Red Carpet: Best Looks of 2014
Monday, December 22, 2014 at 10:00AM Year in Review. Two yummy look backs each day!
Jose here. With awards season underway, and a whole new roster of red carpet superstars about to be born (Felicity Jones, we salute you), it's time to celebrate the absolute best red carpet looks of the year that was, which have us revisit a few familiar faces and welcome the return of old fashioned, ridiculously grand Hollywood glamour!
2014's Best Red Carpet Looks
10. Lupita Nyong'o in Ralph Lauren
Nyong'o was the breakthrough star of 2013 with each of her looks besting whatever it is she had worn to the previous event and the celebration continuing on through Oscar night. The MVP was this red column gown with sewed in cape that she wore to the Golden Globes, which made her look like a true fashion superhero.
9. Emma Stone in Thakoon
While pink is usually a big no-no on the red carpet (only SJP and Gwynnie have succeeded in pulling it off in the last couple of decades) leave it to Emma Stone to not only wear two contrasting shades of pink, but also pull off a bare midriff, a side braid and silver accessories (!!!!) effortlessly. Kudos for sticking to a young brand and showing starlets that you can be sexy while remaining almost practically covered.
Felicity Jones, Fan Bingbing, and perennial chart-topper Cate Blanchett come after the jump...
8. Jennifer Lawrence in Dior
Few brand ambassadors have suffered more at the whims of their designers than J.Law under Raf Simons. After taking over the legendary house of Dior he tried to incorporate his avant garde, often shapeless designs leaving Lawrence looking like a fool, as she wore gowns that, many pointed out, made her look like Ariel from The Little Mermaid. It was such a relief to see her at the Oscars wearing a custom made gown that worked like an updated, more stylish version of the red Calvin Klein she wore to the ceremony held in 2011. She has rarely looked more relaxed in couture.
7. Penélope Cruz in Giambattista Valli
Looking like a Schiaparelli wet dream or a Greek goddess, Pé brought back her old world glamour to the Oscars. It's the best she's looked since she won her own for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
6. Felicity Jones in Dior
If you're on the road to your first Best Actress Oscar nomination, you'd better wow voters on the red carpet, too. Jones had been sticking to a very restrained "English rose" style, but lately she's been experimenting with drama, and she has never looked better than in this Dior wide skirt. The sleek hair and simple makeup made even more effective by her bright pink lips.
5. Nicole Kidman in Armani Privé
As her Grace of Monaco drew some of the most vicious reviews the Cannes Film Festival has provided recently, Kidman laughed away the vitriol by stealing everyone's breath in this elaborate Armani Privé gown with custom sweetheart cleavage. After her astonishing appearances at the festival over the past two years, she deserves to be a perennial dreamy fixture on the French Riviera.
4. Blake Lively in Gucci
While this year's Met Gala was supposed to bring out the classic Hollywood style, it mostly drew out the crazy. Few starlets bothered to pay tribute to the celebrated American designer Charles James. Leave it to Lively to go for a Rita Hayworth reincarnation.
3. Fan Bingbing in Georges Chakra
Worn on a promotional tour for the latest X-Men movie, Fan Bingbing's sweeping feathered gown makes you wish Iñarritú could whip up another Birdman ...about her in this dress.
2. Kate Hudson in Versace
Though she hasn't made a good movie in years, but awards shows can't get enough of her. Her wonderful partnership with Versace always make her look more sexy and less girl-next-door. This siren gown with cape, paired with her Veronica Lake hair make us (almost) wish someone will cast her in an LA Confidential-type movie.
1. Cate Blanchett and Adele Exarchopoulos in Valentino
Blanchett topped this same list last year and luckily for us, she didn't just rest on her laurels in 2014. Despite her Oscar dress not being all we wished for, she once again proved why she is the most fashion forward movie star in the world (with apologies to Tilda) by appearing in jawdropping designs at the Cannes Film Festival. Best of all was this Joan of Arc-like Valentino which she wore to present an award to rising star Exarchopoulos, who also wore a Valentino from the same collection. The fact that Cate is so generous that she didn't mind her look complimenting Adele's gown, instead of choosing to overshadow her, is why this was my absolute favorite fashion moment of 2014.
What about yours readers: favorite 2014 red carpet looks?
Reader Comments (14)
That Emma Stone look strikes me more as hot mess than top 10, to be honest, but I can get behind all other choices on this list, even if I disagree with placements. Lupita Nyong'o at the bottom of the list seems unfair, giving her boldness and poise (and it was her debut season). I would have gone with her Bafta look and placed her higher, for sure.
Can't go wrong with Nicole and Penelope, though, and Kate Hudson's inclusion was inspired, I looooved her (as most) and Goldie (as very few) on Oscar night.
And topping the list with Cate Blanchett is perfectly appropriate as she was the undisputed queen of the 2013 Oscar season.
J-Law channeling Sally Field circa 80s - Don't think so.
Lupita Nyong'o should have been way higher.
I still think Hudson in Versace at Venice (for Nine) is the best red carpet look ever.
Lively is looking fierce and I would have put Lupita's Oscar gown ahead of this one.
I agree with Carmen on Stone.
Lupita was the best, come on
I would put Lupita a little higher since that was basically a "OMG, who is that beautiful woman?" moment for her that really put her on everyone's radar.
I'm glad to see Nicole in Armani on the list because I think that whole glam look got overshadowed by the Grace of Monaco reviews. I've actually seen it and while she looks nice in the film, best to let that film stay buried.
I'd give Charlize Theron in Dior at the Met Gala an honorable mention because she just rocked the hell out of that look.
One more for the "Lupita was best" camp.
Cate's Oscar gown was all I wished for.
Yet another that votes for Lupita to be at least top 3 and for Fan Bingbing, Jennifer Lawrence & Emma Stone to be bumped off the list entirely. Would pick Lilly Collins' Elie Saab from the Love Rosie premiere in Rome as one of the year's best. And Jessica Chastain from the London Premiere of Interstellar - she rarely gets it wrong.
Carmen, I love her BAFTA look, but J.Law had worn the same Dior design/silhouette the previous year at the Globes, so as beautiful as it was, it wasn't a WOW moment for me. Re: Emma, I felt the exact same way when I first saw it (why is this girl wearing gym clothes and a sarong to a red carpet!?!?!?!), but as the months went by I just kept going back to it more and more.
Derreck, I would agree with you but by Globe time she'd already wowed me in the white dress she wore at TIFF the year before (which I included in last year's countdown...) to me this red, cape dress (which also was inspired by Gwynnie's white Tom Ford dress from a few years ago) just epitomized what she was did best during her debut season, she took classic looks from others and made them her own through bold colors. I found both her and Cate's Oscar dresses very disappointing, they showed up as winners who wanted to wear something safe/pretty instead of something bold.
Lupita should be #1 on this list. Come on now.
Lupita in green at the BAFTAs. Easily one of the most gorgeous looks I've ever seen recently.
I demand a recount!
I know this is a film-centric list, but my kingdom for Lizzy Caplan's Emmy dress. Just... god.
Jose - I didn't mind Cate's Oscar dress but I do agree with Lupita's Oscar gown being disappointing. She had a stellar run and it ended with a "....that's nice, i guess" rather than a "WOW" kind of look. She still looked pretty though.
Ryan T. - Agreed about Lizzy. Simple yet totally beautiful.
I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I pretty much adore anything JLaw wears during award season <3