Oscars Razzle And/Or Dazzle

Another awards show in the books, and once again, what’s memorable, after a season of looks topping one another week after week, is something unusual. Not always a colour, but often enough, it’s a sheen or sparkle that makes a dress that much more indelible. I also think a particular colour or fabric becomes ‘the one to top’ in subsequent seasons or years, sort of a subconscious social contract to indicate that you’ll be back…

Wunmi Mosaku has been playing with colour all season long, in her gowns and in makeup – but this green Louis Vuitton hand-embroidered gown is easily on another level.

The asymmetry and cut-outs mimic her curves – being on an awards show run while pregnant adds both a level of complexity and a level of visual interest above and beyond a ‘typical’ gown – but it’s the texture that makes this really special:

The more you look, the more you realize this dress is constantly changing, both in colour and texture, and that sitting beside it would be mesmerizing, and actually wearing it, downright distracting.

2025 Best Actress Mikey Madison returns for her tour of duty in a wine Dior that’s both more wearable and more memorable than the pink-and-black she won in last year

(I actually had to check to make sure I was right… proving my point).

The more I squint at the dress and its appliqued tone-on-tone rosettes, the less I’m sure what the fabric is – I’m inclined to call it velveteen, which would be striking and usual, if also possibly very warm for the heat wave currently terrorizing Los Angeles…but maybe it’s a very brushed satin?

Speaking of former winners, Emma Stone does just about everything right in this custom Louis Vuitton. I’m not usually a fan of white dresses, but this one is almost blue, the shimmer has dimension, and while it’s beautifully tailored like all of Emma’s awards show dresses, it also has a specific message:

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This is a dress that says, “You know and I know I’m not going to win. Appreciate my good points but then keep it moving.” There was no momentum for Emma Stone in this year’s race, and given that she already has two Oscars, everything points toward choosing a dress that says, “I’ll be back… but not today.”

I’m sure Renate Reinsve had a similar philosophy – she’s been in the conversation but never running away with the competition, so the prescription should be something memorable without being outlandish. “I was here.”

It works super well in still photos, playing on the same theme of ‘negative space’ that Gwyneth’s white column works within. But sadly, as soon as she starts to walk, it’s clear that either this dress wasn’t fitted well enough, or Renate doesn’t trust that it was. Watch that left arm…

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It’s subtle (and there do appear to be shorts/a bodice bottom built in), but she’s definitely fighting either the anxiety or the reality that, when she’s in motion, the dress is going to climb higher than is comfortable for her – which is unfortunate, since the whole point of something daring is being able to look like you just rolled out of bed and didn’t even think of breaking a sweat.

It’s the kind of look Kate Hudson has down in spades:

This Armani Privé was apparently a last-minute choice, which is saying something because the fit is impeccable. Between the peplum and the colour, it maybe seems like something she also could have chosen in 2006, but I’m not going to pretend that we don’t all have wells we go back to. If I were to message all my friends and ask them to guess what colour I was wearing right now, sight unseen, half would say green, half would say orange, and all would have a 50% chance of being right on any given day. Sometimes we like what we like… and if it’s bouncing light and making our hair look that lush? You do what you have to do.

Finally, there was great debate at LaineyGossip HQ over the ‘intermittent sparkle’ deployed by Kristen Wiig in Elie Saab:

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And Odessa A’zion in Valentino.

I’m not convinced either of these work entirely, but unlike a lot of people, if I have to choose between them I choose Wiig – the slouchy tank-top style seems in line with what Lainey hilariously called “a lazy blowout”; whereas the Valentino look – Blouse! Pants! Wrap! – seemed  to want to careen back and forth without picking a lane. Which is too bad, but I imagine we’ll see Odessa again in more iconic looks…

And also, nobody’s going to be thinking about this one anyway. Because her actually memorable look debuted at Vanity Fair:

This is Harris Reed, and while it’s architecturally punishing (one of the side shots includes cleavage that seems less as though it’s ‘revealed’ and more as though it’s been threatened at gunpoint to appear) I strongly suspect it was what she really wanted to wear in the first place. Whenever she’s a nominee, I do not anticipate being bored…