Academy Awards 2008

Sorry my update was late, but as you may have heard, there was a massive power outage in Miami yesterday afternoon and it cut into my regular blogging time. But at last, my take on the Oscars (the awards part).

The 2008 Oscars was all about welcoming back Hollywood and the international cinema.

I was disappointed with the first award, Costume Design. This was the only category that Across the Universe was nominated for, but it lost out to Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Across the Universe is amazing. Beautiful and artistic and Oscar gave it a big cold shoulder.

The acting awards all wet to non-Americans this year. Best Supporting Actress went to Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton. Her acceptance speech was hilarious (it may have even made up for the ugly dress). She thanked her co-star George Clooney and admired his dedication of wearing the batsuit with the nipples from Batman & Robin. Any reference to the terrible rubber nipples on TV deserves a huge kudos! Our next actor winner was Spaniard, Javier Bardem. His acceptance speech was heartfelt and so touching, especially when he thanked his mother (who was also his date) in Spanish. He thanked her and her parents and grandparents. Javier kicks ass. The Best Actress was Marion Cotillard for her role in Le Vie en Rose. She is just adorable. In her little french accent she thanked everyone and dedicated it to love and life. Then the Best Actor, of course, was Daniel Day Lewis. That Academy sure loves Daniel Day Lewis. I was really rooting for Clooney to finally win an award, but his day will come.

The Coen brothers started collecting the little gold guys early in the night. They took home Oscars for Screenplay - Adapted and they also scored wins for Directing and of course Best Picture for their film No Country for Old Men. I haven't seen this movie yet, but I definitely want to now. Those Coen brothers finally got their Oscar. It was nice to see a new generation of filmmakers get one this year.

No surprise that the Oscar for Original Screenplay went to Diablo Cody, the scribe of the movie with all the buzz, Juno. It was great to see a chick take home this award (or hell any of the biggies at the Oscars). Her win has been overshadowed in the last few days by some charges of "diva-like" behavior dealing mostly with the shoes she was gifted to wear for the red carpet. I hope she doesn't let this get to her and just keep working and putting out good stuff. We need more women in the industry!

Another pair of great new winners were the winners for Original Song, "Falling Slowly" from Once. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova were adorable. These two, again, non-Americans, were adorable and endearing. And a speech about going after your dreams and making art will get me every time.

That pretty much sums up the 2008 Academy Awards. I had a really fun time blogging about the awards, and think I may do it for the big awards shows. So in late August come back for the Emmys. Something I know way better than movies is television, so that one will be fun.

Oscars 2008 Fashion

Oscar night! I was so ecstatic when the writer's strike was over a few weeks ago, just in time for Oscar night. This will be the fashion roundup Oscars post, and tomorrow we'll have the awards reaction.

So here goes the dbD fashion review. Overall, everyone played it pretty safe on Oscar night. I think since the strike was on, and the Oscars was in limbo, people weren't preparing very far in advance as usual. This is why I think we saw so much black and what appeared to be the hot color, red. Let's take a look at some people I just had to mention.

Renee Zellweger in Carolina Herrera

Renee just doesn't do it for me, at all. Please stop squinting your eyes, puckering your lips, and getting in that contorted pose. The tousled hair started off the look badly. Did she just get out of bed? Then top it all off with this Carolina Herrera creation and it goes from bad to worse. She totally looked like she woke up and found the sparkly-est thing she saw and put that on. She never gets it right for me.

Cameron Diaz in Doir by John Galliano

Cameron, oh Cameron. Why do you always look like you don't care? Your dress looked wrinkled, your hair in that same boring ponytail you always wear, and you didn't even bother to go to the MAC counter and get your makeup done? This is the Oscars (in case you didn't read your invite), dress like it!

Colin Farrell

It's so nice to see Colin out and about again. He brought his Mom Rita as his date. His hair is yummy and grey-ing and beautiful (I love it when it's clean). His tux is classy, and the long tie and scruffy beard give him just the right touch of bad boy couture. And Mom is looking stunning and super-young to have such a bad-ass son.

Now onto some trends, I spotted on the red carpet. First the feathers....

Apparently the feathers were a big trend on the runway that only a brave few brought over to Oscar. Penelope Cruz in Chanel Haute Couture and Jessica Alba in Marchesa were the brave ones that tried this trend. Personally, I'm not a big fan of extra doo-dads on a dress, so the feahters fell kinda flat for me.

The color of the night last night was definitely red. So many of Hollywood's leading ladies chose this uber-flattering color to make that red carpet sizzle.

Anne Hathaway in Marchesa

Anne made a huge fashion comeback at the Oscars this year after last years HUGE bow dress. Elegant and perfectly accessorized, I heard her call the dress a diaphanous column. I'm not one for fabric flowers, but they accented the dress and her collarbone and her hair in a simple yet elegant ponytail set it all off perfectly.

