Glove Me Do! December 16, 2009

I guess if Madonna’s doing it, then it’s a trend. Long black gloves seem to be the accessory of the moment on the red carpet, as both Madge and Goldie Hawn were seen sporting them at the New York premiere of Nine the other night, possibly just to ward off the winter cold in style. But then, I first noticed them out here in usually mild L.A. on Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks at the Divine Design benefit a couple of weeks ago, and paired with her nude bombshell dress, it was clearly about drama.

Saucy, as the Brits would say. Maybe just the thing to sport at a holiday party. Ladies, the gloves are on!

Taking It on the Shin October 21, 2009

I love Julianne Moore and I was just telling a friend the other day that it doesn’t seem like she’s in nearly enough movies these days. At the Elle Women in Hollywood event, she got a jump on fashionable things in a sand-dune-colored  Calvin Klein (a sponsor) – one of designer Francisco Costa’s signature ombre tank dresses from the just-seen Spring 2010 collection. But her feet were still firmly grounded in fall, in wickedly shin-strapped Givenchy evening sandals that were way more bondage than beach. Still, it worked and she worked it – the dress was the perfect length on her gorgeous legs.

Incredibly, at the same party, the shin game continued as actresses Kat Dennings and Dianna Agron (Glee) both chose the same Brobdingnagian platform with thick webbing across the foot and above the ankle. It’s definitely a look, as they say, and I like it with the leggy black shirt-dress – the long sleeves balance out the weight of the wedge-like sole. The ivory fairy-princess dress pairing (despite the black chain belt – a stylist’s touch?) puzzles – is it me or does it sorta look like she skipped out on house arrest still wearing her ankle monitor?

The Butler Did It! October 7, 2009

Let us now praise famous men. Or, as Rachel Ray might say, “Yum-o!” I came across this picture of Gerard Butler at last night’s premiere of Law Abiding Citizen and, as far as I am concerned, this is the new template for Hollywood men on the red carpet. I’ve been styling in Hollywood for 10 years and for most of that it seems time male stars affected an “I-don’t-care” dishevelled appearance whenever they showed up in public, in their T-shirts, ball caps, carpenter jackets – and worse. No longer – now you see lots of sharp suits on the red carpet. In recent months, Eric Bana, Chris Pine and Shia LeBeouf have especially stood out. If I had to put my finger on it, I’d say the turnabout started with Daniel Craig a few years back when he was cast as the original sartorialist James Bond and transformed himself from a casually-clad British character actor to a dashing worldwide movie star – faultless in a wardrobe of sublime Tom Ford suits. (So much so, the story goes, that at a photo shoot with the leading US men’s magazine, he pushed aside the editor’s rack of pro-offered duds to wear his own fantastic Fords he brought along with him!)

From afar, Butler deftly bridges old and new Hollywood in his sleek dark suit, looking both leading-man handsome and chick-magnet sexy. He definitely wears the pants (and jacket) in this realm; no way does the Versace suit “wear” him and the fit is perfect, right down to the exposed amount of shirt cuff. Up close, you can clock the cool fashion details – the genius black-on-black patterned tie, the subtle stitched cording on the jacket lapel. Of course it’s Hollywood, so the scruff is still with us. But like his casually cropped hair, it just takes the edge off. Hello there.