style blogs has shown me that celebrity-based trends and mainstream media portrayals of style are two dimensional and slightly dead. Especially compared to what many everyday, normal, but ridiculously chic, women are accomplishing with limited budget, little no access to designer labels, and in many cases, a good sewing machine.

Not that I blame actors and actresses. It's their job to be in movies and tv, not to dress well. That's why tv and movies have wardrobe departments. Sure, some of them love clothes and put together some killer looks. But most of them could probably care less about keeping up with trends and going shopping. No wonder stylists are essential these days. And if you think about it, while the media and popular culture hypes up award shows as the ultimate platform for the best dresses in the world to be worn and shown, there's a strong pressure to look good and not take risks. Hence, my reaction to most of the award season dresses I've seen this year, which can be summed up as this: uh, pretty I guess? Kinda looks like a billion other dresses I've seen before.


So I'm not going to slam anyone for being boring or safe, because when it comes down to it, I get it. Pick a pretty dress, something nude/white/red and sparkly/strapless/with a small train, dip your head in a bucket of hairspray and the rest of you in borrowed diamonds, and just get through the night without fear of being mocked on E! the next day. Meanwhile, even I found a couple of standouts at last nights Academy Award ceremony.

My first pick: Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine. Genius. She can do a neutral color without looking boring cause THAT HAIR. Also, love that she didn't go for a typical updo. I think loose, flowing hair complements a fancy dress so much better than weird helmet head. Also the vintage silhouette fits perfectly, loose enough so she looks comfortable, but still sleek. Long sleeved dresses are huge right now, but most celebs wouldn't have the balls to bust one out on Oscar night. And I doubt anyone else would have looked right in this dress, a sure sign that she's got her personal style nailed down.

The other dress I loved was worn by some girl. The fact that I had no idea who she was yet still stopped dead when I saw her proves she looked awesome. She's actually the daughter of Ed Catmull, who apparently works for Disney/Pixar. The dress is, of course, killer. The cutout takes a simple red gown to another level. But it would still be pretty meh if it weren't for the fact that she's wearing the obligatory blogger glasses. Maybe they should just call them o-blog-atory glasses. Amirite? No? Moving on. She is adorbz and those glasses are better than any boring old diamonds.

Come back soon, as I have a few more things to say about this years gown-wearing season. Who else did I love? Which dress seemed boring at first, but won me over after weeks of deliberation? Which two lovely ladies did well enough to land on my fave list twice? 

Images courtesy of www.oscars.org