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Janelle Monae

Oscars 2020: Best and Worst Dresses

The 92nd Annual Academy Awards brought out all the stars — and all the styles. Big trends this year included one-shouldered gowns, statement necklaces and capes galore. Check out our picks for the best and worst looks:

BEST DRESSED AT THE 2020 OSCARS:

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Jen:  Sister Night shone bright! The Watchmen’s Regina King, who has never once disappointed me on a red carpet, glowed at the Oscars in a dusty rose Versace gown. Love the unusual neckline!

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Nicole: I’m not sure anyone would have taken a bet that Cynthia Erivo would wear white to the Oscars but her sculptural Versace gown was absolutely breathtaking. The voluminous skirt framed a gorgeous bodice and I think this was the best of the many, many one-shouldered dresses of the night.

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Jen:  Bow down to our queen, Janelle Monae! This gorgeous A-line Ralph Lauren dress paid homage to Grace Jones with its dramatic hood. The perfect fit, the architectural structure, the Swarovski crystals that sparkled when she moved, the cut out back = elements that all combined to kill me dead.

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Nicole: Wow, I loved Rebel Wilson‘s Jason Wu gown. The shape and neckline were supremely flattering and she glowed on the red carpet. Her hair was styled down in soft waves and the overall look was pulled together with a pop of red lipstick.

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Jen:  Mindy Kalling glowed in Dolce & Gabbana. Yellow is a tough colour in a gown because it easily veers into Belle in Beauty and the Beast territory but I think she made it work thanks to the one-shoulder neckline, the Ocean’s 8-inspired necklace and the impeccable tailoring.

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Nicole: Holy, Geena Davis in Ramona Keveza showed us what true Hollywood glamour looks like. She posed so casually with her hands tucked into pockets as though she wasn’t pulling off a crazy elegant and daring gown. It looks like she even pulled this off without the ubiquitous netting that seems to plague gowns with cut-outs or plunging necklines. She completed the outfit with a soft wavy bob and loads of diamonds. Loved the whole look!

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Jen:  Not all superheroes wear capes…but this one does! There were a lot of capes on the red carpet but no one did it better than Captain Marvel’s Brie Larson in this sleek and sexy Celine dress that screamed Old Hollywood glamour.

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Nicole: Florence Pugh continued her awards season run with yet another brilliant colour, this time glowing in turquoise Luis Vuitton and matching strappy shoes that showcased the asymmetrical tiered skirt. The draping was perfect and she looked fresh and young, especially with the edgy topknot and beautiful necklace.

Jen:  Natalie Portman’s regal Dior look already put her on my Best Dressed list, but then she made me love it even more when she revealed that she had the names of female directors who weren’t nominated embroidered on her cape.

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Nicole: I might be alone in putting Gal Gadot in Givenchy Couture on my best dressed list but I loved the black lace bodice, collar necklace sitting on top of the high lace neck and the soft pink tulle skirt. She tied the look together with simple pulled-back hair and a bright lip.

WORST DRESSED AT THE 2020 OSCARS:

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Jen: I’m here for the Dernassance, but I am not here for the tassels on Laura Dern’s Armani Prive dress. She’s been killing it all season leading up to this, so I’m so sad that my first thought when seeing her Oscars look was “dripping boobs.”

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Nicole: I think my theme tonight for the worst dressed is: well, *parts* of this dress are great. Sandra Oh in Elie Saab epitomized this as the dress would have been lovely without the giant tulle sleeves. Unfortunately the sleeves overwhelmed her slight frame and small details like the belt were lost in all the volume.

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Jen: Look, I’m probably just too old to get it, but I didn’t love Billie Eilish’s look here. Sure, the Chanel tracksuit fits her usual style, but this is the Oscars! Dial it up with a crazy colour or blinged-out shoes or something!

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Nicole: There was lots of peplum tonight and Saoirse Ronan’s Gucci added tons of unnecessary volume at her waist that then segued into a completely different dress below. With her lacklustre hair and makeup doing nothing to redeem her overall look, it was a confusing and disappointing end to her campaign season.

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Jen: Rooney Mara continued to support her beau Joaquin Phoenix with funereal looks. The witchy wear sad train chugged on in McQueen – this time with 30% more ribcage!

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Nicole: Yawn, Renee Zellweger. Another awards show, another simple and nearly boring dress, this one Armani Prive. She had the one-shouldered trend covered but I wish she’d worn a pop of lipstick to brighten things up instead of staying so neutral. At least we had her epic toned arms to enjoy all season long.

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Jen: There were a lot of big nominees whose dresses bored me (Margot Robbie in Chanel, Renee Zellweger in Armani Prive) but I think Charlize Theron disappointed me most in Dior. It was pretty but even the small hints of interesting details like the falling-off-the-shoulder strap, the big slit and the tiny peplum still couldn’t keep it from seeming very basic.

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Nicole: Dressed in Chanel as expected, Margot Robbie’s off-the-shoulder gown with embellished arms came across as sloppy and the weird chest ornament drew attention to the droopiness of the top of the gown. I too am not a natural blonde and am I crazy for wondering why she didn’t get her roots done? It’s the Oscars!

