2008 Emmys: Best and Worst Dressed

Who were the fashion hits -- and misses -- at the 2008 Emmy Awards? Discuss red carpet fashion with post.com's fashion and beauty editor Janet Bennett Kelly.

She was online Monday, Sept. 22 to chat about whose style was red hot. And whose was dead wrong.

A transcript follows.

Also, check out the scene at the 60th Annual Emmy Awards.

And view our gallery of Emmy fashions.

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Janet Bennett Kelly: Hi, everyone,

Welcome to our Emmy fashion discussion. What did you think? There were some lovely dresses and few, if any, big gaffes, in my opinion. Anyhow, it's sure a lot more fun to talk about who wore what than dire economic straits, so let's dish.

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San Juan, Puerto Rico: Teri Hatcher = spectacular! That color was a risk and wow!

Julia Louis-Dreyfus never looked better, the color, the fit, her hair, all perfect.

Janet Bennett Kelly: Agree that color was not one you often see on the red carpet, but Hatcher looked good in it. Liked JLD's choice of color better. She looked quite fetching.

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Arlington, Va.: I was so pleased to see Christina Applegate looking so radiant after all she's been through this summer, recovering from breast cancer. Her dress, however, could have used someone taking a scissors to the enormous, floor-length sash that trailed off of it. What did you think of it?

Janet Bennett Kelly: I thought Applegate's dress suited her and the occasion. The color was perfect for her complexion and the metallics gave it some pop. As for the floor-length sash, it was dramatic, but if not at the Emmys or the Oscars, where else?

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Rockville, Md.: I was surprised Kyra Sedgwick went for a short, form-fitting white dress. Yes, it had a sparkly bustline, but the rest of it did nothing for her. She has a great figure for her age, but I think the dress was pretty hideous. What did you think of it?

Janet Bennett Kelly: I disagree; I thought the choices of short and white were refreshing, and the white must have made her feel cool, given the hot temps.

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Arlington, Va.: My favorite color was Mary Louise Parker. She really pulled off that saturated blue! It stood out among all the jewel tones and neutrals.

Janet Bennett Kelly: I'm so biased about Mary Louise Parker; she's such a favorite of mine that no matter what she wears I love her. But, yes, the blue was stunning on her.

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Washington, D.C.: Thanks for doing this chat. I hope you will be able to post links to photos of the actors you are discussing. Thanks.

washingtonpost.com: We'll try to find individual links. Meantime, most everyone we'll be chatting about can be seen in our photo gallery, which you can view here.

Janet Bennett Kelly: You're most welcome. As I mentioned, it's fun to talk fashion and forget gloomy economics.

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Eva Longoria: I think it's pretty obvious that Eva Longoria went for that flapper dress to continue to hide her rumored pregnancy. Nothing like an enormous bow and a lot of fringe to take the focus off on an emerging baby bump!

Janet Bennett Kelly: That could be, but I think there might have been better ways to hide it. I'm not a fan of fringe and big bows, especially on such a petite woman.

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Bloomingdale, D.C.: Who is Christina DeRosa and why did she look like Alyssa Milano being attacked by a swan last night?

washingtonpost.com: Here's her personal web site

Janet Bennett Kelly: No matter who she is, she looked as if she was wearing a flamenco costume, which was swallowing her up.

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Brown!: Who was it (an award recipient, I believe) who wore that lovely chocolate brown dress? It was an unconventional color choice, but looked fantastic. Why do so many people hate brown?

Janet Bennett Kelly: Rachel Griffiths looked lovely in chocolate brown. I'm not sure that it's so much that people hate brown; it's just not a color that comes off that well on television.

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Bethesda, Md.: I came late to the televised party and missed the red carpet. What were the themes of the night? Colors? Cuts? What will they translate into in terms of influencing fall (or spring) fashion?

Janet Bennett Kelly: Purple and its variations were a fave color, one-shoulder gowns were popular as were black and white combos and hints of metallic. All these looks are big for fall.

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Fashion gaffes: Mary Tyler Moore should cover up those hideous arms, at least in an outfit like Glenn Close's. When I get old I'd rather look like Betty White than Mary.

Eva Longoria and Marcia Cross are gorgeous ladies who were ill-served by their dresses.

Janet Bennett Kelly: How about a cross between the two extremes?

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Getting it wrong on Eva: She's not trying to DISGUISE a baby bump -- she's trying to keep people SPECULATING about a baby bump. Much better for business when your business is show business.

Janet Bennett Kelly: Looks as if she's succeeding then, don't you think?

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Marcia Cross: Beautiful woman. But whose idea was it to dress her in something the exact same color as her skin? She looked so washed out!

Janet Bennett Kelly: Television washes everyone out, so it's somewhat surprising she didn't pick a color that flattered her lovely red-head complexion. I'm thinking how great Julianne Moore looked in emerald a few years ago. Also liked how Kristina Hendricks of "Mad Men" looked in green.

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Arlington, Va. : I don't know a lot about fashion, but I thought that America Ferrera's dress looked like garbage bags sewn together. What was it supposed to be?

Janet Bennett Kelly: That's a bit harsh. It was a ruched, bubble-hem dress, and I very much liked her glam-red lipstick and choice of big bauble for a necklace.

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Hair: Did any styles stand out for you?

Janet Bennett Kelly: Yes, a bad one. What was Jennifer Love Hewitt thinking with that big hair do -- it looked ridiculous.

