“You’re going to see a lot of glamour, very sexy movement and billowy colors,” says leading celebrity stylist Phillip Bloch, who snared a major coup this year by getting to dress Berry, one of the most talked-about nominees. Bloch says stars have been in and out of his house all week, and he’s been running back and forth to designer showrooms at various Beverly Hills hotels coordinating the perfect looks for his clients. The competition is fierce but friendly.
“It’s all cool. Sometimes you’ve gotta yell, sometimes you’ve gotta get a little down and dirty,” he says. As for what Berry will be wearing, “I can’t give you any scoop. We don’t even know.”
“I think we’re finally getting back to glamour,” says Tod Hallman, a personal stylist who has crafted looks for Rachel Griffiths, Neve Campbell, Bo Derek, Garcelle Beauvais and Kelly Hu. “I think Hollywood is comfortable again, to coin a phrase, in being called ‘Tinseltown.'”
Like he did for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Hallman will dress Griffiths for the Independent Spirit Awards the night before the Oscars and several Oscar night bashes. The stylist said it will be interesting to see if black and white–the prevailing colors of recent awards galas–will continue to rule or if the stars will shine in the hot new color from the recently unveiled haute couture collections of this fall: gold. “Gold lamé is big,” he says.
He also cites several designers who have made an aggressive push in this year’s Oscar fashion race. “Emmanuel Ungaro is making a strong presence.” He adds Thierry Mugler may be prominent, and he has high praise for rising Lebanese fashion star Elie Saab.
