Oscars 2015 - who won for best dressed?

The awards season always culminates in the Oscar ceremony, so the ladies keep their best bets for impressive (or disastrous) appearances for this night. Who wore whom has managed to upstage who won what, and with the choices the Academy makes each year, deservedly so. Let's check some of the best dressed ladies on the 87th Academy Awards red carpet (all photos courtesy of wwd.com and Donato Sardella, and Getty Images).

Update: The best dressed lady was not even on the red carpet (of the actual ceremony that is): Diane Kruger went to the Vanity Fair Party in a smashing Donna Karan pants/dress outfit:

Mark Seliger portrait in a special set/photo booth inside the VF party - Joshua Jackson accessory optional

Look at that train! Photo by  Billy Farrell/Bfanyc.com

Cate Blanchett is the undisputed Queen of Hollywood. She probably surprised most of the nominated for Best Actress ladies in picking a simpler dress to wear (Galliano for Margiela, a first for Oscars) - you can see it in the outfits they picked, thinking of how to upstage Cate who would be giving them the award. Tough luck ladies. Cate is never upstaged. The necklace is a one of a kind piece from Tiffany's in their signature colour. It doesn't get more regal than this.

Lupita Nyong'o is resplendent in a custom made Calvin Klein dress covered with 6000 pearls. She's becoming the heir to Cates' throne. 

Margot Robbie wore a laid back Saint Laurent dress with a 30s Van Cleef and Arpels necklace that suited the plunging neckline so good. I think if she had piled some big hammered gold cuff bracelets on it would have looked even better - next time check Loulou De La Falaise on how to wear YSL.

Thankfully Rosamund Pike did not disappoint - I was afraid it would be yet another disaster like some of her recent appearances. But she rose to the occasion with this magnificent Givenchy Couture. One of the rare occasions that red looks good on the red carpet.

When I read that Emma Stone, one of my favourites, would be wearing Elie Saab, I flinched. I do not like most, if not all, the clothes Saab makes, so it looked as a disaster in the making. Fortunately it wasn't. My only objection is the light shade of green - she would have looked so much better in a darker one.

AP IMAGES

Marion Cotillard picked an unusual shape (at the back at least) for the red carpet - and it was a breath of fresh air. I love the texture of the (lasre cut?) fabric and she looks great in it. So beautiful and French. Dior Haute Couture.

Scarlett Johansson is the embodiment of "whoa" here. I love her short hair (although it looked as if she skipped the hairdresser this time) and the shade and shape of the dress suits her to a T. Versace Atelier with Piaget necklace.

Sophie Hunter looks gorgeous in this red Lanvin - another proof that red can look great on the red carpet as long as you have an amazing dress. Cumberbatch accessory optional.

I love Patricia Arquette and she always looks great on the red carpet. Simple, elegant, real. She's wearing Rosetta Getty who designed this especially for her.

How stunning can Viola Davis look? Very. Even though a stronger colour would have suited her better (a violet?), she nails it once again. Zac Posen should research some fabrics that do not crinkle that easily.

Naomi Watts (Naomi fookin Watts) got some flack for this Armani Prive gown, but I really like it. Texture, metallics, cut, all work well on her.

A knight in shining armour. I love this encrusted metallic gown Laura Dern is wearing, like a modern Joan of Arc. Only missing a sword. Custom made Alberta Ferretti,

Tegan and Sara, nominated for best song for the Lego movie, stayed true to themselves and their style. And won hands down. Tegan is wearing  a The Kooples suit and Barbara Bui shoes, while Sara is in a Public School dress. Everything is awesome indeed.

Adieu Monsieur Lesage

Francois Lesage is one of the people that influenced my taste in fashion very much. When one hears the word "embroidery" it usually conjures images of  tacky wedding outfits or traditional household items our grandmothers made ages ago. On the other end of the style spectrum, it is one of the cornerstones of Haute Couture and its creativity.

