Robin Givhan: On Oscars’ red carpet, an actress’s choice means business

The result was an amped-up campaign to woo, cajole and buy Oscar nominees, presenters and anyone else who might swan down the red carpet in front of the hordes of photographers. And for a time, the payoff, while not necessarily measurable in dollars and cents, was obvious in terms of publicity. Prada entered the popular lexicon thanks to a lilac gown worn by Uma Thurman. Dior got a major jolt when Nicole Kidman wore its chartreuse sheath trimmed in fur. Elie Saab became a footnote in the history books when Halle Berry wore his gown the night of her Oscar win for best actress — the first African American woman so honored. Berry chose Versace for this year’s awards — a striped, black and silver, glittery Bond-girl style gown managed to be va-va-voom yet conservative.

But now, the red carpet is no longer a place for a design house to highlight its most saturated vision. It not only is a partnership between the designer and the actress, it’s also a kind of compromise between Hollywood and Seventh Avenue. Fashion and glamour are two different concepts, and the red carpet is a place where an intellectual or wry approach to style wins no fans. Fashion is about the shock of the new; glamour is defined by desire and mystery.

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In 2007, Jennifer Hudson was guided through the thicket of award-show dressing by fashion expert Andre Leon Talley and Vogue. She wore a brown Grecian style gown by Oscar de la Renta topped with a gold peak-collared bolero. The gown was classically elegant. The bolero was Space Age. The combination did not go over well with the mass-market tabloids or middle America. But Talley remains stalwart in his belief that fashion should not succumb to the pressures of couch potato critics.

“No, I never tone down or dumb down the fashion for the red carpet,” says Talley. “Jennifer loved the dress and gold reptile bolero.

“Look, this season, at the SAG awards, Julianne Moore wore a splendid Chanel couture dress and some tabloid shows said she was the worst dressed,” Talley continued. “The best thing is never compromise on one’s conviction.”

Still, after all the work that goes into primping for the Oscars, it must surely sting — at least a little — to have one’s choices declared a fashion faux pas. Actresses aim to mollify the rarefied fashion world, to make the most of this night under the spotlight. But ultimately, the red carpet is for middle America, People magazine and history. This year, Hudson selected a glitzy — but safe — navy Roberto Cavalli gown with a scalelike pattern. And Amy Adams chose a seafoam blue Oscar de la Renta gown with an enormous ruffled skirt that almost enveloped her in 1950s-style frippery.

Negotiating the line between fashion and glamour explains the affection for vintage dresses. Fashion insiders who can declare an actress a style-setter love vintage because it speaks of creativity and individuality. Yet vintage fashion adheres to the traditions of beauty and sex appeal that the general public knows and loves.

“The Oscars are a fashion moment, but they are not an ‘editorial moment’ like the Costume Institute Gala,” says Cameron Silver, founder of Decades, the highly regarded vintage clothing boutique in Los Angeles. “This is populist entertainment, so I often suggest [going] the iconic route; hence the security of wearing something vintage.”

“More or less, there are two vintage silhouettes that we see decade after decade at the Oscars: a strapless Mainbocher or a Dior ball gown,” Silver notes. “Naturally, wearing the original inspiration is always particularly desirable.”

And it’s always a treat when a little girl stays true to herself and her affection for a puppy purse.