The Awards season has dawned upon us: with the BAFTAs and the Grammys happening within a space of two days, my eyes have feasted on red carpet fashion. The Oscars are also around the corner, which gives me much to look forward to. Red carpet brings together the best and the worst of fashion: gowns and dresses that are breathtakingly beautiful, and some that are out-of-this-world, perhaps excessively so, that leaves us scratching our heads. I have gathered the hits, the 'hits and misses', and the misses from BAFTAs red carpet in 2017.
Hits
1. Emily Blunt: Wearing Alexander McQueen - The Dark Queen
I have always adored Emily Blunt's style - she is a fashion chameleon. She occasionally rocks an edgy avant-garde look, but most of the time, she embodies a "British Rose": elegant, feminine but strong. This dress tops my list. The embroidery work on the top half of the dress is delicate, but bold at the same time, which is exceedingly difficult to achieve with embroidery. It is certainly different from the traditional embroidered dresses that are usually quite timid.
I am so in love with the embroidered pattern. It is almost tapestry-like, and the doves and flowers evokes a vintage, almost tudoresque imagery, which is extremely opulent. This 'prettiness' is offset by the dramatic silhouette of the bottom half of the dress. I am not a huge fan of ruffles, because it is tricky to wear and can look very dated. But the bottom half of the dress strikes the perfect balance between flowy and structured. Alexander McQueen is a dark force to be reckoned with, and this dress tells us why: true mastery of technique, and more importantly, the ability to empower wearers effortlessly and elegantly.
2. Duchess of Cambridge: Wearing Alexander McQueen - The Elegant Duchess
Alexander McQueen can do no wrong: its dresses are a perfect combination of drama and elegance. The dress itself (as with other Alexander McQueen pieces) is not only beautiful, but also powerful. I think creating fashion pieces that can connect with people emotionally should be what fashion is about. This dress is perfect for the Duchess: she is elegant and chic, but also confident, as a Duchess should be. The dress features delicate white floral embroidery throughout. This is monochrome at its best. Alexander McQueen has shown us how to create theatricality with a black and white palette. By altering the sizes of the floral patterns, as well as contrasting the silhouettes of the top and bottom half of the dress, the dress revamps monochrome and the traditional ball-gown into something modern. The breaks in the pattern are also skillfully placed. They maintain the balanced elegance of the dress, and hugs the body at all the right places. Alexander McQueen is truly an artist that makes dreams and fantasies come to life.
3. Isabelle Huppert: Wearing Chloé - The Timeless French-Chic
This dress is the type of dress that does not knock your socks off, but leaves a profound impression. In a sea of bold, avant-garde, dramatic outfits, particularly with many that do not leave much to the imagination, this light beige, flowy, vintage style Chloe dress is a welcoming breath of fresh air. After all, the old is always new. I have always worshipped Chloe as a fashion house - it is the epitome of Parisian chic. This dress is very much that: it is effortless, which is what true elegance entails, and a great representation of Isabelle Huppert. I also marvel at how the dress is loose-fitting, yet very tailored. It is how bohemian-chic should be done. The volume on selected parts of the gown, including the sleeves and the torso area, contrasts perfectly with the tailored parts of the dress. It is one, whole flowing work of art.
4. Anya Taylor-Joy: Wearing Gucci - The Brave Princess
This dress teaches us how fashion works in synergy with the wearer. As a former ballerina, Anya Taylor-Joy holds herself with much gracefulness, and this dress brings out her elegance in a youthful and fun way. This was a surprising choice for me, as I am never one for a tiered dress (too 'bottom-heavy'), a mixture of bright colours (fusion confusion) and a bold print (too 'loud'). All my rigidities were proven wrong by Gucci. The colour scheme, baby blue and baby pink, definitely compliments Anya Taylor-Joy's porcelain skin-tone extremely well, and she looks almost ethereal. This tiered dress manages to look flowy and light. As an added bonus, it also accentuates Anya Taylor-Joy's enviable body proportions. The image painted here thus far is one of a beautiful fairy-tale princess. However, the bold embroidered tiger topples our imagination. I love how unapologetic the tiger print is. It matches Anya Taylor-Joy's hair colour and her naturally cat-like facial features impeccably. The tiger print also imparts strength to the dress in an unexpected manner. This is what a true princess is: brave and beautiful.
Hit and Misses
These are the outfits that I am ambivalent about: A part of the outfit is truly beautiful, but another part of it shoots the outfit at the leg.
1. Emma Stone: Wearing Chanel - The Classic Dilemma
This will be controversial. Emma Stone is one of my two biggest girl crushes at the moment: her personality and her acting are both infectious. Her style has been faultless: I am still recovering from her 2015 Thakoon two-piece at the MET Gala, her Valentino gown for the Golden Globes (truly genius! Represents La La Land perfectly - The City of Stars!) and her Alexander McQueen dress for the SAG Awards. I was so confident that Emma Stone is going to blow my mind this time. This outfit leaves me - unsettled. The dress is exquisite, in typical Chanel style, the embroidery work and the tailoring is just on a whole new level. The pattern also dazzles me: it is La La Land in a dress. It is almost like the wondrous planetarium scene in a dress. The shoes, the makeup and the hair are a perfect match to the dress as well. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of the dress-over-trousers look at all. It seems like she is having trouble deciding what to wear and decide to wear both at the same time. Emma Watson attempted that look before, and I am not recanting my opinion of the dress-trousers duo. It seems confused. The peal anklet also seems out-of-place for me, and the dress would be matched much better by a diamond anklet.