Christy Turlington in YSL Braque hommage, 1988

The house Lesage (for not only fashion designers have "houses") was created by Lesage's father, when he bought the Michonet embroidery house in 1924, suppliers of the court of Napoleon III and the first couturier Charles Worth. It went on to become a cornerstone of Paris fashion making, having clients such as Madeleine Vionnet or Elsa Schiaparelli. Coco Chanel was herself avoiding them, mainly because her main opponent, Schiaparelli, was their client. Later on, with Monsieur Lagerfeld at the helm, that would change to the point that Chanel as a company acquired the Lesage firm to help it maintain the high standards of their craft and continue an almost lost art into the 21st century.

Christy Turlington in Chanel 1990

Francois Lesage was born in 1929 and he said, "never had any doubt as to what I was to do in life, given I was born into a pile of beads and sequins" . When he took over the atelier, he became one of the icons of the Parisian Couture pantheon. Always elegant in dark impeccably tailored suits, one could see him sitting at the front row of the fashion shows of esteemed couture houses he had worked for. He later was awarded the Chevalier D'Honneur distinction from the Legion D'Honneur.

Christy Turlington in Christian Lacroix 1990

During the 20th century, the number of experts in embroidery kept declining in Paris, but Lesage, with their exquisite craftsmanship and attention to detail kept on the forefront of couture. When Francois took over, he managed to lure clients such as Dior, Givenchy, Balenciaga, Yves Saint-Laurent and Christian Lacroix. He did not just translate into embroidery the designs but helped the fashion designers find inspiration. Some just had to utter a word like "India" "peacock" or "Byzantium" to get Lesage to procure samples of intricate work for them to transform into ethereal creations. he was a creator like them indeed.

Linda Evangelista in Lanvin by Montana, 1993

The house keeps an incredible archive of the work they have done for fashion designers over the years. Monsieur Lesage was always worried about the continuation of the craft, of educating young people to keep the tradition alive and evolve it alongside haute couture, keeping the same high standards. Quite a difficult task, one which seems to have been secured with the Chanel take-over and the foundation of the Lesage Embroidery School inside the atelier in Paris' 12th arrondissement.

Schiaparelli,  1938

The atelier employees around a dozen people, with reinforcements added during overload periods such as the couture seasons. It can take from 20 hours up to 500 hours to painstakingly make the embroidery for a fashion outfit, depending on the design and the materials used. It is an art that speaks of a long lost era of hand-crafted beauty, elegance and flourish that tries to find its way into the modern era. Let us hope his demise does not signal the end of it all. 

YSL - the famous Van Gogh jackets, 1988

The book dedicate to Lesage by Editions Assouline

The famous embroidery imitation of a leopard skin, for Gaultier Couture, 1998

Schiaparelli, 1937

Katoucha wearing one of the Braque 1988 gowns, from the 2002 final YSL show

Elena Kountoura in YSL Van Gogh jacket, 1988

Detail of the YSL Van Gogh jacket

Francois Lesage in his atelier

Tribute to Loulou De La Falaise, one of the most elegant women in the world

What can one write about a woman christened with a bottle of Sciaparelli's Shocking perfume instead of holy water? An unconventional personality, always chic in her own, inimitable way, the personification of what French chic means to the world, Loulou De La Falaise was the eternal Yves Saint-Laurent muse, his good friend and collaborator. And one of my very favourite and loved women in fashion.

Loulou (full name: Louise Vava Lucia Henriette de Le Bailly de la Falaise) was born in 1948, into one of France's most artistic and bohemian families: daughter of Alain, Count Le Bailly De La Falaise, writer, translator and heir to the Henessy cognac fortune, and Maxime Birley, English beauty and model (Beaton said she was "the only true chic Englishwoman"), she had quite a formidable clan to inspire her. Her maternal grandfather was painter Sir Oswald Birley, her uncle Mark Birley (of Annabel's fame), a great uncle, director Henri De La Falaise (3rd husband of Gloria Swanson), brother Alexis, an interior designer, niece Lucie (a model and also muse for YSL) and nephew Daniel (a chef and model). She also married into art: her 2nd husband was artist Thadée Klossowski de Rola, a son of the famous French painter Balthus. They had a daughter, Anna. What a pack!

