"There's only one hard and fast rule in running: sometimes you have to run one hard and fast."








Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Dreaded Yearly Fashion Post

Every year, I like to step out of character and do a fashion post, usually after the Golden Globes awards. Yeah. Me and fashion. This guy:

Henry's delightful fashion-forward cow hat is just behind him.

This year's colors are tangerine and coral, which are very tricky. It appears no one even tried them at the Golden Globes this year. It was yet another gala of muted neutral tints, with beads and metallics trying to liven up the blandness. Sofia Vergara wore the same dress she always wears, this time in blue (or green, depending on the light). Tilda Swinton was not the worst dressed; she even looked appropriate. For lack of anyone else to talk about, "best-dressed" generally went to Angelina Jolie. There's actually something to say about the men - midnight blue tuxes are in (though Christopher Plummer's looked like it had been in his closet for decades) and everyone's sprouting beards all of a sudden!

Here's my opinion the best:
Jessica Alba in a wine blush. This has just enough color that she isn't washed-out.
Nicole Kidman's dress was an art-deco architectural design. She was washed out by the lack of color, but I love the dress. The bracelet and handbag weren't enough; a bolder necklace of emeralds or sapphires would have made this dress.
Blah, blah, blah. McPhee, Hyland, Klum in nude. Hyland wore it best.
Lea Michele was just on the edge of going too far. This dress works, but it's more Oscar than Golden Globe.
She'll never be nominated for an Oscar, though, so why not wear it here?

Shailene Woodley (don't worry if you don't know who she is) looked better than any of the photos. This, believe it or not, is not a strapless dress! It has an extremely sheer neck. Simple, elegant, if a bit bland.
I like the way this narrows to the knee and then flutes just a bit.
 No, yes, no. Charlize Theron's neckline is too low, the bunched-up towel on her hip is a failed attempt to do something with a boring dress and the train doesn't match the rest of it. Kate Beckinsale, also in cream, has chosen French vanilla over vanilla. Jessica Chastain tried a high neck, but ended up looking almost matronly.
My choice for best-dressed of the night was Rainey Qualley (Andie MacDowell's daughter), who spent the night ushering people onstage. I want to hate it, but the more I look at it, the more I think she got it right (except the clutch).

8 comments:

C said...

You truly are a renaissance man. Perhaps it's time to start your own clothing line. Also, Henry's facial expression is priceless in that photo.

joyRuN said...

YEAAAAYYYYY!!!

I love your fashion posts. LOVE THEM.

Alba's coloring is perfection, esp in that dress. I thought Jolie's dress was a nice change from the disappearing dresses trend. Totally didn't like Lea Michele in that dress - too old for her.

Can't believe Andy MacDowell has a daughter that old. She (Andy) looks damn good for 53.

Diana said...

I think I will say that Henry is the best dressed. Are those toggles on his sweater? Excellent choice.

Jean said...

I am definitely falling out of touch with pop culture. I don't know who half of these people are or why they are famous!

Kate Beckinsale, however - hey, baby... ;-)

PiccolaPineCone said...

how do you know all of these things? this post is an incomprehensible to me as solving a differential equation. where does this knowledge and these opinions come from? i just don't get it. I am proud to say that I am with Jean - I don't know who most of these people are. Very proud to be out of touch with pop culture... less proud to be equally out of touch with world events.

SteveQ said...

@PPC: Solving differential equations is child's play. You just look up the form in the CRC Handbook and plug in the numbers. Or you get a calculator that does them for you.

Fashion is simply looking at something and deciding if you like the way it looks, then thinking about why you made that decision.

SteveQ said...

@Jean: Four of those I picked are under 22 years old, which partly explains why you haven't heard of them. The first time Angelina Jolie was there, she was about 13 and she was just someone's daughter. I think the younger actresses are more willing to take a chance, so i focused on them.

@joyRuN: I'm thinking you're right abou Lea Michele. Is it just the photo angle that makes her look blocky or is it the dress?

SteveQ said...

This post has had 274 hits in less than a week. So THAT's what people want me to write about, eh?