The 2014 Academy Awards was graced with minimal new trends from the stars. First off, A-listers like Cate Blanchett (in Armani Privé), Jennifer Garner (Oscar de la Renta), and Angelina Jolie (Elie Saab) wore white and off-white sequined dresses. Though not revolutionary, this style is elegant and very suitable for the Oscars.
Emma Watson also wore sparkles on her Vera Wang black and grey dress. Sequins were popular in multiple Gatsby-era dresses, worn by the likes of Evan Rachel Wood (Elie Saab) and Julie Delpy, who was dressed in a Jenny Packham, mermaid-inspired outfit, like Goldie Hawn (Atelier Versace).
Jewelry wise, 2014 was the year of teardrop earrings. Stars such as Amy Adams, who wore coral earrings by Tiffany & Co., and Olivia Wilde, who wore white Lorraine Schwartz earrings, were decked out in the trendy style. Prices ran high: Cate Blanchett’s jewelry was worth $15 million alone.
Special stand outs included Lupita Nyong’o—this year’s breakout star both in acting and fashion—who wore a custom-designed Prada dress, the color of which she chose because it reminded her of Nairobi. In the folds of her dress were tiny sequins that added a shimmering sparkle whenever the skirts moved.
However, this year was sadly unfashionable in regards to pregnant stars on the red carpet.
Kerry Washington wore a mauve bedsheet tied with a sparkly pin by Jason Wu, while Elsa Pataky wore a Gatsby-style dropwaist disaster by Elie Saab.
Thankfully, Olivia Wilde saved the image of pregnant stars everywhere in a simple black, backless, turtleneck gown by Valentino, only marred by a skunk-like stripe down the back.
Other badly-dressed celebrities included Kristin Chenoweth, who looked like an Oscar statuette in her gold gown, and Anna Kendrick, who donned a black dress with red stars on the waistline and also posed in a way comparable to Angelina Jolie’s leg reveal of 2013.
Also watch out for Liza Minelli’s costume, which will be appearing in the upcoming production of Willy Wonka as a blue Violet Beaureguarde.
The men at the Oscars, though usually unoriginal, elevated their style in multiple ways. Navy suits were popular this year, worn by Kevin Spacey (Burberry), Christoph Waltz (Prada), and Jason Sudeikis (Prada). Other memorable outfits included Michael B. Jordan’s Givenchy collar tips and gold shoes and Pharrell’s knee-length Lanvin tuxedo shorts.
Men’s fashion flopped, however, starting with Michael Strahan’s Hellboy-esc suit and ending with Chris Hemsworth’s magenta suit and vest. In between was Will Smith’s cravat and black house slippers, which made made him look like Christian Bale in American Hustle.
A trend mostly worn by waiters, white jackets made an unfashionable comeback to the Academy Awards. Winners Jared Leto, in a Saint Laurent white suit jacket and red tie, and Matthew McConaughey, in Dolce & Gabbana ivory jacket, both donned this loser trend. All in all, the 2014 Oscars was an uneventful and depressing look at fashion today.
Though the men shone, only few women stood out. Color blocking was a phenomenon, white made a comeback, and half the women looked like Oscars themselves. Men looked like waiters and chose to ignore the black tie dress code by wearing shorts and oxblood.
Hopefully, the 2015 Academy Awards will hold much more ingenuity on the fashion front.
Top 5 Best Dressed Women:
1. Cate Blanchett
2. Lupita N’yongo
3. Emma Watson
4. Olivia Wilde
5. Jennifer Garner
Top 5 Best Dressed Men:
1. Michael B. Jordan
2. Christoph Waltz
3. Jason Sudeikis
4. Jeremy Renner
5. Kevin Spacey
One of the most exciting parts of the night was the famed “Oscars Selfie.”
Part of her somewhat dull schtick, Ellen Degeneres pulled A-listers such as Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Julia Roberts into a star-studded selfie. Other stars included Jared Leto, Meryl Streep, Channing Tatum, Lupita Nyong’o, Brangelina, and a special appearance from Lupita’s brother, Peter. Liza Minnelli jumped fruitlessly in the back.
Though Ellen joked that she would “crash Twitter” with the selfie, the picture actually shut down the social media site for a full 20 minutes. The photo was retweeted 2.5 million times, which broke the record by President Barack Obama in 2012 by 1,719,000 retweets.
Now, other stars like Jimmy Kimmel are copying the selfie. The Simpsons even generated a comic version of the photo.
However, not everyone is pleased. Bloggers and journalists have accused the selfie as a marketing tool for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone.
Although Samsung has vehemently denied the claim, WPP branding expert Allen Adamson told the Wall Street Journal, “It was a great plug for the Samsung brand. Ellen’s selfie is going to be more impactful than their commercials. You can’t buy that magic of going viral.”
However, the Oscars were enjoyable (despite product placement) and important messages from Lupita Nyong’o and Cate Blanchett provided food for thought. Over all, the Academy Awards was a Twitter-crashing success!
Another thing the Oscars highlighted this year is that there are always fumbles and tumbles on stage. One of the funniest moments this year was John Travolta’s slaughter of Idina Menzel’s name. He introduced her as Adele Dazeem before she played her hit song “Let it Go” from the animated blockbuster Frozen.
In honor of this moment we have used the Travolta Name-Generator from Slate.com. We also went ahead and Travoltized the names of Oscar winners and editors of The Paper Tiger on the back page.
John Travolta Name Generator—Oscar Winners:
Lupita Nyong’o (Best Supporting Actress) – Louisa Nicheems
Cate Blanchett (Best Actress) – Chloe Brazent
Jared Leto (Best Supporting Actor) – Jed Lopeez
Matthew McConaughey (Best Actor) – Michael Mozaleen
Leonardo DiCaprio (APRIL FOOLS) – Louisa Dizuncan
Catherine Martin (Best Costume Design) – Christopher Mertin
Ellen DeGeneres (Host) – Ethan Daveries
