The best and worst dressed at the Oscars 2012

Last night saw the 84th Annual Academy Awards take place in Hollywood, with nominees, presenters and guests donning their finest frocks for the red carpet. As usual, there were the inevitable sex bomb gowns (Angelina Jolie, we’re looking at you) as well as more daring fashion choices (special mention must go to Gwyneth Paltrow here) and less impressive choices. Overall though, this year’s awards saw one of the best-dressed guest lists we’ve had in a while, with no shockers immediately springing to mind. Well done Hollywood.

The dresses on show last night were an eclectic lot, with no clear colour trend emerging, apart from ‘anything goes’. White was a popular choice, with Rooney Mara, Shailene Woodley and Gwyneth Paltrow wearing bold, crisp white gowns with minimal detail, while Octavia Spencer and Milla Jovovich went for beaded white dresses and Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz opted for nude, off-white numbers. Elsewhere, bright scarlet was another popular colour, worn by the ladies who do bold hues so well – namely Natalie Portman, Michelle Williams and Emma Stone. Angelina Jolie, Rose Byrne and Jessica Chastain proved that they knew that black is a failsafe choice for any red carpet event – donning their finest LBDs.
This red carpet was a game of two halves, with our favourite actresses either wearing all-out glamorous, sexy gowns, featuring strapless necklines and thigh-high splits, or demure, minimalist dresses, with long-sleeves or high necks. The sexy camp was headed up by none other than the always gorgeous Jennifer Lopez, who wore a shimmering, contoured dress which emphasised her enviable curves (especially with that plunging neckline and fishtail train). Competing with Ms. Lopez for sexiest dressed of the night was of course Angelina Jolie, who ditched the old school Hollywood look of the Golden Globes for a sassy, black velvet dress by Versace with sweetheart neckline and impossibly high split.The strapless cut was widely chosen, with Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, Kristin Wiig, Michelle Williams, Tina Fey and Natalie Portman all baring their shoulders and joining the sexy brigade.
There were also plenty of demure, sweet dresses on offer too though, with the very cute Shailene Woodley leading the way in her long-sleeved, high-necked white dress from Valentino couture. Emma Stone, who always makes clever fashion choices, went for a Giambattista Valli high neck, pussy bow detail gown, while The Artist actress Berenice Bejo looked stunning in her mint green Elie Saab couture dress with long sleeves and flowing train. Special mention has to go to Gwyneth Paltrow for her choice of dress for the evening, impressing us with her Tom Ford cape, while Meryl Streep proved sexy has nothing to do with age in her slinky Lanvin dress.