Wear This Not That Oscars 2023 Red (Champagne) Carpet Recap |EP 135
The 2023 Academy Awards just happened, so Holly is back this week to discuss Red Carpet fashions with “just a few comments and opinions,” because who would we be if your favorite personal stylist didn't give her opinion on Hollywood’s biggest night?
Duh, that is why we are here! #Helloooooo
In this episode, Holly takes us through her favorite hits and misses on the 2023 Red Carpet, helping you understand what the stars are wearing, so you can learn how this type of high fashion will translate and trickle down to regular everyday folks.
In general, the Oscars do not aim for the outrageous or wacky factor like we see for the Met Gala or the Grammys. This is the absolute highest honor in the film industry. Traditionally, the Academy Awards Red Carpet is where the world's most prestigious stars present themselves in the way they'll be remembered decades from now. And, at least this year, most people understood the assignment.
But hold on a minute! Did you know that in 2023, the “Red Carpet” is not actually red anymore?(We are still calling it the “Red Carpet” for this episode, however.)
So, fun fact:
The New York Times recently quoted a big-time celebrity event planner, Mandy Weiss, and she said the color of the red carpets has changed because of fashion. It must match the dresses, and the color red just really clashes. The carpet has been red since 1961, back when it was all about a star’s movie and what role they were nominated for.
Now it's all about what the stars are wearing and which designer they are wearing. The New York Times states that, in fact, event planners say trends and carpet colors now correlate with the trends on the runways. "It all goes back to fashion and style and trendsetting," says Mrs. Weiss. The carpet should reflect the fashion that's going to walk down the carpet and not fight with it.
So, this year it was called the Champagne Carpet. Alrighty then. We can roll with it.
HOLLY'S TOP PICKS:
Halle wore a stunning angelic white haltered gown by Tamara Ralph with a thigh-high slit, a midsection cutout, and a flowing skirt. But the most notable aspect of the look was the shimmery pink rose appliqués placed delicately across the neck and at her hip.
Honey, that slit up the leg! We mean, we literally couldn't tell she if had underwear on. That's how high it was...and speaking of her legs, she sure does have the legs pull off this dress. She was absolute perfection.
Continuing with the white trend, Michelle Yeoh made history when she won the award for Best Actress at the Oscars, becoming the first Asian woman to take home the prize. It had already been a hugely successful award season for the actress, not just in terms of recognition, but also when it came to her red-carpet style.
But, when it came to deciding what to wear for the biggest night of them all, Yeoh turned to Dior and creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, who created a beautiful feathered white gown especially for her.
This dress initially may look like just a lot of fabric, maybe even like a bridal gown. However, it was handmade by Dior Haute Couture atelier – featured waves of feathers in ivory silk organza. It had a sleeveless illusion top which made her dress look strapless from far away but wasn't. When you take a closer look, you can see the illusion part which is a netting. Added with diamond earrings, her hair style, and her diamond jewelry, she was next level! She is just stunningly, remarkably gorgeous at 60 years old. We had to look that up! She's completely fabulous.
Blunt matched a form-fitting, off-the-shoulder Valentino dress with a white clutch that was adorned with pearls and a silver appliqué to keep the outfit monochrome. She added hanging, embellished earrings to her stylish updo of backswept hair.
Blunt showed that an off-the-shoulder column dress, done right, can be perfection. The understated gown got a dollop of bling courtesy of Blunt's Judith Leiber envelope clutch and a double dose of pink perfection via a pair of Chopard chandelier earrings. DYING over the earrings.
When Holly says “off the shoulder,” it was boob level, low, low off-the-shoulder. But she is so beautiful. You can see how gorgeous her skin is. And those gorgeous earrings! She had very, very natural makeup. She was just glowing and effortlessly chic.
One of Holly’s top looks of the night in custom Vera Wang was Mindy Kaling. She was someone who made Holly fall out of her chair! Never have we seen her look so beautiful and elegant. The custom Vera Wang white dress featured off-the-shoulder sleeves and a mesh Illusion with white boning bodice. So unexpected and fashion forward! Her hair was simply slicked back and effortless. She just looked stunning, stunning, stunning. #NEXTLEVEL
Wowza. Speaking of wowza, and we mean wowza! Eva Longoria in her Zuhair Murad couture beaded deep V-neck gown just brought a level of elegance that very, very few can achieve successfully pull off. This dress was made for her - even though this dress was a disco ball. (Those were her words, not ours.) But a chic disco ball.
But it didn't look like a disco ball, and it was not too much on her, even though she is a bit “vertically challenged.” She is not tall. She is a very petite and small person, but she just looked like a supermodel and this dress.
TREND ALERT:
Longoria’s dress was a very sexy dress and with the mirrors on it, which has been a trend that we’ve seen a for a few seasons now. Normal people can add this trend in simple ways: on a sweater or jeans, a sweatshirt, or just on a handbag.
Instead of sequins, it's like wearing tiny, little mirrors. This look, in small doses, can easily trickle down for styles for us regular people.
Dressed in Giambattista Valli Haute Couture, what looks like a gown is actually a custom white draped silk-chiffon off-shoulder crop-top featuring a twisted cut-out bodice paired with an asymmetrical waist ball gown skirt.
Sofia styled her look with a Chopard necklace featuring seven octagonal shaped emeralds totaling 122.49-carats along with 92.57-carats of pear-shaped, marquise cut, baguette cut and round shaped diamonds set in Fairmined-certified white gold jewelry from the Haute Joaillerie Collection. www.chopard.com O.M.G.
Everybody was talking about this necklace. It looked like something you see in a museum. This necklace...absolutely unreal! She must have had security guards around her by the 1000s. We mean, she probably couldn't pee that night by herself, right??
