Last week a “bunch of despicable, spoiled, minimally talented brats” were feted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting the “72nd and final” Golden Globe Awards “celebrating the television shows that we know and love, as well as all the movies that North Korea was OK with.”
But, as Cecil B. DeMille awardee George Clooney said, nobody remembers the hardware that you won but the roles you’ve portrayed. As for me, I was more attentive to the clothes the celebrities wore. The red carpet had its fair share of white frocks, blue dresses and red gowns, with Christine Baranski (Into the Woods) being the most fashion astute by wearing the Pantone color of the year—marsala—in Zac Posen.
Through plunging necklines, thigh-high slits and floor-sweeping hems, the night was about lethal clavicles because like social x-rays and model waifs, a star can never be too rich and nothing is as good as skinny feels. Consider this (and just because I love enumerating names of actresses and designers): Reese Witherspoon (Calvin Klein), Jennifer Aniston (Saint Laurent), Lupita Nyong’o (Giambattista Valli), Naomi Watts (Gucci), Jessica Chastain (Atelier Versace), Emily Blunt (Michael Kors), Viola Davis (Donna Karan Atelier), Amy Adams (Versace), Kerry Washington (Mary Katrantzou), Katherine Heigl (Zac Posen), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Narciso Rodriguez), Zosia Mamnet (Andrew Gn), Rosamund Pike (Vera Wang), Michelle Mongahan (Jason Wu), Gina Rodriguez (Badgley Mischka), Laura Carmichael (James Galanos), Kate Beckinsale (Elie Saab), Leslie Mann (KaufmanFranco), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Miu Miu), Jenna Dewan Tatum (Carolina Herrera), Taylor Schilling (Ralph Lauren), Salma Hayek (Alexander McQueen), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Angel Sanchez), Katie Holmes (Marchesa), and Kristen Wiig (Delphine Manivet), who should host next year with Bill Hader.
In a best-dressed countdown, it would be unfair to include supermodels (Heidi Klum and Cindy Crawford in Versace), Behati Prinsloo (KaufmanFranco) and Camila Alves (Monique Lhuillier), as well as moonlighting mannequins Jaime Dornan and Eddie Redmayne. Jennifer Lopez, though scintillating in Zuhair Murad, repeats her “uniform” of plunging neckline, high slit and cape every so often. (Jemima Kirke of Girls should take her cue from the Latina bombshell.)
Everyone’s favorite starlet, Emma Stone defied the gowns-only code and her risk paid off. The Birdman best supporting actress nominee wore a bow-cinched Lanvin jumpsuit with a sparkling bodice matching her personality (with Christian Louboutin shoes and Lorraine Schwartz earrings). Also opting for shimmer and shine was Allison Williams (Girls) in an Armani Privé dress. With hardly any embellishments, Gwyneth Paltrow (Mortdecai) shone in a Michael Kors hot-pink number.
Looking fantastic was best-actress nominee Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) in a semi-demure teal Christian Dior dress, in stark contrast to the coquettish Kate Hudson (Rock the Kasbah), who stole the spotlight in a cutout, plunging halter dress by Versace, Brian Atwood heels, Jimmy Choo purse, and Forevermark diamonds. Anna Kendrick (Into the Woods) swooped in like the princess of Hollywood that she is, marvelous in a nude and beaded Monique Lhuillier dress.
For a moment there, I thought TV best actress drama winner Ruth Wilson (The Affair) was wearing a Jesus Lloren creation, as her lime green Prada dress with sky blue piping is an uncanny kin to the Pinoy designer’s Lee Aguinaldo-inspired gown shown at the Red Cross Gala. I also think her costar, the Brazilian-Mexican-American Julia Goldani Telles is this year’s most exciting new presence as she sashayed in a Carmen Marc Valvo gown. Also, the new Golden Globe crush was Michael Keaton’s musician-son, Sean Douglas, all dimples and tousled hair.
The star-studded night, though, belonged to Julianne Moore, nominated for Map to the Stars and winning for Still Alice. She wore a glittering beaded Givenchy Couture dress with feathers and Chopard jewelry. If there was a Miss Golden Globe, Julianne Moore would win hands down. And if there was a Mr. Golden Globe, it would be the devastatingly handsome Matt Bomer, who won TV best supporting actor for The Normal Heart, in a Ralph Lauren Black Label tuxedo. (I always thought Matt is the handsomest man in Hollywood, just because Montgomery Clift is dead. Now, he will be playing the legend in an HBO biopic.)
Actually, there is a Miss or Mr. Golden Globe, usually a spawn of a veteran Hollywood player. This year it was Greer Grammer (in Lorena Sarbu), daughter of Kelsey Grammer. Chanel-wearing Fifty Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson (daughter of Don and Melanie Griffith, also Miss GG 1975) served as Miss GG in 2006. Other previous Miss or Mr. GGs are Laura Dern, Freddie Prinze Jr., John Clark Gable, Kathryn and Francesca Eastwood, Lorraine Nicholson and Rumer Willis.
In the future, I would love to see Apple Martin (Gwyneth’s), Matilda Ledger (Michelle Williams’s and Heath’s), Liv Freundlich (Julianne Moore’s), Suri Cruise and Ava Sambora (Heather Locklear’s) serve as Miss Golden Globe. But it makes me wonder, if ever, what would Shiloh Jolie-Pitt wear?
The Golden Globes is just the first in an infinite red-carpet parade this awards season. The next one will be the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be presented on January 25, on the same date as the Miss Universe pageant. So, which would you rather sit through?