Who was Fabulous (and over 40) at the Academy Awards?
They were Fabulous after 40 on the red carpet last night at the 2009 Academy Awards Show!
We saw plenty of unattractive, trendy, mermaid style strapless dresses on the younger gals, but it was the classic and elegant gowns that Hollywood’s “seasoned” stars wore that made us want to stand up and cheer!
For example:
Meryl Streep ~ Meryl really nailed it! What a flattering dress on her, and she finally found someone to get her hair looking good! This is a great example of how to look sexy, but age appropriate.
Her neckline is low, but not cleavage popping. The fabric drapes nicely, but not too much. Simple, sleek, and not over-done (notice the soft make up that is in harmony with her dress!). We love this custom Alberta Ferretti gown on her.
Meryl likes to be comfortable and she looks it, but she also looks glamorous too!
Sarah Jessica Parker ~ Just clocking in at 40, she is one of the new gals on the block. Young and thin enough to still pull off the strapless Dior gown, she darkened her hair so she would not look so washed out in her gorgeous very light mint green gown (that looked white to most). However, I ( JoJami) loved the look!
The word on the street is that white is the hot “color”. White used to be a no-no because it made you look washed out on TV, but with the arrival of High Definition TV, that’s all changed, and it’s now being touted as the most popular color for celebrities.
The biggest challenge with wearing white is not looking like you are wearing a wedding gown. Sarah’s belt helped tone down this pretty frock and kept it looking red carpet worthy.
Marissa Tomei ~ Here we go again…another white dress.
Marissa, as you can see, has a drop dead gorgeous figure and this dress nicely shows it off. She is certainly on the right style track with her one-shoulder look and loose pretty hair. Take note of the simple cuff on her wrist, the perfect touch, since the dress has a lot going on.
Sophia Loren ~ usually one of our favorite style icons was huge disappointment. Did she pull this out of the back of her closet from 20 years ago?
It looked very dated with the pleated ruffles, Lady Di choker and had way too much “froo froo” going on. When you have a body and face of a star, there’s no need to overdo the glitz.
She needed to just let herself shine by keeping it simple and toning it down in the dress and make-up department. Sadly, Sophia managed to get herself lots of free press by landing on the front page of Billy Norwich’s Worst Dress List and many others!
Goldie Hawn ~ As a presenter this year, she did not walk the red carpet, however she shined on stage in her taupe gown.
Goldie sure knows what looks good on her and always pulls it off! At 64, looking fit and bubbly as ever, she wore a neck baring, flowing gown. She might not have been best dressed, but she certainly looked very pretty.
(Side note: Ms. Hawn seems to like wear tight dresses that tend to squash her “girls.” Maybe she needs to try a size bigger next time! And is it just me, or has she had the same hair style since 1977?)
Brad is one lucky man
!!!
Hi Carissa,
Your point about having some good “hardware” to keep things looking perky is right on!!!
Deborah and I were chatting the other day on how SO many women over 40 forget to wear a good bra and keep “the girls” nicely lifted.
It is like a face lift for your body! Its easy to do…just buy or wear clothes that help giver your breasts a push up!
You will feel 10 years younger and thinner!!
Per Goldie’s dress – any 64 year old woman without hardware to support the bust will look “squashed”. Contrast the silhouette with SJP’s dress with the uber bustier shape. I think Goldie needs more structure in the dress/underpinning. She may be small breasted, but we are working against gravity! Ms. Loren’s dress has a nice structure in the bodice and her body looks better for it.
P.S.
Angelina Jolie did look gorgeous, but alas…she is not 40 yet, so doesn’t make the cut on our site!!!
Hi Trish,
Yes, it is interesting to get the men’s take on this! She is showing a lot of skin for her age, but we think she somehow pulls it off! We would like to put a neon sign under her photo’s that say, “Don’t try this look at home!”.
One more note, its really important for when your going to be photographed at a party you take note of what color you choose. In person a dress can look very different than when a camera takes a quick shot. Wearing a bland color like she did, ended up making her looked washed out, where as in person, we bet she looked age-mazing!
The group I was with watching the oscars on TV with certainly took note of Goldie’s dress.
No one thought it was flattering. Although it was a beautiful dress, I thought the dress did not fit her bust size … hence looked gross. Two of the men thought that it was too much skin for her age. Some of the others thought she had her daughters dress on and it was just too small.
I did think Angelica Houston looked nice, classy and age appropriate.
What the heck was that guy talking about regarding Sarah Jessica Parker’s gown? She didn’t wear white at all, but MINT GREEN. She even said so on the red carpet. Was this review high when he wrote this article??? Anyone can clearly see the color difference between SJ Parker’s gown (mint green) and the WHITE one below it, worn by Marissa Tomei.
Hi Dina, don’t get us wrong. We love Sophia, but the dress was a little out of Gone with the Wind.
Gals, what the hey?! Sure, Sophia Loren’s dress wasn’t the greatest, but did you see that body???? How many other 74 year olds can lay claim to being called a love goddess and still look the part, I ask you. She deserves her props, even though a stylist would’ve made a different.
And talking about desperately in need of guidance, why isn’t anyone talking about Whoopi Goldberg who set fashion back decades with that leopard look and tattoo. Yikes, it was horrifying to see her look so bad on what should’ve been a triumphant moment.
Obviously, I got a rant brewing so I’m continue it over at my blog.
Good question about “What’s going on with color for dresses”.
We really do not like the white dress trend, on woman over 40 with fair or light skin. However, those with darker skin look terrific!
Color is so tricky! With all the jewel toned and bright colors showing up for Spring, we woman over 40 who used to look terrific in really bold colors, might find them a little garrish now that we have started aging.
For example, at the awards show… we thought Reese Witherspoon was overpowered in her bright blue dress, while others who wore it the just lit up the red carpet!
That being said, we do like color and think if you wear the right one, you will feel happy and look great!
What is going with the color dresses? I mean white is not the best choice for everbody…For example some actresses got a very translucent look (’cause they skin is so white)…they look pale (ex: Amy Adams)..
Please we need to see more color in the red carpet!!
Alright, no one was crazy about the Loren dress, but SHE still looks great. Yes, Goldie will be sporting that hairdo when she’s 80. More than the bodice being too tight, I wish it had be a tad higher, instead of so low. Nevertheless, it was a great night of glam.