Sitcom Gowns And Drama Duds
At the Emmys, Those Who Play Doctor Get to Play Dress-Up

By Robin Givhan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 29, 2006

No one would blame TV viewers if they had trouble recognizing actress Chandra Wilson of "Grey's Anatomy" at the Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday night. She looked spectacular. Who knew that she cleaned up so nicely?

Most of the characters on the young-doctors-in-love drama have scenes at home or at least outside the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital. But Wilson's character -- Dr. Miranda Bailey, a.k.a. "The Nazi" -- is almost always seen on the job and dressed in scrubs. So when Wilson walked down the red carpet in a ruby-red Bradley Bayou dress with an exquisite fit, her hair in soft curls -- instead of in her character's stern bob -- and a diamond necklace slithering into her cleavage, she earned a double take accompanied by a sputtering, "Who the . . . ?"

The pleasure of fashion's favorite spectator sport is in catching a different side of actors. Will they convey a sense of style? Will there be a clue to their real personalities? Will they display razzle-dazzle? Or will they simply looked dazed, confused and disastrous? Yay!

The sense of false intimacy between actor and viewer is exaggerated at the Emmys. These are perfect strangers who make weekly home visits. These are our TV friends who are gussied up and headed to the ball. We think we know them. Or at least we know what they look like.

This year's Emmy Awards were particularly tantalizing because so many medical shows and cop dramas were nominated. That's a lot of attractive people relegated to a weekly wardrobe of scrubs and scruffy jeans. Look, on the red carpet: There's House without his cane and his sour attitude. Detective Olivia Benson let her hair grow out. McDreamy finally shaved.

For a gentleman attending the Emmy Awards, it takes a concerted effort to look bad. A man would have to grab hold of a tuxedo and aggressively deconstruct this classic garment. Or he would have to add such ghastly furnishings -- a horrific tie, ill-chosen sunglasses, an inordinate display of chest hair -- to do serious aesthetic damage. There were a few gentlemen who seemed to take it as their personal mission to muck up an almost infallible look.

Justin Chambers of "Grey's Anatomy" was among the first to arrive, and he spent so much time on the steamy red carpet that he eventually took off his tux jacket. (Feeling the need to begin a red carpet striptease should serve as a sign that it is time to stop the interviews and head toward the air conditioning. Do not get overheated and let the TV magic melt away.) Because Chambers practically pitched a tent on the carpet, one had plenty of time to assess his look. Either he has a head the size of a pea or he was wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses meant for Paul Bunyan.

Gentlemen, you are being served notice. It is time for you to stop wearing the monochromatic black look: black suit, black shirt, black tie. You don't look sleek and sophisticated. You don't look like Joaquin Phoenix. You look grumpy. And do not follow the fashion lead of Denis Leary, who wore all black except for a red tie. You will look like someone clinging to the dream that Devo is on the cusp of a major comeback.

"American Idol's" Simon Cowell skipped neckwear and instead unbuttoned his shirt almost down into porn-star territory. All of his chest hair appeared to get sweatier and sweatier as he stood onstage and talked about Dick Clark's contributions to "te-lee-vision."

The best-looking men were those who paired their tuxedos with silver four-in-hands or black-and-gray-striped ones. But "Entourage's" Jeremy Piven deserves a compliment for taking a risk and wearing a black ascot. Mostly, it looked dashing. But every now and then, from just the wrong angle, when he'd fumble with the buttons on his shirt, it looked as though he was wearing a bib.

One wondered whether the women would be swayed by the new mood in fashion, which dictates a certain prim modesty. Would anyone walk the red carpet in something high-necked and Victorian? Such madness! Why let all that expensive cleavage go to waste? In the category of gravity-defying breasts, the award goes to Virginia Madsen, who wore a black lace gown with a plunging neckline that revealed perfectly placed, golden orbs.

Not even Seventh Avenue and every fashion magazine on the planet can put a damper on Hollywood's passion for elaborately jeweled gowns. Katherine Heigl of "Grey's Anatomy," looking eerily like Charlize Theron, was aglitter in a slinky Escada gown. Jennifer Love Hewitt sparkled like a disco ball in a Collette Dinnigan sheath that was so bulky with paillettes it seemed to add 20 pounds of twinkling padding to her frame.

Sandra Oh wore a frothy lilac ruffled gown by Vera Wang. And then she embarked on fashion anarchy by piling on a mass of gold and platinum chains and sparkling ropes. Oh described the jewelry as being a blend of a czarina and Run-D.M.C. The effect was fabulous if only because of that description.

But none other than "Project Runway's" Tim Gunn pronounced the ensemble a failure. And Gunn -- he of the dapper suits, the perfectly clipped hair and the lock-jawed quips -- is always right.

What other dresses lacked in beading, they made up for with elaborate draping, swirls, pleats and hunks of cloth tacked artfully -- and sometimes clumsily -- around the body. Portia de Rossi wore a Zac Posen slate gray gown with fabric flower details. She also donned a look of impatience when E! Entertainment's Ryan Seacrest noted that he had no idea who Posen was and wasn't the least bit embarrassed.

Seacrest, who had apparently been dispatched to man E!'s red carpet "glam cam" without a fashion cheat sheet, had never heard of Badgley Mischka, either. The design team created a dress for Jaime Pressly of "My Name Is Earl." But Pressly hadn't heard of them, either, so she and Seacrest stood there staring at each other and chuckling over their mutual ignorance, which must have made Mark Badgley and James Mischka really happy that they'd spent all that time specially whipping up that nice beaded chantilly lace extravaganza.

When Leah Remini from "The King of Queens" made her entrance in a merlot-colored gown, Seacrest inquired about the mysterious, unseen baby Suri, spawn of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, whom Remini has reportedly actually laid eyes on. Seacrest was good-natured with his questions; it wasn't as if he said something like, "Is that baby really ugly?" But Remini got huffy as if a mere mention of the child's name would bring down the wrath of TomKat. Remini broke one of the cardinal rules of the red carpet: Do not get angry or frustrated because this will make you forget to tell people who made your dress.

Actress Kyra Sedgwick broke one of the other rules: Do not wear a dress that makes you look like a corpse. Sedgwick's gown was by Giorgio Armani from his couture collection. It was a flowing sea of dove gray organza with a large spiraling hip corsage. She looked like a mummy trailing strips of papier-mache.

Candice Bergen looked like she really didn't feel like being bothered, with fashion, formal wear or a mirror. She wore a white blouse, long turquoise skirt and a low-slung Western belt that managed to camouflage the existence of her waist, create the impression of a potbelly and leave one wondering how a single accessory could be so cruel to such an attractive woman.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus's black-and-white Narciso Rodriguez gown was refined and sophisticated. Debra Messing wore a romantic Alberta Ferretti white, tiered dress.

And the "Charlie's Angels" trio -- Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith -- were color-coordinated in black-and-chocolate-brown gowns that flattered each of them. One has to give them credit for marching onstage for the Aaron Spelling tribute when they had to know that the entire audience would be judging how well they were aging. (Admit it, you leaned in toward the TV to get a better look.) Farrah, Kate: God bless. Jaclyn: You win.