People's Choice Awards: The Best Dressed

DAHLINGS -

Before I start my list, I must say how thrilled I am that at last night's The People's Choice Awards:
1) House MD won as Best Dramatic Television Show
2) Hugh Laurie won as People's Choice Dramatic Actor!



However, I cannot put the star on my Best Dressed list because of that tie. Showing that James Wilson has not yet cornered the market on ugly ties. It was also delightful to see him with his real hair, without a hairpiece or whatever it is they put on his head and less beard.

The program itself was hellish to sit through. Approximately three minutes of programming, then eight minutes of commercials, then several minutes of a "special advance preview" of either an awful movie or an awful television show. If one cannot make a project look good in two minutes, one is in trouble. That's all I can say. The nadir was a CVS commercial used as actual programming. I have blocked the details from my mind. Onto the important part: the dresses.

The list for this event is a bit more difficult than my usual. So many of the stars, no matter what their wattage, wore one-shouldered dresses. Most of them were draped, Grecian style, but there was no shortage of other variations.

I must begin my list with the Host of The People's Choice Awards, the divine Queen Latifah. Her black one-shouldered entrance gown, with its evocation of 1950s movie star glamor, was perfection, as were the chorus boys helping her maneuver down that ill-conceived ramp stage left.



Another dream dress was a white strapless Georges Chakra gown with metallic trim around the waistline:



Next, the only reality show host I enjoy who's not on Project Runway, Clean House's Niecy Nash, showed off her stunning figure in a hot pink Grecian dress ( I told you one-shouldered dresses were all over the place last night). One had to restrain oneself from writing "my homegirl" because one has a smidgen of propriety.)



Lisa Edelstein, also of House, always makes my Best-Dressed List. She simply cannot look other than ravishing, although this David Meister gown is not one of my absolute favorites. But Ms. Edelstein gets points for covering both shoulders.



Speaking of House...I must betray my own values, my deepest feelings, and almost everything I have written about her in this blog...but...

Olivia Wilde made my list. Apologies, dear readers, but AT LAST Ms. Wilde wore a Monique Lhuillier dress that was flattering, rather than one of those awful skin-tight gowns that showed her jagged hipbones. Again, like the Queen, a fluffy dress, evocative of the 1950s:



Taraji P. Henson, voluptuous as always, struts her wares in this lovely (albeit yet another one-shoulder Grecian style) Alberta Ferreti lilac gown:



Despite a near-wardrobe malfunction during her acceptance speech, Mariah Carey showed off her womanly shape in a white halter gown:



Finally, the sublime Mary J. Blige. Yes, she is in a one-shouldered draped Grecian dress, but the shorter length, shoulder embellishment, perfect fit and soft gray color make the look:



Feel free to comment upon my choices, but bear in mind, I am always right.

Worst Dressed coming up!

Ciao, Elisa & Bucky The Wonderdog

The Oscar's Best Dressed 2009!

DAHLINGS -

Naturally by now I've seen all of the other Best and Worst Dressed lists, and I refuse to be swayed by the opinions of others. Here is your faithful correspondent's list of Oscar's Best Dressed, as the common folk like to phrase it.

TINA FEY

She may not be a movie star (yet), but this young woman led the pack by a mile in a classic retro-styled silver glamour gown that fit perfectly and reminded one of a brunette Carole Lombard. Brava, diva! Please let me know who made this dress!

QUEEN LATIFAH

As I wrote earlier, the Queen ruled in deep, rich blue crystal-trimmed Georges Chakra.

JENNIFER ANISTON

She confounded the Brangelina crowd by appearing healthy and happy in Valentino Couture, accompanied by companion Josh Mayer (who had made a side-splitting appearance on the final Conan O'Brian programme).

Take that, tabloids!

VIOLA DAVIS

I am astonished that Reem Acra could actually make such a stunning dress for a curvaceous actress. Dazzling, glamorous, MOVIE STAR!

MERYL STREEP

An actress in the prime of life in a perfectly draped matte gray dress by Ferretti. Good taste personified.

MELISSA LEO

This may seem like an unusual choice, but as with the Worst Dressed, in a sea of safety, she chose to dress with individuality. In this case, it worked. Melissa's copper-colored dropwaist gown complimented both her hair and skin.

(Note: the night before, she won the Independent Spirit Award in a lovely flowing gown--but then, almost everyone looked far better at the Independent Spirit Awards.)

It may seem like a short list, but your faithful correspondent feels that she has made her opinions known in previous posts (and to be honest, menswear does not interest me in the least).