Heidi Klum in Haute Couture by John Galliano

Heidi's dress was grand and totally deserving of a walk down Oscar's red carpet. The dress is being auctioned off for heart disease, but she made it look so good while she had it. I also loved her updo, just a bit of volume in the front and a beautiful bun in the back. The train and flowiness of the dress while she walked was gorgeous. (Plus having her hot hubby, Seal, as her date didn't hurt either.)

Katherine Heigl in Escada

I'm a Grey's fan, but Katherine Heigl on the red carpet is totally annoying me. Her hair was totally overdone and looked hard (I'm not liking her shorter do), but get a good look at the dress. The fabric was ruched within an inch of it's life, but I loved it once I got a closer look. The peek-a-boo shoulder was adorable! Such a good new look. If I overlook her hair, I like her look.

Miley Cyrus in Valentino

I don't know why she was even there, but Miley Cyrus wore the red trend too. The Valentino chiffon gown was a great shilouette and fit for the young up and comer. The hair should have been looser and the red lipstick only highlighted her less than perfect smile.

Dame Helen Mirren in George Chakra

All hail the queen again! Helen just knows what works for her. She's always age appropriate without being frumpy. Her satin gown, which hugged her body like a beautiful sculpted second skin was accented with Swarovski crystal sleeves. Stunning!

Ruby Dee

Another fabulous lady that dresses for her age without a frump in site. The red really made little Ruby pop. The gown with jacket and crystal belt gave her all the elegance she needed as a Supporting Actress nominee. The long diamond earrings gave it all the extra bling it needed.

...and now at last (drumroll please), my worst dressed stars of the night.

Worst Dressed Man:
Dr. Wesley T. Snipes

Wesley. This picture does no justice to the atrocity that was Wesley's purple suit. And a light colored bow tie? Is this all Mr. Tux had left for rentals?

Worst Dressed Woman:

Tilda Swinton in Lanvin

Okay, so you've never been to the Oscars, but have you never been out in public before? No makeup, no jewelry and a dress that looks like a velvet sheet was draped over your skinny frame? It all adds up to the worst dressed of the night. It didn't help that you won your Supporting Actress Oscar in that horrid disaster of a dress.

And now the good guys...

Best Dressed Man:

George Clooney in his own tux

Classic, polished, old Hollywood. George knows how to work his tux. And from what I've heard, he owns this classy little number, so he doesn't have to deal with it when he needs one. This boy knows how to clean up... hair combed, tux pressed, and a dapper smile. Clooney is always compared to Cary Grant when he's in his tux and we can see why. My only complaint id Sarah Larson. Her dress just confused me. But let's forget about that while we look at George.

Best Dressed Women:
I couldn't pick just one, so here are the 3 ladies that took the night.

Jennifer Garner in Oscar de la Renta

Jennifer Garner is certainly dressed like she wants Hollywood to take notice. Her ruched and embellished Oscar de la Renta gown was paired with a gorgeous vintage looking choker, some sparkly cuffs and true elegance. Her hair was to die for the gown, perfect. I didn't see Mr. Affleck on the red carpet, but I'm sure he was beaming about his lovely lady.

Keri Russell in Nina Ricci

I didn't expect to see "Felicity" on the red carpet, but she was there to introduce a song from her movie August Rush. And Keri took this great opportunity to show off what a great Oscar look is all about. Her hair was done, but not overly so, the jewels were light and fresh, and her Nina Ricci gown was truly ethereal. The new mom glowed in the champagne color that played off of her skin. Truly effortless elegance!

Marion Cotillard in Jean Paul Gaultier

This certainly was her night, and Marion kept it all with the French wearing this Jean Paul Gaultier custom gown. Gaultier can look like too much sometimes, but Marion wore it perfectly. Simple hair and a few pieces of well-placed jewelry let the gown speak for itself. A true mermaid dress, the gown appeared to have silver and white scaled on it. and the scales hugged her body in all the right places. Once I saw her on the red carpet I knew she was a winner. The gods don't let a dress that good go to waste!

Well that's it for the Oscars 2008 Fashion roundup. Stay tuned tomorrow for the recap of the awards!

Miami Winter Meeting 2008

So a few weeks back designed by Diana was at the SFDDA's Miami Winter Meeting & Dental Expo. We got some great exposure and our items were seen by lots of new people. We brought in lots of stock for everyone to be able to see what we can do. Here's a peek at our table.

Since I was working registration at the meeting, my mom (and co-designer) ws at the dbD table holding down the fort. She also made a great new cigar box purse for the event. I really love this purse. It's got a great safari theme going on and a great handle that Mom handmade to coordinate with the new purse perfectly. No one snatched this one up at the show, so you'll be seeing it in the store sometime this week.

Overall, it was a great time and we hope to have an even better time at next year's show!