Oscar Buzz 2019

It's that time a year again!!! After the Golden Globes, the girls are eager to strut their stuff while upstaging the celebrities. I will admit that I was rather disappointment with the red carpet this year. Many of the looks resembled.....a hodge-podge of prom dresses, "been-there-done-that" gowns and waves of silhouettes that were curious at best. But we did find a few standouts and we had fun with a couple others to bring you this edition of....Dolls' Eye View of the Oscars Red Carpet 2019!

We'll begin by congratulating Regina King for winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Personally, we love what we consider to be a classic in the world of draped couture gowns, this one designed by Oscar de la Renta. I wanted to put my own small spin on the one I made for Helen. So instead of using a traditional dressy fabric, I chose a crisp white, cotton muslin.

 I saw Angela Bassett step out of her limousine in a cloud of hot pink. Her dress, designed by Reem Acra, is a stand out, not only for its vibrant color but also for the design, which is essentially a large bow  billowing up from a column dress. Here's Lynn in the 1/6 version that began as a strapless sheath with a triangular train spilling out of the center back seam. I left out the slit over the leg because the dress doesn't need one. The volume floating over one shoulder is counter-balanced by the train.

I decided to take a closeup photo so that you can see how Lynn's dress replicates the Reem Acra dress around the shoulders. (It's hard to photograph in such a way where you can properly see how neckline wraps around the shoulders.) I must admit..my fabric was a bit stiff. (It was all I had on hand.) If you are tempted to try this dress, a pink organdy or a fabric with structure, would probably be easier to handle.

I chose this dress worn by Ashley Graham by Zac Posen because it is the classic go-to for old fashion Hollywood glamour! It's a strapless fishtail gown. Don't tell my girls, but I really don't care for fishtails. So I had to figure out a way to keep them happy but make it interesting for me to make. If you flare the dress out below the knees, the dress will be comical and not at all pretty. Besides, what I really find appealing is this skin tight silhouette that bursts into almost ruffles at the hemline. For Veronica, I began with a super slim, strapless sheath---all the way down to the ankle! On top of that skinny dress are quarter circles tacked on at the apex. Four are cut from the same fabric as the dress and four more are cut from a sheer, chiffon with ripped edges.

My girls were drooling over this Tom Ford dress worn by Jennifer Lopez. The problem with this dress is that while the pattern of the tiny mirror mosaics renders it spectacular, from afar, it looks more like silver sequins--which I imagined to be a bit boring. You could use auto adhesive rhinestones, but it would taken quite a while (not to mention money) to put it together. So, I decided not to make it. But one fine morning, Sonia came to me, dangling a piece of fabric with these silver paillettes. While it doesn't resemble the original--there is much more of a shag--it does reflect the spirit of the mirror dress and that was all Sonia wanted! This is a very basic, jersey stretch gown with sleeves. I cut off rows of silver paillettes, row by row and stitched it to the sheath.

On the subject of silver....Brie Larson was dressed in a very simple sequinned gown designed by Hedi Slimane (for Celine). The dress by itself is a rather simple. For Vanessa's version, I used a stretch silver lame and left the side seam open as opposed to using princess seaming. Even though there's lots of sparkle, the dress alone still needs accessories. I piled on lots of bracelets and added a fancy chain necklace.

I had thought to make spats out of the same fabric which seemed like a good idea at first. But after I got them on Vanessa, I discovered I ended up with a more "sporty" look.

When I'm looking for dresses to replicate, I look for those with interesting details. There was something really sleek and modern yet so feminine the Elie Saab dress worn by Nadine Labaki. Again, I have relied on 2-way stretch jersey knit to bring to life this look for Dorian. Essentially, this is a one-armed top and a pencil thin skirt. The cluster of ruffles over one shoulder really makes this look a stand-out.

Again, it's hard to see how the top wraps around Dorian's shoulders so I've included this top view.

It's not that this is so extraordinary, but we couldn't resist such a feminine look of this red dress worn by British born producer, Lynette Howell-Taylor. It's like a big slip dress but made with tulle. For our girl, Violetta, the top was fashioned as a piece of lingerie over a circle skirt of tulle and silk.

My girls do not favor the notion of dude dolls upstaging them in a ballgown. But they had to admit, Billy Porter clad in Christian Siriano's "tuxedo gown" was both spectacular and a spectacle!

Looking for more fashion? Fashion Month is just ahead!

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