PHOTOS: 5 Worst Dressed Celebs On The Oscar Red Carpet

by Julia Rubin | 9:10 am, February 28th, 2011

Among a sea of fairly standard red carpet getups, a few ensembles stood out as being pretty awful. Whether they were downright dumb or just painfully boring, the looks that we have deemed the Oscars‘ worst stand in stark contrast to the ones we loved.

Our apologies go out to this season’s worst dressed awards show attendee Nicole Kidman, the ever earnest Melissa Leo and the usually interesting Reese Witherspoon. May this be a lesson: always bring your “A” game to the Academy Awards. (At least some of them had cool accessories?)

Take a look at the slideshow below. Do you agree with our worst dressed picks?

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1.Reese Witherspoon

Reese's black and white Armani Privé gown looked like the dresses Kelly and Brenda wore to West Beverly High's prom in 1991 — and in this case, the retro '90s thing just doesn't work. Not only is the dress dated, Reese's hair was all sorts of ridiculous. (However, it does look much better from the front than it does from the side.) This outfit's only saving grace? Those great Neil Lane emerald drop earrings.

2.Marisa Tomei

The vintage Charles James number from Lily et Cie that Marisa wore should have stayed back in 1950. The satin top half looks cheap, the asymmetrical purple and navy tulle layers on the bottom are silly and the sweetheart neckline is cheesy. Once again, jewelry is this ensemble's only real bright spot, thanks to chunky multi-colored sapphire pieces from Van Cleef & Arpels.

3.Melissa Leo

Melissa opted for an utterly confounding floor-length Marc Bouwer creation. The thing we like least about this dress is the bizarrely flipped collar neck situation. We also think heavy ivory appliques over a solid metallic layer are never a good choice. Her snakeskin T-strap peep toes were great though! And while her sparkly spider necklace definitely didn't go with the look, it was certainly sufficiently quirky.

4.Sharon Stone

Sharon donned a black Christian Dior gown designed by the embattled John Galliano, though it looked more like a fashion school cast-off. The draping was odd, the ostrich feather was random and we just honestly can't believe it's made by Dior. It also doesn't help that Sharon's hair had far, far too much height.

5.Nicole Kidman

We applaud Nicole for trying something a bit daring, but her embellished white Dior number certainly fell flat. (Yes, she too is standing with Galliano.) The awkward hip panels and thick fabric cause the dress to lay unflatteringly, and her coral Pierre Hardy peep toe pumps do little to salvage the look. However, her vintage Fred Leighton necklace is something we can get behind.

Academy Awards 2011 Marisa Tomei Melissa Leo Nicole Kidman Oscars 2011 Oscars Worst Dressed Reese Witherspoon Sharon Stone

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_RSGKNRBKDCEOZ6RYDGY3S7JRC4 Hans

Nicole’s dress was the most beautiful, important and intresting of the night among Blanchett’s one.
I don’t really understand the hate, she looked gorgeous
Diane

You are nuts, blind AND stupid. Reese looks fabulous. Any of you should look so good.
Sewfashion

I totally agree with you Diane. Maybe at Styleite they don’t know the difference between elegant chic and the Kardashians anymore…..

Julia’s description of Melissa Leo’s dress is so off. Please tell me when and where you’ve seen other similar gowns and why that’s “never a good idea” for lace over metallic. You’re showing your lack of fashion history, fabric knowledge and dress construction/design knowledge. You need to do some real fashion education before you unload just for the sake of unloading, but it’s not all your fault. Rarely have the stylists made any major mistakes lately and you have to find something to dis. How about not dissing anyone for a change? The biggest faux pas I saw was in hair styles…did Guiliana Rancic shave her hairline like Mary McFadden so many years ago? What an awful way to style her hairline!!!! Several with that beehive didn’t look their best.
Winnie

Agreed on the Barbie hair. Disagree on the simple, clean dress on Reese. Neil Lane? Aren’t you guys sick of his over-priced, unoriginal, hackneyed pseudo-retro tripe yet?
Jayson

Are you nuts? Reese Whitherspoon looked stunning! Her dress, her hair both top notch. Give your heads a shake for petes sake, how you can say these 5 lovely ladies were the worst dressed is beyond me.

As has been said by Diane, you should look so good.

Methinks its time Julia Rubin and co-horts looked for a different line of work. You pretty well stink at this one.
Sewfashion

Jayson, that was very well put. Since Diane or someone else removed her post, she totally disagreed with Julia as did I. Reese and company looked great–maybe it’s an age-ism thing…these ladies are mostly 40+ and 50 something…. I wonder if Julia even knows who Charles James was without googling him and the importance of that dress.
http://www.styleite.com Verena von Pfetten

Hi Sewfashion,

I actually deleted Diane’s comment because instead of offering a constructive argument — which we’re more than open to — she chose to call Julia stupid. Not exactly an insightful offering.

I’m glad you disagree with some (or even all) of our choices! Fashion isn’t about everyone having the same opinion — frankly, that would be impossible. The only thing we ask is that our commenters make their case without attacking our contributors, writers, and editors. We’re not attacking you — and we’re certainly not attacking Reese: we’re expressing an opinion about her dress, not her as a person. Please try to do the same with us.

Thanks,

Verena
Editor in Chief
Solstice

Okay, I agree with three out of five, but I thought Renee’s gown and hair were fine, and I liked Sharon’s gown (although the hair was too much).

Melissa’s dress was awful; Marisa’s didn’t work, and I don’t know what happened to Nicole…
http://twitter.com/OmgAlNmesAreTkn TheMenStyleGuyde

Agreed! The necklace however is my Katherine Wallach, daughter of The Lifetime Achievement recipient this year and awesomely talented Actor Eli Wallach. Talent runs in the family.

Shoplift – Katherine Wallach’s Pop Up Shop March 1st – 27th 1625 Abbot Kinney Venice,CA 90291
http://www.facebook.com/junemclemons0216 Jae Clemons

perhaps the fashion critics have been so ‘kardashian-ed’ that they aren’t recognizing elegance anymore. ms. witherspoon’s dress is clearly just that…elegant
http://www.facebook.com/junemclemons0216 Jae Clemons

maybe the dress might be a lil poufy at the bottom but what concerns me are the lines that are under her eyes…she looks like she is tired…
http://www.facebook.com/junemclemons0216 Jae Clemons

now this dress no. 3…well….it reminds me of one big eyelet dollie that you sit on a coffee table. but the spider charm necklace was an interesting piece..
http://www.facebook.com/junemclemons0216 Jae Clemons

maybe if the feathers were removed and the bias were a lil more aysmetrical it would look a lil better…idk
http://www.facebook.com/junemclemons0216 Jae Clemons

take all of that unnecessary embellishments and those hip tackers on kidman’s dress and slim it down and it would have made it a lil better looking
M Vale87

agree with all od them except for Reese – she looked perfectly elegant!

PHOTOS: 5 Worst Dressed Celebs On The Oscar Red Carpet

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