Oscar Fashion Recap

Okay, it's a tradition I can't ignore. Here's my Oscar fashion scorecard...and the envelope please...

I loved Tilda Swinton because she is in a class all her own when it comes to
fashion. So modern and chic, even if 99% of America won't understand it. Either you get her or you don't. (When I asked Donna Karan who she'd like to dress who's in the public eye, she immediately answered Tilda Swinton.)

Meryl Streep and her youngest daughter looked amazing. I'm a big fan of that griege-ish color, I loved that they were coordinated in both styles and hues, and they just looked as it they were having such a great time together.

Angelina Jolie is a pill. I'm so over her. She's smug, condescending and always looks bored. I'm tired of her wearing somber-colored dresses because she's a "serious" actress but damn, those earrings were gorgeous. At least this was less voluminous but still...yawn.

On the fence about Kate Winslet. Love her. Thought the hair was a bit severe but after looking at the new Vogue on the train to and from NJ yesterday, I can see what they were going for - both a retro and modern look. The dress was YSL but I think I liked it better from the back than from the front. That one-shoulder look is lovely on her but this one seemed oddly fit around the bust.

Sophia Loren is going to be 75 this year and she has a banging body to rival
Angelina's. The hair could use some rethinking though. And her facelift is starting to look a bit like a melted candle. Can't wait to see her in NINE though.

Tina Fey - Fab! She shows up so often in black dresses I was delighted to
see her in something figure flattering and that silver Zac Posen just lit her up. Zac can sometimes go too structured or retro for my taste, but this was just lovely. Tina and Steve Martin were a definite highlight of a stellar Oscar show. She's a Rosalind Russell for our generation - smart, funny and beautiful. A lethal combination.

"Don't fall in love with me."

Angelica Huston- oh no! I worship Angelica Huston. Stalked her a bit when I
saw her at Jeffreys last year. And she was perfect in black boots, jeans, fab belt and a crispy white shirt. But that dress last night just looked old and not in a good way. More in a Studio 54 kind of way. We get such rare Angelica appearances and I was disappointed.

Penelope Cruz is a Latina Audrey Hepburn. Stunning but not cookie cutter beauty. Loved her in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Another reason to anticpate NINE. Her dress was vintage Balmain, over 60 years old - she'd seen it 8 years ago, remembered it and went back and it was still there. Gorgeous couture. And the fact that she's with Javier Bardem...well, who needs emeralds? (Where was he, by the way? He should have been presenting Best
Supporting Actor. Daniel Day Lewis was a no-show as well. Boys!)

Anne Hathaway. I love this girl. Such a beauty and that Armani Prive gown covered in paillettes was astounding. The color was glorious. Similar but much better than the Gautier that Marion Cotillard wore last year that was just too costumey. She's always one to watch. And I like that she embraces fashion and takes some risks.

Marion Cotillard looked great from the waist up - hated the weird skirt on her dress.

Really hated Reese Witherspoon's whole look. The Rodarte dress looked like a Cirque de Soleil costume. Her hair was wrong and her makeup was terrible. Her eye makeup was too heavy-handed, yet she looked pale and washed-out overall. She's with that adorable puppy Jake Gyllenhaal but she looked better when
she was unhappy with Ryan Philippe!

Marisa Tomei in Versace. The pearly gray color was pretty but that dress was
wearing her. She is a very slight person and she looked like she was wearing a parade float.

In some earlier shots, I loved Beyonce on the red carpet. Really clean hair and makeup and an over-the-top dramatic dress. It worked like a charm. But in later viewing, the dress is a hot mess. House of Dereon needs to be foreclosed.

While I'm not sure about the one long sleeve, I think Freida Pinto is my new girl crush. She is so breath-taking and I love how she embraces really saturated color. The dress was Galliano and it had a bit of an Indian influence. She's gorgeous--hope she doesn't disappear post-Slumdog.

Amy Adams' dress by Carolina Herrara wasn't memorable but that necklace with it - great choice.

Jessica Biel's oversized bow-fronted dress looked like a bad Project Runway dress. She was "Oot." And Heidi Klum had too much ornate jewelry on for such a sculptural dress.

Now to Sarah Jessica Parker. I agree she looked like Glinda the Good Witch but I think that had more to do with her hair. A sleek chignon and she could have channeled Grace Kelly. I also think the dress was too similar to the gray dress she wore to the S&TC premiere in New York. Time for a new silhouette, ballerina girl. Something a bit more age-appropriate and less princessy perhaps?

Nicole Kidman - we've seen it before. Thanks! Haley Berry, get your damn hair outta your eyes. (Though I must admit her dress looked better in stills than it did onstage.)

All in all, an excellent show. Hugh Jackman was charming and funny. Loved the tributes to the nominated actors. (Especially when Anne Hathaway got all choked up listening to Shirley Maclaine praise her.)

Best dressed - it's a toss-up between Anne Hathaway and Penelope Cruz and I'm going to have to give it to Penelope.

