Anne Hathaway was the co-host of the 2011 Academy Awards with James Franco. Anne had 8 costume changes wearing lots of custom made clothing and haute couture. To create all of her looks for that evening Anne enlisted long time friend, critically acclaimed, and reality television sensation Rachel Zoe to help her look her absolute best for the ceremony. To start the evening Anne walked the red carpet wearing a stunning signature red Valentino Fall 2002 Couture bustle gown accentuated with roses. Anne who walked the red carpet with long time pal Mr. Valentino himself finds herself lucky because the Valentino archives pre-dating when Mr. Valentino left as head designer have been sealed but because she and Rachel Zoe are both great friends with Mr. Valentino he sent this gown to Anne. She accessorized this look with Roger Vivier shoes and Tiffany & Co. diamonds which she wore throughout the evening with each look.
When the screen lifted and through the fog James and Anne, wearing this stunning medieval couture style Givenchy Spring 2009 Couture gown, I swooned. The drama of the gown paired with the perfect accessories and the fog that that came out of just made a magical moment. This was one of the highlight moments from the evening and is the first look I think of when I look back at the telecast, just for the shear drama that was brought when she arrived on the stage. She knew she looked stunning and it showed in the confidence that the stunning actress exuded.
To sing an original number Annie donned a custom made Lanvin tuxedo that she paired with custom made Brian Atwood crystal encrusted pumps. I love that this look was unexpected, I would have guessed that Anne was going to wear couture gowns all night long but when she graced the stage in this tux I was thoroughly impressed, and the pairing of the statement shoe with the classic menswear inspired design makes it even better. Another great moment of the show came here whilst Anne was wearing a menswear inspired tuxedo, James Franco came out in a reproduction of the famous pink strapless gown with the large bow that Marylin Monroe wore in the film Gentlemen Prefer Blonde in the number "Diamond are a Girls Best Friend."
Now of all the looks that Anne wore this custom made Vivienne Westwood gown was my least favorite and was the only gown that I did not put up for the Best Dressed Award. I didn't think like the shape, the color against Annie's skin tone, the hairstyle, or the Tiffany & Co. necklace paired with the dress. I feel that this dress is stuck in the 1980's and should have been left there.
Now this gilver (a mix of gold and silver) flapper beaded Oscar de la Renta Fall 2011 RTW gown gave the best spoken wardrobe related moment of the night. When Anne came on in the gown she said, "I love being able to host awards shows, because I can wear gowns that do this" and proceeded to shimmy and make the beaded fringe fly (as pictured). I love that Anne loves to have fun with fashion and glad she took the moment to give that line that I believe will go gown in fashion history.
Now for those of you who followed my old blog you may remember that this exact Atelier Versace Spring 2011 Couture gown was on my wish list for Anne to wear during the ceremony, so as you can imagine I did a little bit of a fan girl scream when I saw that my wish had come true at the venue that I had wished it to be at. While watching The Rachel Zoe Project I found out that me and Rachel were on the same page about this gown because the both of us when the entire Atelier Versace collection was shown both wanted Anne to wear it. It was a gift from god that Anne got this dress and who knows maybe he saw my wish because about a week before the ceremony the Versace VIP Concierge called up Rachel and asked her if it was too late to send her this gown. I am glad that she said that it wasn't as this made my night watching her wear this gown.
Of the night there were two gowns that I cant believe I fell in love with. This is the first. When I saw the Armani Prive Spring 2011 Couture collection, I found that most of it was un-wearable to anyone outside of an editorial standpoint (this gown included). But I think what sold me the gown was that instead of wearing the red runway version of this gown Rachel Zoe had it crafted in this stunning blue version. Had this been the gown that she had worn on the red carpet, I might be saying something different. But I think that the blue dress paired with the black setting and all the lights bouncing off the shimmering fabric made this futuristic style gown come to life and look amazing against Anne's skin color.
And this Tom Ford gown that is from the Fall 2011 RTW collection (didn't know that when I edited the picture) was the second gown that I suprisingly liked. I have not been a huge fan of Tom Fords and I can honestly say I did snicker a little bit when his promise to dress a best actress nomoniee did not happen, but he did dress Anne in this stunning gown with crystals placed that remind me of broken glass. Whilest wearing this gown Anne participated in the second goosbump moment which was when all the winners, the hosts, and a childrens choir sang the Oscar winning song "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" at the shows close. So here is a big congratulations to Anne Hathaway and I guess to Rachel Zoe as well for creating my favorite event host's look.
Don't forget to go to the Facebook Fan Page Reader's Choice Best Dressed Awards photo album and like all of the looks that you believe are Best Dressed of the Year worthy as the voting for the list closed on December 16th and the list will post on December 20th.
