An Afterthought: 2013 Oscars Fashion Best

Hello, dear readers,

A few weeks have passed since the Oscars, sufficient time for everyone to have finished reading the Oscars issues of People and Us Weekly. In other words, no one is all that interested in talking about the Oscars anymore. Except I am. I saw the Oscars the day after they aired on an ABC-approved website, but I was able to watch Red Carpet Live because it aired on live stream.

As I watched the stars arrive, I took down the names of the best dressed ladies at the awards ceremony. Because this post is so late, I'm not going to have my usual detailed explanations. Instead, I'll have the pictures below with captions saying who they're wearing. You could call it The Lazy Girls' Guide to Oscars fashion.

Here are my favorites:

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Jennifer Lawrence looked elegant in Dior Haute Couture [the only dress she tried on prior to the show], Roger Vivier Bag, Brian Atwood Shoes, and Chopard jewels.

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Queen Latifah wowed in Badgley Mischka

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Octavia Spencer looked like Cinderella in a gown by her trusty designer, Tadashi Shoji.

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Naomi Watts shimmered in a silver, science fiction-like, Armani Prive dress, Neil Lane Jewels, and Jimmy Choo shoes. [Not a fan of the messy hair. What's going on there? Nevertheless, she looked radiant]

Those were the gowns that stood out to me at the Academy Awards this year. All of them are simple and flattering with an added element of interest, like Watts's cutouts and the infamous train on Jennifer Lawrence's dress.

I hope you don't mind that this is posted so late. Life happens, and I didn't make time for blogging among the other things I had to do.

Let me know which dresses you liked the most, and have a wonderful week!

xEsther

2013 Golden Globes: Black, Pastel, and Red All Over

Hello, dear readers,

As many of you may know, the Golden Globes aired this past Sunday. However, and I'm looking at you here, you can't pretend you weren't paying just as much, if not more, attention to the fashion on the red carpet. Everyone know half the fun is picking out your favorite and least favorite outfits. I don't watch the Golden Globes, but I do look up the award winners and, let's face it, pictures of the stars in their couture. This awards show didn't afford me the chance to write a best-of post, because none of these dresses stood out to me as particularly stunning. Instead, I'm commenting on some of the big trends I noticed and showcasing some of the photos I found that best display these patterns.

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Let's start off with the ladies who chose to match the red carpet. I'm not sure what's going on with Marion Cotillard's tomato-hued, asymmetrical dress and not-quite-matching heels. Zooey Deschanel kept it classy with a sweetheart neckline and pearls, not to mention the coordinating lipstick. Jennifer Lawrence seemed to be one of the biggest hits of the night, but I can't say I love how pointy the top is. As for Claire Danes, she looked timeless in an orangey-red number.

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Plenty of celebrities chose to grace the red carpet in pale blush, a shade that can wash out pale skin all too easily. Amanda Seyfried and Amy Adams are lovely ladies, but this hue drained the color from their complexions and did nothing to complement the colors of their hair. I'm not really sure what I think of Megan Fox's  dress, but she did manage to carry off the pinky-nude better than the aforementioned stars. I think Hayden Panettiere was the most successful at pulling off this tricky pastel. I'm not a huge fan of the mermaid tail, but the dress was flattering. Her skin tone worked the best with this trendy color.

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Another fair hue to hit the carpet was the lightest of blues. Honestly, I don't like a single one of these dresses. That's all I can say. Better luck with your fashion selection next time, girls.

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Oh, look! More pastels! From peach to pale green to washed-out lavender, the carpet was littered with pastels. Jessica Alba's gown suited her, but Rosario Dawson could have used a lower neckline. I have nothing to say about the other two, except that they were not at all flattering.

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Then there was the abundance of black: The little black dress, little black suit, etc. Everyone was raving over Katharine McPhee's dress, but I think she needed some more fabric up top. None of the other styles were particularly exciting. Most were fairly boring and/or weird.

