There was plenty of diversity on the Oscars 2016 red carpet: in colors, cuts and construction. Dresses and suits embraced every body type, any complexion and all manner of beauty. Still, it was an incredibly dull parade of one safe ensemble after another.
The red carpet paled in comparison to the more exciting clothes seen on the silver screen in 2015. Trends ran from normcore (Steve Jobs) to glamour (Carol), from mod (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) to maddening (Crimson Peak), from fur (The Revenant, The Hateful Eight) to fairy tales (Cinderella) to futuristic (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ex Machina, Mad Max: Fury Road).
The style-setters include the gossipmonger (Hedda Hopper in Trumbo), the reporter (Spotlight), the stockbroker (The Big Short), the immigrant (Brooklyn), the designer (The Dressmaker), the spook (Bridge of Spies) and the transgender (The Danish Girl).
Perhaps because there are too many fashion critics, legit and self-proclaimed, that the stars have been playing it safe on the red carpet in recent years. No more rebels like the Chers and Bjorks. No more goddesses like Audrey and Grace (well, there was Charlize and Jennifer both in Dior).
In my February 22 column, I suggested that the stars take over the disturbing #OscarsSoWhite hashtag by wearing black and/or white dresses. Those who came in classic black include Jennifer Garner in Atelier Versace, Kate Winslet in Ralph Lauren, Julianne Moore in Chanel Haute Couture and Jennifer Lawrence in Dior Haute Couture.
Kerry Washington wore a Versace black leather top and white skirt, while the white brigade was headed by Rooney Mara in Givenchy Haute Couture by Riccardo Tisci, and Olivia Wilde in Valentino Haute Couture.
Lady Gaga was also in white, and she gave the most powerful moment of the night when she sang “Till It Happens to You,” a Best Original Song about sexual assault she cowrote with Diane Warren for Youth. Gaga’s structured top and trouser/skirt set was created for her by her stylist-turned-designer Brandon Maxwell.
Others who wore the pants were Carol screenwriter Phyllis Nagy, Kate Capshaw and lifetime achievement special awardee Gena Rowlands.
Green was all over the red carpet, too. Cate Blanchett wore an Armani Prive seafoam green mermaid gown with a Roger Vivier clutch; Rachel McAdams arrived in a dark green backless silk gown from August Getty Atelier; and Saoirse Ronan came in a strappy and sequined emerald Calvin Klein Collection number.
Alicia Vikander, the Swede-heart who won Best Supporting Actress for The Danish Girl, arrived like a Disney princess in a yellow Louis Vuitton silver embroidered gown with a bubble skirt, a trend seen on the brand’s spring 2016 runway. But the ball gown I liked more was the chartreuse confection by Christian Siriano worn by Jackie Miranne, a style blogger and host who also happens to be the daughter of Joy Mangano (portrayed onscreen by Jennifer Lawrence in Joy).
Siriano, winner of Project Runway Season 4, should have dressed up the show’s host, supermodel Heidi Klum, who wore a lilac chiffon Marchesa dress that did her no favors. Fortunately, another model saved the night: Dutch stunner Dorith Mous, who also dabbles in filmmaking, wore a lovely lace and tulle gown created by her countryman Dennis Diem.
Diem will be a new name to watch out for, along with McAdams’s August Getty and X-Men: Apocalypse star Sophie Turner’s sustainable designer, Galvan by Opening Ceremony.
Leonardo DiCaprio picked up his Oscar for Best Actor wearing a Giorgio Armani black textured two-button tux and custom tuxedo studs and cufflinks by Established Jewelry. Also worth mentioning are Jared Leto for his fashion-forward Gucci black and red trimmed tux with red corsage in lieu of a bow tie, and Orlando Jones for his printed blazer.
Asians were represented by Mindy Kaling (Inside Out), who wore Elizabeth Kennedy, and Miss World 2000 Priyanka Chopra (TV’s Quantico), wearing Zuhair Murad, who are both of Indian descent. A Fil-Am, Ronnie del Carmen, codirected Inside Out; Byung-hun Lee (Terminator Genysis), from South Korea, was a presentor.
But, for me, the Oscars put the spotlight on the costume designer. On the red carpet, Sandy Powell, a double nominee for Carol and Cinderella, paid homage to David Bowie with her fiery orange hair and argyle-patterned suit/wide-legged pants. Powell has a total of 12 nominations, and has won three: Shakespeare in Love (1998), The Aviator (2004), and The Young Victoria (2009).
Then there’s the controversial Jenny Beavan, nominated 10 times, winning twice: for Room with a View (1987) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). She usually does excellent work in sumptuous costume dramas (Howards End, 1992; The Remains of the Day, 1993; Sense and Sensibility, 1995; The King’s Speech, 2010). When Beavan received her Oscar at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood on February 28, she wore a leather jacket, a Marks & Spencer with Swarovski at the back featuring a skull and a ring of flames, paired with a black top, black pants, striped scarf and bangles and silver nail polish on one finger.
The ensemble was seen as “inappropriate” by some but only reminds me of Katharine Hepburn’s sole appearance at the Oscars in 1973, when she presented the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to her friend Lawrence Weingarten. The then-three-time Best Actress winner wore gardening togs.
“I just like feeling comfortable and as far as I’m concerned, I’m really dressed up. I am very happy to talk about it. I don’t do frocks and absolutely don’t do heels, [as] I have a bad back. I look ridiculous in a beautiful gown,” said Beavan, red-carpet rebel and Oscars 2016’s most memorably dressed. n