2. Felicity Jones: Wearing Dior - The (Over)Minimalist
Felicity Jones is the second of my two girl crushes since a Theory of Everything - she is just beautiful. Her big expressive olive-green eyes and her natural pout just makes her difficult to forget. This Dior dress sports a classic silhouette (typical of Dior) and a lace overlay. Felicity Jones has opted out of the sheer top, which I completely respect, particularly in an age when over-sharing is a trend. The lace overlay also gives the dress great volume and texture. However, I think in altering the top of the dress, it lost some of its drama and shape. Also, the bottom-heavy cut of the dress is not the most flattering on Felicity Jones' petite physique. The jeweled straps are a nice, delicate touch to set-off the black colour, but I think because the gown is full-length, voluminous and completely black, it needs something else to lift the colors. A dainty diamond chain necklace or a thin belt would do the trick. You can see how well-made the dress is, it was just unfortunately, not worn by the right person.
3. Amy Adams: Wearing Tom Ford - The Tube Dress
The back of the dress is what Tom Ford is about: minimalistic, elegant and tailored. I adore the back of the dress, the velvet ribbon and the mesh is a pleasant addition to the silk gown, as it gives it an element of drama. This trio of textures/materials shows a master at work. The draping is also done beautifully - controlled and effortless at the same time. I cannot stop talking the emerald/forest green colour of the dress. It compliments Amy Adam's beautiful green-blue eyes and her ginger-red hair so well: she looks like a woodland queen out of the books.There is nothing wrong with the tube silhouette, it in facts elongates the body. Nevertheless, in Amy Adam's case, I think the waist has to be tucked slightly. Amy Adam is a voluptuous petite actress, and the tube-shape is not the most flattering on her body in my opinion. Just one inch narrower at the waist, the dress would have been perfect.
Misses
I think the fashion world and journalists have been pretty unanimous on these choices.
1. Heloise Letissier (Christine and the Queens): The Fashion Frankenstein
I am utterly baffled by this outfit. While I appreciate that the vertical stripes attempt to tie the entire outfit together, the placements of fabric seems very odd. The length of those accent fabric pieces are also problematic, ultimately paving way for a fashion frankenstein: a crop top-full suit-skirt combo. I also think the au-naturale makeup fails to help the case. While Heloise Letissier clearly wanted to go for an androgynous, cool look, I think some colour on the lips is crucial to balance out the monochrome palette. The entire outfit seems very confused.
2. Edith Bowman - The "hallucinogenic" (Credits to DailyMail)
Where do I begin. I have to borrow the words of DailyMail because there is honestly no better word to describe the dress. It is a mashup of a peacock/paisley print, wood print (in green), poppy print, and some bizarre indiscernible print near the neckline. Not only are the prints blinding, the colors green, dark purple, red, brown, silver and black when put together, are just very very wrong. The full-length gown also fails to flatter Edith Bowman's body, and the silhouette reminds me of a old, dusty, 80s dress.
3. Caitriona Balfe: Wearing Valentino - The (How-not-to) Colourblock
This dress is on Vogue's list of best dresses - hence why I am convinced that sometimes I will never understand fashion. Valentino is again, a fashion house that I worship. The lace work and the pleated bottom of the dress are very typical features of Valentino gowns - always exquisite and classic. This piece unfortunately is anything but that, and the problem is with the colourblocking. The colours are very 'chunky', which is very unflattering on Caitriona Balfe's modelesque body. The loose-fitting cut of the dress dress not help at all. The colours are very wrong together, particularly the salmon pink and the yellow and the blue. If the dress were a pale pink or a pure white and more tailored at the waist, it would have been a masterpiece.
4. Naomie Harris: Wearing Gucci - The Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls
Naomie Harris is a great actress. Gucci is a legendary fashion house. It is unfortunate how this dress just does not work. The lace/chiffon material of the entire gown is put together in a way that seems quite unrefined, quite rushed, like a waterfall. The ruffles at the top half of the dress are too bold, which makes it look less than classy. The two textures - ruffle at the top and pleats at the bottom - just clash together. My major problem with the outfit is the flowers: I do not know what it is (probably the colour), but they look exactly like fake flowers, which is very far from classy opulence that is characteristic of Gucci. The colors are also unflattering on Naomie Harris: Dusty pink and cream are colours that do not compliment her rich dark skin tone. In fact, I do not see these colours working on any skin tone, because they are colors that could look 'dirty'. Again, Vogue has named this dress as one of the best of BAFTAs, which seemed bizarre.
Which outfit is your favourite/least favourite? Leave me a comment to let me know and share your thoughts with me!