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After a fashion: Hollywood stars attend Oscars show in style
March 26, 1997
Web posted at: 5:30 a.m. ESTFrom Correspondent Gloria Hillard
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Oscar's red carpet became a fashion runway Monday night when famous actresses became models dressed by the likes of Versace, Mizrati and Wang.
With more than a billion viewers watching, Hollywood's biggest event has turned into a major marketing moment for fashion's top designers, who begin wooing stars with flowers, complimentary airplane tickets and personal stylists as soon as nominations are announced.
"It's very flattering -- about 10 designers have offered to make dresses for me. I've got handwritten notes from them and flowers ... of course, who knows if they'll still be interested in me after (the Oscars)?," said Barbara Hershey, nominated for best supporting actress in "The Portrait of a Lady."
Indeed, Hershey, wearing a forest green gown, lost the race to Juliette Binoche for her performance in "The English Patient," the independently produced epic film that scored most of the night's victories.
"I was nominated for my work in an independent film, so I decided to work with independent designer," said Binoche, wearing a rust velvet gown with a plunging neckline and stiff pointed collar.
In fact, most of the Oscar dresses were clinging and crocheted, skin-tight and with plummeting necklines.
Susan Sarandon wore crushed velvet while rock-star turned actress Courtney Love ("The People vs. Larry Flynt") went to a Buddhist monk to decide what color to wear.
"I spent about 80 hours on it," Love said.
Best supporting actress nominee Lauren Bacall ("The Mirror Has Two Faces") wore a long, black Armani gown cut low in the front.
But while the actresses had fabulous dressed and diamonds and pearls, what about comfortable shoes?
"I had a pair of wobbly ones and ditched them for a sturdier pair," said Helen Hunt ("Twister").
"You know, I have a theory: The higher the heel, the better I feel," said Kristen Scott Thomas ("The English Patient").
"I'm a Pisces so I always wear sensible shoes," said "Secrets and Lies'" Brenda Blethyn.
Even the men got into the action, with designer Giorgio Armani dressing the likes of Oscars host Billy Crystal and best supporting actor winner Cuba Gooding Jr.
"Slingblade's" Billy Bob Thornton's tux was the only one with a western cut, but his wife's neckline went even lower.
Basketball's perennial bad boy, Dennis Rodman, looked a bit like the Mad Hatter in his blue tux with matching blue eyeshadow.
Perhaps in celebration of the Hale Bopp Comet, Oscar-nominated singer Celine Dionne wore silver and a diamond meteor shower.
As usual, jewels lit up the evening, as well, thanks to jewelers like Harry Winston, Van Cleef & Arpel and Martin Katz.
Among Winston's loans were a 122-carat diamond necklace, bracelet and ring totaling $2.4 million, worn by Blethyn.
"We had a lot of men, too," said Edward Callaghan of Winston's, noting that best supporting actor nominee James Woods ("Ghosts of Mississippi") took his mother to the jeweler's, which lent her $2 million in sapphires and diamonds for the evening.
"Now that's a nice son," said Callaghan.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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