There’s nothing the lovely ladies of Hollywood seem to love more than playing dress-up, especially at big showbiz events like the Screen Actors Guild Awards. And there’s nothing you and I love better than dishing on who looked faboo and who needs to fire their stylist. Black and white ruled the day, and–shocker!–almost everybody was put together pretty well. Here’s Hollywood.com’s look at the fashion hits and misses on SAG Awards night–with a few inside scoops from the decked-out divas themselves .
Hit: Debra Messing
Debra Messing remains one of our leading fashion heroines, always dressing with both will and grace. For the SAGs, she made a conscious decision to take a radical step away from the gorgeous glam duds she’s sported recently, and she succeeded brilliantly with her clingy black Gucci gown. “Coming out of the Golden Globes, I felt so Upper East Side, elevated, sumptuous, but precious. I felt like a debutante,” Messing said. “I felt like I needed a quick change, I did an internal backlash. I decided I want to feel like my essential self, which is a New Yorker. I wanted to feel comfortable, I wanted to feel effortless, I wanted to feel creative in a downtown way, to have a little edge but to keep things simple.” She accentuated with little touches like black fingernails, “scary” Fred Leighton earrings (“I’m like, I want scary diamonds,” she giggled. “These are witchy.”) and a pair of super-sexy Brian Atwood sandals.”They’re a little punk, they’re a little S&M but they’re a managable Manolo heel.” We’ll heel for her anytime.
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Miss: Nicole Kidman
Yeah, we we’re going out on a limb here, but frankly we expected a bit more from the saucy Aussie Nicole Kidman, who’s one of Hollywood’s leading fashionistas. Her plain, black Jean Paul Gautier tuxedo-inspired gown was tasteful and showed the right amount of her milk-white skin, but it was also awfully tame for this style star, and her ravishing red hair was completely underdone. At 34, she’s just past the ponytail range, we think. (Perhaps we wouldn’t be so hard on Nic if she hadn’t looked so perfectly radiant–and beautifully blonde!–at the Oscar nominees luncheon the next day.)
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Hit: Jennifer Connelly
OK, we get that Jennifer Connelly loves basic black, but we don’t think she’s done it to death yet–in fact, in this case she’s done it to die for. Her Alexander McQueen couture with its tummy-baring lace-up top and flowing pants was one of the sexiest getups on the red carpet, and it revealed Connelly’s taut bod in all the right places (although we admit we liked her better a tad more voluptuous and not so lean). As for her Oscar gown, she said she’s “undecided,” but we say it’s safe to bet on black.
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Miss: Megan Mullally
We cheered as loudly as anyone when Megan Mullally won her SAG Award, but we have to vote thumbs-down on the look she sported at the ceremony (although at least she didn’t overdue the cleavage factor as in events past). You can’t tell from this shot, but Mullally was a mishmash of designer imprints in Giorgio Armani pants, a Steven Meisel jacket, a Yves St. Laurent top and distracting Fred Leighton brooch. As Karen Walker might say in her high-pitched critique, “Honey, what’s going on with this?”
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Hit: Allison Janney
Another celebrity trendsetter who rarely ever makes a wrong executive decision, Allison Janney won both a SAG Award and our admiration for her choice of this sleek black bustier that perfectly fit her tall, lean frame. “I picked this out of a sea of gowns and it turned out to be [designed by] a friend of mine I went to college with, Eric Gaston, and I was so happy to be wearing his clothes,” Janney revealed. She accentuated the look with Kenneth Lane jewelry “and my grandmother’s ring.”
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Miss: Kelly MacDonald
We’ll go easy on Gosford Park actress Kelly MacDonald, who’s pretty new to the Hollywood awards show thing and the red carpet fashion parade. The Scottish lass took a respectable risk with this pink-and-red frilly dress, but the bizarre pattern would have looked better on a vintage chintz divan rather than on an up-and-coming starlet. Harder to forgive was her hair, which was far too undone for an event of this stature, and those strappy black sandals (OK, OK, maybe she’s just colorblind). Her SAG Award, as part of the best film ensemble, was no doubt her most flattering accessory.
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Hit: Kate Beckinsale
We thought we had died and gone to heaven when Kate Beckinsale floated in wearing this angelic, flowing, white strapless Gucci dress. The look and the hair was somewhere between Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor, and Kate–who’ll no doubt soon be recognized as one of Hollywood’s most beautiful creatures–pulled it off with aplomb. Adding to her luster were diamond drop earrings by David Orgell and an enormous emerald-cut diamond ring from Martin Katz. All she needed to complete her heavenly aura was a halo.
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Hits: The Sex & the City gals
Kristin Davis ditched the preppy conservatism of her character Charlotte when she opted for an elaborately patterned Ralph Lauren gown in the color of the moment, white, and Erica Courtney earrings, which meshed well with her gorgeously styled hair. Cynthia Nixon doffed her character Miranda’s stuffy business suits and became a shimmery sensation in her Giorgio Armani gown and Jimmy Choo shoes. But it was Kim Cattrall, who plays the show’s ribald Samantha (and who in real life recently authored a best-seller on sex tips), who looked the most in-character in a shimmery, plunging Carolina Herrera ensemble that left many mouths, male and female, agape as she passed by.
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Best Dressed: Halle Berry
We might as well start calling it Halle-wood, because it seems few stars make better fashion choices than our Best Dressed pick Halle Berry–of course, with that face and that figure, she’s looks stunning in just about anything. In a flowing white gown that perfectly complemented her chocolate complexion, Berry looked like she belonged atop a wedding cake–especially with her equally well-dressed hubby Eric Benet on her arm. “Tonight I was with Eric and my family and I just felt fresh and clean today and I wanted to wear white, she explained.” This is William Ivey Long, and he is a designer who has designed clothes for plays, for Broadway. He’s a Tony-winning costumer and this is his first year designing couture dresses.” Capping it with a dazzling collar of Lorraine Schwartz diamonds, we had to wonder how Ms. Berry could top this look at the Oscars.”I’ve got so many choices of things to wear on that night,” she said. “I love fashion, I love clothes, I love dressing up…I guess when the day comes I’ll wear whatever I feel is right.”
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Comeback Kid: Rachel Griffiths
After her colossal flop at the Golden Globes (a frou-frou pink frock that should’ve been buried six feet under), Rachel Griffiths rebounded spectacularly at the SAGs with a beaded, maroon Emmanual Ungaro gown that accentuated her dark hair and striking Australian beauty. “I’m mad about Ungaro,” Griffiths gushed, calling the gown “Old-fashioned Hollywood with a contemporary look.” She was also dripping in David Orgell diamonds. Still, the actress plans to continue taking fashion risks in the future. “I don’t believe in minimalism,” she said. “It’s keeping me off the best-dressed list, I know, but I don’t care.”
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Other Looks We Loved:
