2011 Golden Globes: The Clothes

The 68th annual Golden Globes aired this evening. I watched, pretty casually, but was immediately grabbed by some of the clothes. These are the clothes that I liked and remembered (if I remember who the designer is, it usually means that I loved the dress or the dress was hideous).

Angeline Jolie in Atelier Versace.

She's wearing color! My lament from the 2009 Oscars! The dress has a great, retro feel- the sparkles, the color, the blouson top with gathered waist, the strong shoulders- it could have been cheesy but it looks very nice. I actually really like the long sleeves. And I really like her darker hair- she should never be a blonde again.

Natalie Portman in Viktor & Rolf.

Her acceptance speech was really cute. I think she comes off rather cold and aloof sometimes, and that speech just disenchanted me of that notion completely. "Mila "Sweet Lips" Kunis" was the best part. And she is obviously so in love with her fiance, it's really rather sweet.

I hate the pink color of this dress. I know the sparkly rose put off a lot of people, but on a girl that usually wears strangely unflattering clothes, I actually liked it. I just don't like it with the pale ballerina pink.

Anne Hathaway in Armani Prive.

More sparkles with strong shoulders! Definitely not as retro as Angelina Jolie's gown; this one is in a more modern color with rounded rather than pointed shoulders. Anne Hathaway seems to really favor Armani Prive, and for good reason- she can pull off head-to-toe glitter like nobody else.

Melissa Leo in Marc Bouwer.

Her acceptance speech was also rather sweet. And yes, another sparkly, strong-shouldered dress. I think this one lands somewhere between Angelina Jolie's and Anne Hathaway's. I like the cap sleeves on her- a long-sleeved black dress covered in sparkles might have been a bit much.

Olivia Wilde in Marchesa.

Yes, yes, I love sparkles. Don't judge me. I really liked this Marchesa- I like the color, the ombre effect, everything. The only thing that put me off was her hair. I mean, really? Stick-straight long hair with heavy bangs? In this fluffy confection of a gown? Olivia Wilde, please go back to "House" and regain your senses.

Helen Mirren in Badgley Mischka.

Last sparkly gown, I promise. I love Helen Mirren, she can do no wrong. Even with the sparkly gown combined with a $1.6 million-dollar necklace. And I like her sassy shorter hair.

Claire Danes in Calvin Klein Collection.

Time for the plain, non-sparkly stuff!

Claire Danes, I think, looks best in really simple dresses. Even with makeup on, she has a really sort of spare, minimalist look. I loved this dress on her, with the low back, and I loved her hair. Her acceptance speech was great, especially because Temple Grandin was there. (If I haven't mentioned it before, "Temple Grandin" was amazing.)

She looks great, even though the dress isn't insanely tight and revealing. She even managed to look elegant, despite the hot pink.

Emma Stone in Calvin Klein Collection.

I know she's naturally blond, but I hate Emma Stone as a blonde. I love her with red hair. (I know it's for the Spider-man reboot, but still. Couldn't they just have changed the character to be a redhead?) If she had her red hair, this dress (and that color!) would have looked even better on her.

Still, I love this dress. Calvin Klein Collection had a great showing between her and Claire Danes.

Michelle Williams in Valentino. 

Yes, I know. And I agree. The dress is so twee. Ruffles. Flowered straps. Daisies, for crying out loud. And yet, somehow, Michelle Williams looks adorable. I wish it was a different color- she looks good in color (remember that yellow Oscars dress from Vera Wang?) and this beige is washing her out a little.

How the sum of these (crappy) parts is so amazing, I will never know. And I love her pixie cut.

Helena Bonham Carter in Vivienne Westwood.

And here, I start the big gown-y dresses section.

It's only logical to start with my kooky favorite, Helena Bonham Carter. She's wearing shoes in different colors, for crying out loud. And say what you will about Vivienne Westwood, but her clothes are always interesting.

Catherine Zeta-Jones in Monique Lhuillier.

It was nice to see Hollywood give a standing ovation to Michael Douglas, and his dry comment "there's got to be an easier way to get a standing ovation."

I love that Catherine Zeta-Jones seems to take every awards ceremony as an excuse to wear the fairy-tale princess ballgowns that every little girl wants. This one is actually really gorgeous, with a great color and an eye-catching pattern.

I love that she wear major earrings and not a huge necklace.

Christina Hendricks in Romona Keveza.

Very "awards ceremony gown," but gorgeous. I love Christina Hendricks; she's my favorite on "Mad Men." She gets is wrong so much in terms of clothes (not on the show, of course) that it was great to see her in a well-fitted gown. And whoever said redheads shouldn't wear red was so wrong.

I love her hair like this, I love the enormously gigantic shoulder flower, and I even appreciate that the hem is trimmed in a matching fabric- the hems of dresses are always kind of sadly neglected.

She's TEMPLE GRANDIN.

She wears the same thing every day, she eats the same things every day, she is autistic. She doesn't like people touching her, but she grabbed Claire Danes in a tight hug just before Claire went up to give her acceptance speech. It brought a tear to my eye, and my undersized heart grew four sizes. 


Overall, a good Golden Globes that finished on time (with a couple minutes to spare, even!), with rather a lot of snarky quips by host Ricky Gervais, who's hilarious.