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?