 

 

Janelle Monae Makes The Cut

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–Janelle Monae‘s cover story for The Cut was written by Roxane Gay, so you know it’s good. Monae talks her fear of the 2016 election results feuling her Dirty Computer album (“It started with who don’t I mind pissing off. I don’t mind pissing off conservatives. I don’t mind pissing off white men. I don’t give a fuck. This is about celebrating. I wanted to celebrate queer black people living outside of what it meant to be American”), and her method approach to shooting her new film Antebellum (“I want that spirit to always stay on-camera so I don’t break. I don’t talk on the phone a lot … I don’t want that to take me out of my space).

-Meanwhile, Roxane Gay also shared her thoughts on American Dirt and the West Side Story revival.

-Oscars are this weekend! The big acting awards seem locked (Joaquin Phoenix, Renée Zellweger, Brad Pitt, Laura Dern) but can Parasite’s increasing recognition mean it’ll cause an upset in best picture? God, I would love that.

–Joaquin used his BAFTA acceptance speech this weekend to call out the ceremony’s lack of diversity, adding “I think that it is the obligation of the people that have created and perpetuate and benefit from a system of oppression to dismantle it so that’s on us.” This is a very, very good speech (especially since in the last few years of award shows, it’s only been actresses making this kind of stand). But it’s also very much like…ok, now what? At this point, Hollywood needs to start taking concrete steps to dismantle the system. Inclusion riders? Refusing to work with only white male directors? What’s it going to be?

-Meanwhile, Prince William, who is BAFTA’s president(!), revealed that the academy has “launched a full and thorough review of the entire awards process” following the #BAFTAsSoWhite controversy.

–Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner-Smith went to the BAFTAs and remain the cutest thing.

-People didn’t love Rebel Wilson’s speech but I dunno — I laughed at her Cats jokes.

–Hugh Grant made Bridget Jones’s Diary references when he presented after Renée Zellweger at the BAFTAs, and it was perfect.

-12 days after reportedly getting married, Pamela Anderson is single again.

–Megan Thee Stallion is apparently dating G Eazy and people have a lot of opinions about it.

-Speaking of new relationships, Lady Gaga is dating a CEO named Michael Polansky.

-The reviews for Hulu’s High Fidelity, starring Zoe Kravitz, are good. Really good.

-I binged the last six episodes of Bojack Horseman and I still can’t believe that an animated show about a horse makes my ‘best TV in the last decade’ list, but there it is. It’s also weirdly the third series finale I’ve seen this week with a door-to-death concept.

–David Schwimmer is walking back his comment about “Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends.” In a lengthy response to a post from actress Erika Alexander, he explained “I didn’t mean to imply Living Single hadn’t existed or indeed hadn’t come before Friends, which I knew it had.”

–Jennifer Lopez and Shakira‘s Super Bowl performance was fire! In case you missed it (or just want to relive the glory) it’s on YouTube.

-Coach dropped their perfectly timed campaign with JLo hours after her performance.

-As per usual, the Super Bowl brought with it a bunch of new movie and TV trailers. On the TV front, Marvel gave us a peek at The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, WandaVision and Loki, while on the film side we have our first Bond trailer, a new look at Mulan and the Top Gun sequel, and a new Black Widow trailer.

Zendaya Talks Fame and Fashion

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–Zendaya looks amazing per usual on the cover of Allure, where she talks about acting vs making music (“There’s a layer of personal life that I think actors get that music artists don’t. They have no character to hide behind, so they have to be very open. [As actors] we get a little bit of a separation”) and why she stipulated that her Tommy Hillfiger collaboration come in plus sizes (“That was my thing — I’m not going to make clothes my sister or my niece or any of the women in my family can’t wear. A lot of the clothes were for tall people too. For my mom, this is the first time that she can wear pants and not get them altered — she’s six feet four”).

–Harry Styles talks about doing mushrooms while recording his new album. “I think part of the thing with the mushrooms thing for me is that I never do anything when I’m working, and I don’t even drink when I’m working, if I’m touring or anything. I don’t drink really at all. When I was in [One Direction], it was like, to me, it felt like it was so much bigger than any of us that I kind of felt like, ‘I’m not going to be the one who f**ks it up.'”

–Chris Evans says that starring in giant blockbusters hasn’t stopped him from sharing his political views on Twitter. “I did it during Cap, too; it wasn’t like I waited until that run was over. I was doing it while we were filming those movies…I’ve never felt limited or handcuffed by the roles I play or the studios I worked for. I never in my life had a studio tell me to watch what I’m saying.”

-SNL’s musical guest this weekend is King Princess and I cannot wait! (Will Ferrell is the host.)

–Jane Fonda avoided arrest, but Diane Lane, Amber Valletta, and Piper Perabo were rounded up at today’s D.C. climate protest.

-Apple just pulled The Banker, starring Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson, until further notice following sexual misconduct allegations about Bernard Garrett Jr., the son of the character played by Mackie in the film.

–Elsa Pataky is defending brother-in-law Liam Hemsworth following his split from Miley Cyrus: “After a relationship that you’ve dedicated ten years to, he’s a little bit down, but he’s coping well. He’s a strong boy and he deserves the best, I think he deserves much better.”

-On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Billie Eilish spoke to kids about their dreams and got freaked out when a little boy told her that he dreams about Pennywise — who was in the room with them at that moment.

–Nick Carter and his sister Angel have been granted restraining orders against their brother, Aaron.

-Here’s the first trailer for Antebellum starring Janelle Monáe. Oh hells no.