Oscars wrap-up

Oscar night: fashion’s night of nights and the culmination of the year’s awards ceremonies. 

Last night I made sure I was home in time to catch the red carpet on TV only to find that the Australian coverage of the Academy Awards didn’t include the red carpet and skipped right on over to the ceremony.

To say I was outraged would be an understatement. I’ve been looking at galleries of the various awards ceremonies for the past two months, keeping up to date with the outfits and wondering which celebrities would blow me away and who would have the worst fake-tan mishap, only to be devastated by the fact that I didn’t get to see the good bit. (I’m pleased to announce that the only fake tan mishaps were demonstrated by the WAGS at the Alan Border Medal ceremony, which was also held last night.)

Last year's Academy Awards, looking ravishing

This year. Seriously, what was she thinking?!

In any event, I’ve caught up with who was wearing what this morning via numerous websites and thought I’d give my own spiel on what I thought of the dresses. I have to say straight up that Sandra Bullock was a severe disappointment. After bravely showing her face post-divorce at last year’s Academy Awards, looking ravishing in a red strapless gown (let’s face it, it’s the best she’s ever looked), this year she really dropped the ball. It really upsets me when women don’t wear styles that suit them, and while I believe that Sandra would almost look good in a paper bag (almost) she really, really missed the mark with the black and white Marchesa number she donned last night. 

My other dishonourable mentions go to Angelina Jolie, who managed to make a beautiful (albeit safe) gown look really cheap by sticking her leg out of the slit like a red carpet amateur instead of standing normally; Berenice Bejo, who has not worn a single interesting gown this awards season, let alone one that has done her beautiful figure justice; Anna Faris, as there was absolutely nothing good about her dress and I’m certain there’s not a single person it would look good on; and Viola Davis. I’m not sure what to say about her dress other than that it looks like someone cut up two really nice dresses and stuck them together in the vague hope that it would look alright. I love that colour on her but the style is really not working for me.

What is she doing??

I think it's the long sleeves...

 

Honourable mentions go to Gwyneth Paltrow, despite the cape I thought that dress looked wonderful on her and she kept it really simple with just a pair of very small diamond stud earrings; Penelope Cruz and her vintage Hollywood glamour; Octavia Spencer, whose dress was stunning and suited her to a tee; and finally, Michelle Williams, who in my opinion has blown everyone else out of the water in this year’s fashion stakes and really shown the others how it’s done. Simple, classic and elegant, yet unique and modern, she really got it right. I also loved Stacy Kiebler in that gold number; she’s doing a fine job of outshining her debonair partner!

The first step is acknowledgement...

Imagine if someone said you have unlimited resources to come up with your dream book. It could be anything, and the more outrageous the better. I was recently asked this question in one of my uni subjects and after agonising over the task I finally came up with my dream book. I’ve never really been much for writing until now and hadn’t really had any great desire to publish a book, until I realised what my dream book was: a book about shoes.

Not just any book about shoes, though. There are plenty of books out there about shoes: shoes through the ages, Louboutin’s best designs, women’s favourite shoes from Carrie Bradshaw’s collection (etc), and I wanted mine to be unique. I feel like I’m forever on the lookout for a staple shoe of some kind or another; maybe because I’ve got an event coming up and have nothing appropriate (in my opinion, anyway), I’ve worn a pair to death or simply because it’s time to replace that favourite pair that I’ve been wearing to work 3 days a week for the last 2 years.

The book would detail the shoes that I think should be staples in every woman’s wardrobe, regardless of her age. For example, one needs flat, comfortable shoes to be able to take the dog for a walk, have coffee at the local café on a Sunday and have something appropriate to wear on an exotic holiday, where there is likely to be a small amount of trekking through tropical rainforests. Another thing to keep in mind is that – yes, I’m admitting it upfront – I am quite shallow when it comes to shoes. I am all about what they look like and 99.9% of the time I will go for looks over practicality. (Who am I kidding? It’s ALL the time.)

Surprisingly, I don’t have a ridiculous number of shoes (although my boyfriend will tell you otherwise!). This is mainly because my fashion addiction does not just lie with shoes but with clothes as well. I’ve always had a fascination with fashion but since returning from living overseas a couple of years ago it’s developed into all-out obsession.

Hello. My name’s Elle and I’m a shopaholic.

It’s fair to say that my blog is likely to have all sorts of things on it; mainly about clothes and shoes that I love but other things as well, like details of what kind of styles suit certain body shapes, how to wear them well, ways to wear scarves and all sorts of other exciting topics.

I’m aiming to have a post each week about shoes (an excerpt from my yet-to-be-published book) in addition to regular posts about clothing and accessories. I’m very open to suggestions as well so if you have any questions or suggestions for topics don’t be shy!

My first shoe post is going to feature the classic black pump so I hope you come along and check it out.

Thanks for reading!

Elle