For the Oscars, Tems (the Grammy-winning Nigerian artist—born Temilade Openiyi— who is the first African woman to have five Billboard hits) selected a custom white sculptural gown from Ukrainian brand Lever Couture's AW22 Leleka Couture collection, a look that Tems described as "outside the box."
She wore the dreamy white gown with metallic silver eyeliner and cocoa-lined lips that complimented the overall futuristic tone of the outfit.
It had this big structure over her head that was on-theme and ahead of the fashion curve. So, it was not her fault that they sat her in the middle of a row, and no one could see around her. Fashion first, damn it! Move her to a better seat!
The actress, who was nominated in the Best Actress in a Leading Role category for her work in The Fabelmans, arrived at the 95th annual awards ceremony in an all-white Chanel couture look.
The dress was a little mature for her, and felt like somebody much, much older could have worn because it was strapless, with netting over the top of it - like when you don’t want to show your arms or shoulders.
Holly was just a little surprised, because she could have gotten away with something much more avant-garde.
She looked stunning, arriving at the 95th Academy Awards in a white Atelier Versace gown with all-over silver embellishments, featuring a sexy deep V at the front and a thigh-high slit leg. She paired the dazzling number with silver heeled sandals, and diamond jewels.
For Zoe Saldana, the 2023 Oscars presented an opportunity to join the sustainability discussion and incorporate practices into her life — starting with the pinnacle red carpet.
As an ambassador for Suzy Amis Cameron’s RCGD Global, the Academy’s official sustainability partner, and an awards presenter, the Avatar: The Way of Water star accessorized a Fall 2022 Fendi Couture mesh and lace-paneled slip-gown with vintage Cartier jewels.
It was not over the top. It was very effortlessly chic and simple. This was the perfect way to represent the sustainability movement, standing up for the re-wear, reuse and recycle effort.
Barbaro arrived wearing an elegant Elie Saab Haute Couture gown. The California native looked stunning in the dress that featured a plunging neckline and a deep purple front-tie skirt with a velvet bow in the front. Sexy yet so incredibly classy!
When she was being interviewed, she stated how incredibly grateful she was to Elie Saab and the showroom and the team to be given this dress, because even before she even made it in the movie industry, and nobody knew who she was, they were supporting her and loaning her dresses.
So good for them! Good on Elie Saab for keeping the faith!
The Don't Worry Darling star arrived on the Oscars carpet wearing Valentino. Her jaw-dropping outfit featured a black minidress with pockets shrouded by a draping off-the-shoulder cape in a creamy grayish-beige hue.
A dramatic cape ebbed out from the pleated bodice into cloudlike poof sleeves and a long train. She finished the look with black platform heels, a structural abstract diamond necklace, sparkling pink drop earrings, and a black bow in her hair.
The whole thing opened at the bust, like an empire waist. You could see her legs and it flowed like a train behind her.
Holly was just aghast and has never seen anything so daring and unexpected! She tells us she was just dying over this look! Florence is very young. And she has a very edgy, punk vibe. One of Holly's top, top picks of the night!!!
“And I just loved every single bit of it. I want this to trickle down. So, if I have to make this trickle down myself I do not care. God I love this. Did I say that already just saying I'm gonna put this picture under my pillow at night and I'm going to manifest this look for me.” – Holly Katz
HONORABLE MENTION
Harlow arrived in a soft yellow archival 2005 Armani Privé couture column dress. Sustainable fashion has really made a statement on the Red.. or excuse us, Champagne Carpet this year as we are seeing celebrities wanting to showcase garments that have already made a statement instead of having a designer make something brand new for them.
She is completely gorgeous in her own right. And she pulled off this look flawlessly. She doesn't need a lot of extras. The very, very light yellow color of the gown looked beautiful with her skin tone.
Elizabeth Olsen was a vision as she walked the red (champagne) carpet in a long, black, Givenchy halter gown with a slicked back bun and a red lip. Completely open in the back. Stunner.
Chau, who is nominated for best supporting actress for her role in “The Whale,” walked the red (champagne) carpet at the biggest event of the year in a custom pink Prada gown that featured a nod to her Vietnamese heritage.
The collar of her dress, known in English as a Mandarin collar, is a short and stiff upright collar. It’s popular in both Chinese cheongsams (also known as qipao) and Vietnamese dresses known as ao dai. She added this design detail at the last minute.
The Pakistani female education activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate wore a silver sequined gown by Ralph Lauren with a hood, long sleeves, and a cinched detail on one side of the waist. She accessorized only with a large silver diamond ring and a gold ring with a large emerald from Santi Jewels, and wore minimal makeup, and added a pop of color with a bright red lip. HOLLY'S TOP LOOK OF THE NIGHT!
NO SNAPS
Carter, who in 2019 became the first Black person to win the Oscar for costume design for her work on Marvel’s “Black Panther,” was recognized for the film’s sequel, “Wakanda Forever.” She is a master at costume design, but she might have had a "Sound of Music" moment, as it looks like she was wearing the drapes. #DAMN
The dress was just a lot, and really swallowed her. It was a bright yellow strapless gown, but you couldn't see her body shape. This was a no-no for Holly.
Connelly arrived in a black, off-the-shoulder Louis Vuitton column gown with a beaded triangle-shaped embroidery panel that came literally all the way up to her chin. To Holly, it looked like a spaceship. This dress was probably stunning in person, but, um, no girl! No snaps. Absolute the worst dressed.
That's all for now, folks! We could go on and on and on. Did we get it right? Did we get it wrong? We want to hear your comments! We hope you enjoyed this episode, and Holly will be dreaming and scheming about her top picks!