Best Dress
Sandra Bullock is often lauded by male colleagues for being a tomboy. She went a very different route on Oscar night, with a shimmering, slim-fitting dress by Marchesa, fire-engine red lips and girly long hair.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Helen Mirren continued to shamelessly defy convention in a glittering, va-va-voom Badgley Mischka. Somehow she knows how to go just far enough to be a dignified knockout. She also knew how to carry off those Chopard rocks.
Best Costume
Zoe Saldana seemed to be a student of the "go big or go home" school, wearing a glittery, multihued, poufy, voluminous Givenchy Haute Couture gown that was classy on top and a party below.
Best Technical Dress
Vera Farmiga, a losing nominee for Best Supporting Actress, was a winner in a fuchsia Marchesa gown that wound around like a complicated narrative but always stuck to her curves.
Best Visual Effects
Jennifer Lopez's Armani Privé dress wasn't for everyone. It was either a highly feminine structured strapless number with a riveting side detail or a loofah-textured hot mess with a glittery tissue hanging off one side. Either way, she made an impression.
Best Indie
Maggie Gyllenhaal, true to her offbeat roots, wore a deep blue print dress by the intellectual Belgian designer Dries Van Noten. Girl knows her audience.
Best Supported Actress
It's easy to look like a red-carpet natural when you're 112 lb. But Queen Latifah doesn't let her bigger body stop her from owning the joint. She (or her stylist) knows how to dress her frame for maximum impact. Her flawless skin and megawatt smile don't hurt. Here, she wears Badgley Mischka Couture.
Worst Cut
Diane Kruger looked like a high-fashion ostrich, with an outfit by Chanel that appeared to bulge around her lower abdomen and then get thin again, which is flattering on almost nobody.
Worst Prom Flashback
Faith Hill made the classic rookie error of choosing an overly lacy dress that might have been mall-bought. Cut out in all the wrong places, the top had that inexpensive-strapless-bra look that is forgivable at prom but not once you're out of high school.
Worst Corset
Miley Cyrus was one of the many women who went with a corseted structure, but she seemed self-conscious and uncomfortable in this Jenny Packham gown, stroking her stomach and refusing to stand up straight. Better luck next year, Miles.
Worst Goddess
The usually infallible Kate Winslet definitely had an off night. Her Atelier Yves Saint Laurent dress, another of the endless parade of corseted numbers, said goddess with its breastplate and gathered skirt — but a scary, warlike one.
Worst Set Decoration
Really, Charlize Theron, what were you thinking with this Dior Haute Couture gown? Are those Danish pastries? Barnacles? Were you worried your breasts might suddenly expand? You might want to consider putting the mirrors back in the master bedroom.
Best Editing
When you're Sarah Jessica Parker and you were in Sex and the City, every designer wants you to wear his or her clothes. You have to give the lady props for choosing this offbeat Chanel number.
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