Off for a long, hot scented bath. I do worry that after these critiques, my dear friend Sarah Jessica Parker will cease making me her special secret scented soap! But one must be true to oneself, ne c'est pas?

Speaking of which, for another excellently unbiased look at what the red carpet had to offer to true tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, read The Three Tomatoes Red Carpet Review! http://www.thethreetomatoes.com/reviews.html.

I'm certain Sarah Jessica Parker won't be making special scented soap for them, but it did make me laugh!

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog

Oprah Winfrey, SHUT UP About Your Weight!

DAHLINGS –

Yesterday on CNN, I watched aghast as Oprah Winfrey tearfully confessed how “embarrassed” she was to attend a photo op with Tyra Banks and some other woman. Or maybe some other two women; I was a bit distracted by sheer irritation.

Because Oprah's shame was because she had—wait for it—gained weight. Never mind that she is one of the wealthiest, most powerful, and yes, the most glamorous women in the known universe! The fool wants to be Chanel Iman in the bargain.

Oprah, dahling, if I were sitting opposite you on the set of your show, I would have one thing to say to you about your weight:

Shut up.

Well, maybe more than one thing:

You were not meant to be thin. Haven’t you learned that by now? Hasn’t the fact that you have to work harder than a Roman galley slave to stay below 200 pounds made you realize that you were not intended to be waifish? Or even slim? Both of these photos are less than a month old.



Why do you keep punishing yourself? Why do you keep hating yourself? And more important, as a voice that influences millions of Americans, why do you persist in helping other large men and women feel horrendous about themselves?



What is WRONG with you?

Why can't you be comfortable with your body, like Queen Latifah?



(Yes, I know she did those awful Jenny Craig commercials, that still baffles me.)

Enjoy your flesh, like Pierce Brosnan's wife Keely (and, it seems, Pierce)?




Since I am talking to Oprah, I shall make a personal confession at this time. I too have fought the battle of the bulge. I too have given in to the whims of fashion, starving myself and exercising constantly. I was exhausted, and photographs from that time show a rather unhealthy looking young woman. For obvious reasons, the instant I relaxed my Draconian regimen, the weight came back.

Then, about eight years ago, for medical reasons, I had to lose some poundage, so I did. Slowly. It quite literally took years. But here is the crucial difference: my aim was not to be thin. I am still luxuriously plus-sized, with a beautiful décolletage and a comfortably curvaceous figure. I was never meant to be thin, and I have the common sense to realize it.

Oprah, there is nothing wrong with being “fat,” as you define fat. It is so easy to predict your future: months of hard work, following your new program for 2009, success, posing for happy pictures.

And by 2010, the weight will be back. And it will be time for yet another round of annoying interviews with a woman who refuses to accept herself for who she is.

Oprah, no matter how much you achieve, how much money you make, you will never truly love yourself until you learn to love the shape you were born to have.

Hmmmmm...Methinks I should have my own chat show, don’t you?

Ciao,
Elisa & Bucky the Wonderdog

Ana Carolina Reston, R.I.P.

21- year-old Ana Carolina Reston, who had worked in China, Turkey, Mexico and Japan for several modeling agencies, died Tuesday, according to Sao Paulo's Servidor Publico Hospital. The hospital said the infection that killed the 5-foot-8-inch model was caused by anorexia nervosa, a disorder characterized by an abnormal fear of becoming obese, an aversion to food and severe weight loss. She weighed 88 pounds. (Reuters)

Dahlings -

I know that I have railed in these pages against thin models, decrying the prevalent mode of stick-figuredom that is the standard of contemporary fashion. I myself am anything but thin, for which I am profoundly grateful. Dying for Fashion is intolerably sad, and I will use this bully pulpit to say:

Shame on the fashion industry for promoting this horrendous ideal

Shame on the entertainment industry for encouraging actresses to do likewise

Shame on those who believe that womanly curves constitute obesity, or that anything short of this unrealistic, deadly ideal is bad, ugly, worth starving yourself and cutting off parts of yourself for.

Bravo for those women who stand up to this and say NO. A short honor roll:

• Rosie O'Donnell



• Mo'nique



• Camryn Mannheim



• Every Marilyn Monroe impersonator, because you have to be voluptuous to be believable



• Delta Burke



• Queen Latifah

And let me leave you with these two images, one of the late Ana Carolina Reston and one of the fashion model known as Velvet. Rest in peace, Ana.

Ciao,

Elisa