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Colors: Other than purple, which colors do you think had the best showing last night?

Janet Bennett Kelly: Surprisingly, there were two women who wore yellow: Teri Hatcher and Mariska Hartigay. Hartigay's one-shoulder marigold yellow by Carolina Herrera was more successful in my opinion.

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Washington, D.C.: Seriously, haven't we seen enough of the one-shoulder gown?

Janet Bennett Kelly: It's very much of the moment, and I suspect it won't last all that long.

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Rockville, Md. : It seemed like an even split between floor-length gowns and shorter dresses this year. Any thoughts on why such disparate styles made such a showing? I always expect to see floor-length gowns only at events like these.

Janet Bennett Kelly: I do get tired of seeing only floor-length dresses, and I guess so do the stars, which is why they decide to go for short every now and then.

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Hartford, Conn.: Hello. January Jones of "Mad Men" had on a dress that was, to me, less than tasteful. The question I have is - do the studios or TV shows approve or get involved in the fashions selected by their actors? Thank you.

Janet Bennett Kelly: I agree she could have looked better, and she seemed less than happy when "Mad Men" won at the end of the evening. Anyhow, I very much doubt that the studios get involved with what the actors choose to wear. I think it's between the stars and their stylists.

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Jennifer Love Hewitt: Sigh. She always almost gets it right. She always just misses the mark. Liked the dress, but, oh dear, the hair.

Janet Bennett Kelly: My sentiments exactly.

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NW, D.C.: Brooke Shields looked spectacular in that pink dress. How come no one is mentioning her?? I haven't even seen her photos on any of the websites.

washingtonpost.com: Here she is: Brooke Shields

Janet Bennett Kelly: Brooke Shields did look glamourous in that lipstick pink dress. My apologies that she was not included in our photo gallery.

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Arlington, Va.: I did not like Eva Longoria's getup. I feel like she always needs to remind us that she's tiny and has great legs. Maybe someone as petite as she can't pull of a full-length gown, but she always looks a little too -- what? Young? Show-y? Not dressy enough? -- on the red carpet.

Janet Bennett Kelly: You have to hand it to her, though, because she usually does have a sense of what looks best on her. I think last night was an exception. Big bows on petite women doesn't cut it for me.

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Alexandria, Va.: I was blown away by Tina Fey's dress. It was clearly the color of the season - purple. I was surprised by the sweetheart neckline, though. Is that the next big thing? Who were your favorites of the night?

Janet Bennett Kelly: I'm a fan of Tina Fey and am inclined to like her, no matter what she wears (the same goes for Mary Louise Parker). But I did think TF looked smashing in that eggplant color. Don't know if we're going to see that neckline as the next big thing, though. We'll need to monitor!

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Washington, D.C.: Kynt and Vyxsin get my vote for Best Dressed! Nice to see some alternative fashion on the red carpet.

Janet Bennett Kelly: Not sure you'd get too many people to agree with you on "best dressed," but I'll give you alternative!

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Arlington, Va.: Cynthia Nixon's dress was pretty, but her hair was awful. It really aged her.

I think I liked Olivia Wilde's dress the best.

Debra Messing looked beautiful.

washingtonpost.com: Olivia Wilde

Janet Bennett Kelly: Olivia Wilde from "House" looked smashing. Her hair, pastel dress with draped bodice and fantastic sleeve treatment, just lovely!

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Centreville, Va.: My favorites - Evangeline Lilly and Olivia Wilde

washingtonpost.com: Evangeline Lilly

Janet Bennett Kelly: Pale colors suited both these lovely women!

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washingtonpost.com: Jennifer Love Hewitt's hairdo

Janet Bennett Kelly: As I said before, Jennifer Love Hewitt's hair was most unfortunate.

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washingtonpost.com: Felicity Huffman

Janet Bennett Kelly: On the subject of hair, though, Felicity Huffman's new do did suit her. In her white and silver dress, she looked the picture of sophistication.

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Arlington, Va.: Rather than who was the worst of best dressed, who took the biggest risk in dressing for the Emmys? Which ones paid off and which ones didn't?

Janet Bennett Kelly: I don't think anyone took a big risk. Now that tout Hollywood has stylists, the gaffes of yesteryear are few and far between.

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Felicity Huffman -- fabulous!: And the bob takes ten years off her. I thought Kyra Sedgewick also looked great. Best color of the night was that gorgeous blue on MLP.

What's up with your caption writers, though? There wasn't a thing Middle Eastern about the red lace with headband that Phoebe Price had on, so the souk and casbah references were misplaced. She just looked hippy-tacky.

Janet Bennett Kelly: Okay, so she looked hippy-dippy.

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washingtonpost.com: January Jones

Janet Bennett Kelly: This wasn't January Jones's best fashion moment.

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Bloomingdale, D.C.: Jeremy Piven couldn't even bother to shave for the occasion? Lawrence Fishburne? Hated the jacket.

Janet Bennett Kelly: Piven should have shaved, but I did like his pinstripe banker suit with that wide black satin tie.

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Tina Fey needed more makeup, no?: Dress was great, but her face looked nekkid.

Janet Bennett Kelly: Maybe because you're accustomed to seeing her in glasses.

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Janet Bennett Kelly: Gotta run. Thanks for joining in today. And don't forget Talking Fashion next Tuesday at 11!

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