Worst dressed - Marisa Tomei or Reese Witherspoon. Sorry, Reese, you withered on the red carpet.

As for the men, most looked great in their tuxs. But who would have thought that Phillip Seymour Hoffman could rival Mickey "Hand me the Purell" Rourke for worst dressed, simply by wearing a stupid knit cap?

Discuss...

In the words of Linda Richmond....

So Madonna is now dating a man named Jesus.



Does anyone else find this funny? Especially since she's easily old enough to be his mother?

Isn't it ironic?

I'm spending today in my pajamas, albeit fabulous flannel pajamas of Tiffany blue emblazoned with gold florishes and Eiffel Towers, because I am suffering through a wheezy, sneezy cold. Thank goodness my neighbors' granddaughters are visiting. They are adorable girls who love Petey to bits and have been playing with him in the hall and took him for a nice walk this afternoon. (Hence my still pajama'd state.)

I look around the room - there are stacks of magazines that need to be sorted, cards and bills that need responses, a list of phone calls that need returning. The room could use a good dusting and vacuuming, but there's no time. Why?

Because I'm compiling a list of 12 to 15 housekeeping tips! HA! On cleaning and cooking and organizing and decorating. In 140 characters or less including spaces.

The irony of this task never fails to amuse me, month after month!

Paris on my mind...

Ahhh, I just visited my friend the Cowgirl Chef's blog. She's a Texas gal who fell head over cowboy boots for a Frenchman and now lives in Paris and teaches Parisiennes how to cook Tex-Mex with local french ingredients. 

I met Elise when I was getting my haircut by Stephane Forlay at Salon Bonaparte in December.  I'd been there in June 2007 with my best friend Karen who got the best haircut ever from Stephane while I got a blowout from the mind-numbingly sexy Sebastien (think Jim Morrison meets pirate meets Renaissance angel...with sleepy hazel eyes). Anyhow, ever since then, I've planned on getting Stephane to cut my hair whenever I'm in Paris. The salon is chic and cool and very laid-back. None of the frantic buzz of a top NYC salon on a Saturday. And after stretching out in the massaging shampoo chaises (yes, you heard me right, you get a body massage from the chair as you get your hair shampooed. Nirvana), you're as contented as a cat in a sunny windowsill. 

But I digress... Elise was getting her hair colored in the chair next to mine. It was funny, at first, I assumed she was French, she had that "je ne sais quoi" chic about her. Then I heard her speak with her Texan accent and thought...tourist. Then when we were side by side at the shampoo sinks, letting our glazes percolate, she spoke such good French, I knew she must be a resident. We struck up a conversation and by the time we were getting the last strand coiffed, had exchanged business cards. 

Her blog is fantastic. A great look into day-to-day life in Paris, especially from a gastronomic point of view. This girl loves her food, yet she's skinny as a rail. I'd hate her, but she's too nice!

Anyhow, I read her blog and can't help but wish I could live in Paris as well and have the opportunity to experience life as a Parisienne, without the feeling I have to rush around and see and experience as much as possible. I'd love to shop at the wonderful food markets, take some classes in cooking and flower arranging. Spend an afternoon painting watercolors at the Jardin Luxembourg, walk Petey along the Seine - and take him down to visit Virginia (and Tom and Tama-Chan) in Le Perche. With every visit, I find more and more friends - Sanjay and Djamila and their boys, Sabrina, Virginia and Hubert, Susan from cooking school... and now Elise. I think I need to focus on getting the resources together to go to Paris with Petey and spend at least a month there. I'd invite some friends to come visit for a few days, but mostly, I'd just like to live there. 

Okay - I've got that goal in mind....

Thinking positive really works!

Tomorrow will be three weeks since I had my surgery. And while I still occasionally feel like I took a bullet to my gut, I am so pleasantly surprised how well I feel. I also am a bit overwhelmed by the amount of love and support that has come my way -- visits, phone calls, flowers, food (too much food!) and cards. I've never felt so much love and the feeling of being genuinely cared for. And I think it has a tremendous amount to do with my quick and relatively painfree recovery. 

So...keep that positive attitude. I've long believed that like things are drawn to one another - especially the people that come into your life -  be while you're on vacation, at work,  at the stores you visit and the places you frequent. I also think that attitudes feed on each other. I was recently having brunch with my best friend and two of her friends. The three of them went on and on about how awful times were, how terrible the economy was, etc. I tried to get them on a positive track by bringing up the opportunities that arise from a recession - ie: the chance to reinvent yourself by finding work that is unique and meaningful and relevant. No luck. Finally, I just had to say "okay, enough!" I may be naive, but I do feel that negativity only creates more negativity.  I pointed out to these three (all women over 60 - I was the baby of the group at 50!) that all our parents and grandparents had survived much tougher times. And that the four of us all had work, roofs over our heads, money in the bank (enough to afford a nice brunch), and supportive friends. Times are bad, but they could be so much worse. So let's be grateful for all we have in our lives, okay? 

Life can throw some unfair punches, but would you really want to trade your life for anyone else's? Not me.