I’m happy that I have had my first red carpet “fix” of the year. The SAG Awards included one of the most spectacular collection of earrings I’ve ever seen. I love that the designs were all over the board, from stud earrings to huge, magnificent drop earrings. The bracelets, too, were widely diverse in style with too many drool-worthy styles to mention. Bare necklines were the rule, and necklaces will await another day for their time in the limelight. Brooches solidified their position as glamorous punctuation marks of bling, and rings, as always, adorned many a perfectly manicured hand.
As usual, I think we saw examples of too much, not enough, and just right. In my opinion, not everyone chose jewelry equally well. For instance, I thought Eva Longoria’s diamond and rubellite drops were so large for her petite frame that they distracted from her lovely face and competed for attention with her tight, plunging-back gown. Other attendees such as Big Love’s Jeanne Tripplehorn and newcomer Ellen Page needed to up their star quality with some bling on their basic black dresses. Among my favorites, Marcia Cross in her suite of angelskin coral and gossamer gold cuffs worn with a periwinkle gown was sheer perfection. Ms. Cross generously gave the nod to her stylist for choosing the ensemble that put her on the best-dressed lists once again. Sometimes bringing in a pro really does make a difference.
[Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com from www.tvguide.com.]
Upon seeing the large hoops worn by Marg Helgenberger, I first thought she forget to change her daytime jewelry before she stepped out for the evening. The press reported that the hoops were adorned with pave diamonds, which no doubt gave them plenty of sparkle, but the diamonds didn’t “read” in the photographs. And her one-shoulder gown just cried for a brooch or three.
Hoop earrings that did read were those on Daniel Day-Lewis, with what looked like one-inch hoop earrings in both ears, maybe leading a trend toward more prominent earrings on men.
The male fashion commentator for one of the television channels, who wore a pale jacket festooned with brooches, played up another glimmering of a trend for men. The cluster of brooches on a man’s lapel is not brand new, but it is certainly cutting edge. Fashion designer Zac Posen wore a cluster of brooches on his jacket when he appeared as a guest judge on “Project Runway” a few weeks back.
I thought at first glance that Ryan Gosling, a SAG Award nominee, also had picked up the brooch trend, but in fact he wore on his lapel a black ribbon made by his sister in honor of actor Heath Ledger, who passed away last week. The ribbon gleamed in the camera lights. Mickey Rooney wore ribbons of another sort, attached to medals pinned on his chest. This reminded of actor Russell Crowe who wore his grandfather’s medal as an adornment on his tuxedo at the Academy Awards some years back.
For women, the SAG Awards was overall a study in tastefulness, with earrings, brooches and bracelets being the key dazzlers. For men, we saw a bit of breakout style. The SAG Awards traditionally are just a warm-up to the Academy Awards. Here’s hoping that many more magnificent designs will be on display on the red carpet at the end of February.
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