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Here's a new type of gown which I haven't seen before, but which I think works: A long skirt with a short blouse/jacket.
Anne Hathaway, on the left, is wearing a Chanel "suit" with the top and the skirt
Sienna Miller, right, is wearing Erdem.
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I watched the Golden Globes pre-show fashion file, where the actors parade on the red carpet, mostly to show what they're wearing, and less so to talk about their films. This red carpet file is strictly for the women, since the men don't have much variation in their attire. Whatever the actors and actresses say about their films is either redundant, boring, or occasionally funny (and not worth the wait for this sliver of humor).
I sat through parts of the awards show in the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and was especially curious to see who won the Best Film category. I tuned back in for this at the very end.
The only film I have watched this year is Anna Karenina, which I posted about here. This is unusual, because I make it to at least three or four films a year, however disappointed I usually get. I did a post on Quentin Tarantino's evil film Django Unchained, after I saw him being interviewed on some show. The link above discusses both Keira Knighltey, who acts in Anna Karenina, and Django director Quentin Tarantino. Django Unchained won Best Screenplay for a Motion Picture at the Golden Globes.
None of the films sounded attractive, imaginative, interesting, beautiful, thought provoking, educational, or any of the normal reasons one goes to the movies. Instead, they sounded like horror movies with grotesque story lines, or with over-the-top sexually active characters, or just plain boring. Also, it costs about $15 to watch a movie these days, which is about 2/3 the price of a dinner in a restaurant, which preferable to sitting in a dark room being terrorized by a sadistic film director.
So, I was surprised when all (98%) of the women came to the Golden Globes dressed in classic - and I mean those classic Golden Ages of American Cinema - gowns. I shouldn't be surprised, though, since this has become the standard actress persona: make ugly films, but dress up in beautiful gowns in public appearances.
There were glittery dresses, chiffon, pleats and gatherings, puffed-up ball gowns, and elegant dresses outlining the figure.
The couple of actresses who blew it were the anomalies. I will write about the designers who produced these ugly gowns and the actresses who wore them, and why I think they did so, later in another post.
So, why are women dressing to the nines for these film awards shows?
I think it is their intrinsic, instinctive, reaction to the ugliness in the films which they have been forced to act in. As much as we berate actors their life styles, the reality is that they cannot abandon them that easily and still need the films to finance those life styles. It's the only way they know to earn their living (or, more precisely, to pay for their life styles). Clever agents and film directors exploit this need, I'm sure. Also, if an actor is away from the screen for too long, he gets forgotten by the masses who pay his bills, and by the directors who give him jobs, so he basically has to take whatever is available.
Therefore, we get ugly, violent, evil films. Yet actors parade around in beautiful costumes.
This is a type of decadence, isn't it, to wallow in some kind of elitist beauty, yet allow one's soul to be gripped by evil?
Beauty alone is not enough.
Below is presenter Tina Fey, wearing a glamorous and attractive gown by L'Wren (yes, that's her name) Scott. Here is what Fey said during her presentation:
"Quentin Tarantino is here - the star of all my sexual nightmares."
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Tina Fey, in fantasy film diva dress