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Please excuse the multiple shots of Taylor Swift. The last trend that I noticed was a tendency towards deep burgundies and everyone's favorite oxblood shade. Poor Lena Dunham looked frumpy in a gown that was all wrong for her proportions. Jennifer Garner and Naomi Watts flashed smiles to accessorize their deep crimson dresses. I don't know what to think of Taylor Swift's outfit. It was very different than her typical sparkly, girly style, and I'm afraid she might have been taking herself too seriously.

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Last, but not least, I'm sharing what I believe to be one of the night's biggest hits, which doesn't happen to fit into any of the trends. Anne Hathaway shone brightly at the Golden Globes in an embellished Chanel gown, keeping accessories minimal and hair perfectly swept to the side. This isn't my all-time favorite red carpet dress, but Anne looked radiant.

I apologize for not listing designers as I usually do, but I wanted to get this post out while the Golden Globes were still in the [somewhat] recent past.

Hope you enjoyed this overview of the prevailing 2013 Golden Globes fashion trends.

xEsther

Let's Do...A Movie Review: The Hunger Games

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Hello, dear readers,

I understand that the The Hunger Games series of novels, by Suzanne Collins, has a huge following. I decided to rebel against society and see the movie without reading the books first. It was rather nice, actually, not having to worry about the movie being different from the books, seeing as I hadn't read them. Granted, I allowed the book to be spoiled for me before going out to the theater.

The premise, as most of you already know, is that there are 12 districts that each have to send a male and female tribute to participate in the Hunger Games. This is an event that happens once a year, and is the result of an agreement between the districts and the Capitol after the districts rebelled years before. The tributes are supposed to kill each other, and only one will be victorious. The games are broadcast on TV for the districts to watch. Katniss Everdeen is the main character, and she volunteers as tribute instead of her little sister, who is initially picked. I hope I'm getting this right; please correct me if I'm muddling the details. I just don't have the desire to look up more information, and this is what I understood from the film. I'm sure everyone else probably knows better than I do about what happens in the books.

I have to say, the acting was impressive; it goes without saying that Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen) is a very talented actress. I love Stanley Tucci (the Hunger Games show's host), and the rest of the cast was great as well. I think everyone involved in the movie did a great job of capturing all the emotions coursing through the characters as they waited to see who would be called as tribute, and then as the tributes had to hide in the woods and search for the others. There was a fair amount of humor in the beginning, and then it all got sucked away by the games.

There was a very clear sense that this was a horribly sadistic game of survival, and the amount of violence disgusted me, so it definitely did a wonderful job of evoking the right emotions. The only thing I couldn't take seriously was the romance, mostly because there wasn't much development of it. As I understand it, in the novel Katniss treats the romance with Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) as just a ploy to get sponsors, whereas in the movie it's actually a mutual affection. Also, who would be thinking about relationships when she was fighting to the death and praying she wouldn't be murdered in her sleep?

The film editing and camera angles were brilliant as well, adding even more depth to the sense of urgency and terror in the game. There were a lot of extreme close-ups of the characters and parallel editing in order to allow the audience to feel what the characters were feeling.

Overall, this was a very good film. The cinematography and acting were fantastic, and the violence, though utterly repulsive and upsetting, gave a very clear idea of the horror of these games. The costumes and set design were very visually appealing as well, especially the fire dress and the wacky outfits from the Capitol. The weakness in the movie was the forced romance of Katniss and Peeta, which caused one of my friends and I to erupt into (silent) fits of laughter. [Side note: I got really sick of hearing, "May the odds be ever in your favor." I get that it's an ironic line; stop repeating it!]

According to the other friend with whom I saw The Hunger Games, this film stayed extremely loyal to the plot of the book. If you loved the books, I'm guessing you'll like this movie. If you can't stand violence, don't watch this. I don't plan to read the books because I don't want to have to conjure up my own images of children murdering each other, not to mention I can't understand why Collins would write a book like this. However, I did enjoy the film, and I will see the rest of the series in theaters if they're being made into movies. I think they are.

I have to say, though, I will never love a young adult series as much as Harry Potter. Just had to put that out there.

Apologies for excess rambling and lack of expertise on the series.

Have you read the books and/or seen this movie? I'd love to know your thoughts!

Happy Hunger Games.


xEsther