Expelled from three boarding schools, she went to New York, where Diana Vreeland put her into modelling. She hated the job and returned to London, where she worked as a fashion editor for Queens. In 1968, she met Yves Saint-Laurent. She started working with him in 1972 and stayed with him in YSL for thirty years, until he retired. She helped with jewellery and accessories design, also becoming his right hand at work. Her incredible sense of styling inspired him. She however disiked the "muse" label:  "I used to get very irritated by that term. For me, a muse is someone who looks glamorous but is quite passive, whereas I was very hard-working. I worked from 9am to sometimes 9pm, or even 2am. I certainly wasn't passive. I worked on jewellery and knitwear, on the in-between collections. Now that it's all over, I like to think there's a bit of my soul in the clothes that were designed when I was there because I was supposed to be a source of inspiration." After Saint-Laurent retired, she created her own brand of jewellery and accessories.

Loulou was the gupsy influence, the over the top look for Yves, while Betty Catroux was his inspiration for the more masculine styles. The formidable trio created a unique look and feel for the French label, cementing what for many is still considered the epitome of Parisian style. Her trademark style: pants most of the time - made of velvet, shantung or silk - paired with satin tops in bright colours, chiffon blouses, simple black sweaters, printed or brocade jackets. She loved combining different patterns, for example striped pants and a Madras blazer with a classic white shirt. And of course the jewellery: bracelets and necklaces, often multi-stranded and made of semiprecious stones, with a multi-ethnic vibe. It remained constant but never dated, throughout her life: "I never think much of my age, I just get dressed and wear things that suit me at the moment." 

She died on the 5th of November, after a long illness according to a press release by the Pierre Berge - Yves Saint-Laurent Foundation. She will always be an inspiration and influence.

Tribute: Yves Saint Laurent 1936 - 2008

One of the masters of Haute Couture, a legend of fashion, an icon of the 20th century is not amongst us anymore: Yves Saint Laurent died today, at the age of 71.


It is very difficult to write about legends... He redefined fashion with his unique vision for women. He broke barriers with his avant-guard collections, starting with his work at Dior, then with his own couture house. He was the first to go into prêt-a-porter, the first to open a boutique (on Rive Gauche), the first to dress women in le smoking, the first to show a woman's breasts nude, the first to promote a men's designer perfume (posing nude for the Vogue advertisement himself), the first to use all types of women as his muses (from artist to whore to respectable lady to modern woman to 40's femme fatale to peasant). He dressed women in art, transforming paintings of famous artists into couture dresses.


And what to say about his bold use of colour? His combinations were always dramatic, putting green against blue, fuchsia against red and purple, brown with black etc. His inspirations were endless, from art to Byzantium to French chanteuses, to dancers to marines... but never forgetting that there would be a woman wearing his clothes, a woman's body to drape and show off or cover.


His silhouette was always either very austere or very fluid - no middle of the road solutions here. His forties inspired suits, the strong shoulder line - even when it was un-fashionable to wear shoulder pads - were in stark contrast (but immensely complimented by) the fluid evening dresses in chiffon or satin that transformed women into exotic wild flowers.


His muses were amazing women with strong personalities and independent spirits: Catherine Deneuve, Loulou De La Falaise, Katoucha, Iman, Betty Catroux, Mounia. Their style influenced him and they returned the adoration by wearing his clothes everywhere. His retirement in 2002 made the world headlines. His colleagues and peers gathered at the final show to pay respect as they had never done before (we all know that the fashion world is notorious for backstabbing).


He will always be an inspiration. Adieu Monsieur Saint Laurent.