This year's Globes were a disaster! So many ugly dresses... While it is not my mission to critique red carpet fashion, I will say this. The world of film and television have something in common with fashion in that they both are based on dreams and fantasies....especially when it comes to celebrities who bring those mediums to life. These are women (and men) who are at the top of their game and can afford the best of the best. We tune into these sort of events, not only to see if our favorite film or show won a coveted prize, but also to see and drool over the finery they wear!
Again, my job here is to show you where to find inspiration for show stopping looks to make for your 12" divas. I am not here to trash the stars. HOWEVER.. if I am saying there were a LOT of ugly dresses, it's because, in many cases, the proportions of the style, the colors, prints, fabrics and fabrications were not flattering. The fabrics were not special enough and even though there were a handful of tasteful looks, those dresses were, well....boring! The stylists who dressed these lovely ladies, seem to have no imagination when it comes to ACCESSORIES!!! Where are the gloves? The tiaras? The stoles (fabric, feathers or otherwise?) What's with the borrowed baubles? Why not opt for glass jewelry and have some fun! After all, these are Hollywood stars not prom queens!!! The styles worn on anyone's red carpet should be slightly over the top in terms of luxury. They should have us all wishing to own dress like that (even if we have neither the lifestyle nor the money!)
That said....well....you know my girls..... They were NOT going to go down without a fight! They found a few looks they thought they could live with. And the rest.... well they took the liberty to jazz things up a bit!
We did like Jennifer Aniston's gown. Very pretty, effortless!. We recreated this look for Giselle by making a strapless princess line dress and adding a ruffle to the neckline. Easy!
Idina Menzel was stunning in this white gown with incorporated cape. Again, this 2-piece dress/cape was pretty simple to recreate for Angelina, our 1/6 scale beauty. And to make it even easier, we opted to make this out of stretch fabric!
And while simple can be quite stunning, there were dresses that were well....boring. Red carpet fashion should be glamorous, a little over the top. Something that reeks "star quality." We took the same black velvet dress as the Tom Ford gown worn by Rachel Weitz and we extended the white satin border to fully cover the off the shoulder edge and arms of Latetia. Matching white satin gloves are a must, as is a fluffy, furry stole.
It's really hard to believe Naomi Watts is wearing an Armani Prive gown. To my eye, the polka dots on that skimpy little collar just isn't saying much. So for Nadia, we redesigned the neckline with a generous amount of glitter tulle embroidered with a few extra silver beads. It tops a form fit and flared halter neck lurex gown. On her arm... a pouf of glitter tulle to recall the neckline of the dress.
We love this Auntie-Mame-loungewear-with-a-Hollywood-twist. It's been done so many times before and each time it has been done, it was a thousand times more glamorous, more exciting, more elegant that the Stella McCartney outfit worn by Julia Roberts. We kept the draped chiffon top for Vanessa (without the belt) but instead of skimpy black silk pants, we opted for more ample straight legged trousers cut from cream silk satin. And we added on opera length satin gloves. Will the real celebrity please stand up!!! (Pssst....I like Vanessa's hair better too!)
Kerry Washington was really quite stunning. While she has the body to pull off this look, as one critic put it..."just because you can, doesn't mean you should!" Though we liked the idea of an evening length suit worn solely with a "pop" of sparkly jewelry, Kerry's over all look comes across to us as....too naked. So for Denise, we kept her Altuzarro tuxedo jacket and satin skirt but swapped out the necklace for rows and rows of glittering rhinestones. And...we dressed up her legs with a pair of golden lurex thigh-highs to boot!
We did take a liking to Scarlett Johanssen's red ballgown. The only problem with it is that it tended to droop somewhat in the back. So for Estelle's dress, we took a very simple basic sheath dress and added lots of fabric...two types: silk and chiffon...gathered them into a detachable train. Very simple to do and quite dramatic!
The biggest disappointment for the night was the dress worn by Jennifer Lopez. We love J-Lo and we think she looks AMAZING. So we really didn't understand the choice of a dress that completely weighed her down and hid all of her assets! There was nothing we could do with this "Christmas package" dress so instead, we kept the idea of the A-line volume but re-imagined her look into something we think she could better rock. For Sonya, we fashioned a somewhat stiff silk faille fabric into this two-piece sensation inspired by a wedding dress we found on Pinterest! The top is a simple halter neck bodice attached to a waistband. Folded squares were attached to the bottom of the waistband and stitched in place. The circle skirt is made from the same fabric. A gold ribbon wraps around the waist, ending in a bow at the waist of this bare back dress!
And so we end our report with a grand finale starring Billy Porter. We always enjoy Billy because he totally gets it. A red carpet event should be used to show everybody the star that you are. His outfit is not as inventive as the one he wore last year (the black and white tuxedo ballgown). This year he stepped out in a stunning white silk suit and tacked on a fluffy train in the back. Though it's a bit of a last minute thought (as opposed to a thoughtful design) still, it's the kind of old-fashioned, glamorous, film star mindset we wished more stylists would adopt when dressing our favorite famous ladies!
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It's really hard to believe Naomi Watts is wearing an Armani Prive gown. To my eye, the polka dots on that skimpy little collar just isn't saying much. So for Nadia, we redesigned the neckline with a generous amount of glitter tulle embroidered with a few extra silver beads. It tops a form fit and flared halter neck lurex gown. On her arm... a pouf of glitter tulle to recall the neckline of the dress.
