The Best and Worst Dressed of Oscars 2011

Starved, dazed and confused is the only way to describe the experience of walking down the red carpet on the night of the 2011 Oscars.  Celebs adorned in diamonds and jewels squeeze into gorgeous, expensive couture gowns, only to be flashed 1000x by the press and nit-picked by viewers at home.

Isn’t this system just rigged for every fashionista’s viewing pleasure? Not only do we get to see these expensive gowns from every possible angle, but we are also encouraged to critique them openly online, with friends and in news articles.  So THIS is what we did before the Facebook conglomerate gave us the opportunity to (almost) freely comment on our favorite photos.

Let’s see what turned heads, and what needed to be kept in the closet.

Jennifer Hudson

This girl looked absolutely striking.  Her tangerine-ginger Versace gown with a deep V-cut neckline and Neil Lane diamonds accentuated her newly svelte physique.  The spokes model for Weight Watchers has lost 80 lbs since her debut onto the Hollywood scene, and looks like her body has promptly conformed to the LA standard of skinny.  But who’s complaining! The former Oscar recipient, for the 2006 film Dreamgirls, looks healthy, happy, and feels great. “I’ve accomplished everything,” says the 29-year-old in a red carpet interview regarding her successful career.  While we love her new look, it seems thinness is showing a more smug side of Jennifer than we’ve ever seen before.

See Hudson’s Versace gown in a red carpet interview with Project Runway’s Tim Gunn Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62ksujouBm0

Natalie Portman

In a plum Rodarte off-the-shoulder V-neck dress and Tiffany jewels, Portman graced the red carpet positively glowing.  The star took home an Oscar for Best Actress in the film Black Swan where she plays a lithe ballet dancer in New York.  Portman is also expecting a new baby in just a few months. Congrats!

Sexiest Couple Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz

Steaming up the red carpet are Spain’s hottest exports since Antonio Banderas.  The new parents were beaming and looked magnificent.  Cruz’s luxe embroidered L ‘Wren Scott dress also featured a V-neckline to show off her curvy figure.  Bardem was nominated for  Best Actor in the Spanish-language film, Biutiful .

Marissa Tomei

Such a beautiful actress. So terrible of a dress.  Tomei should have left her navy 1950 couture gown by Charles James from Lily et Cie in the 50’s.  While the dress exudes old Hollywood elegance, it does not flatter her slender figure at all.  The straps are too wide and the bodice set too high to be considered anything but wrong. Better luck next time, Tomei.

Other celeb dresses you will love to hate are Cate Blanchett’s napkin-folded Givenchy, Gweneth Paltrow’s disco-inspired Calvin Klein, and Nicole Kidman’s over-embellished Christian Dior.  With all that money, they should rethink their stylists for Oscar 2012.

Photos by Brent via Flickr and Sgt. Michael Connors via Flickr.