OUR prayers for a fashion intervention have been answered.
At award events past, these stars have bombed on the red carpet with frumpy, ill-fitting and unflattering frocks.
But rather than burrow even deeper into their closets, they emerged last night stylistically triumphant – proving there’s hope for all of us. Take that, Joan.
* Catapulted onto the red-carpet scene by the surprise success of “Sideways,” 41-year-old actress Virginia Madsen took a few early stumbles, like choosing a fire-red dress for the Screen Actors Guild Awards that looked better suited to a brothel. But like the pinot noir she praises in the movie, Madsen’s style has improved with time, knocking out Oscar with a cunningly tailored midnight-blue Versace that molded her curves into a va-va-voom hourglass figure.
* She may be bootylicious in her videos, but Beyonce’s never mastered the art of red-carpet style, pouring on too much makeup, too much jewelry, too much – well – everything. Just check out the Video Music Awards, where she proved that all that glitters is not in fact gold. But she hit the red carpet at Sunday’s Oscars in a craftily cut black Versace dress that showcased her killer body – and let those earrings speak for themselves.
* She’s a “Prime Suspect” for fashion disasters: Witness last year’s Emmys, where Helen Mirren looked like she was auditioning for “Bend It Like Beckham.” Yet the impressively svelte 59-year-old actress banished all fashion flops from memory with a jaw-dropping sparkly Badgley Mischka gown salted with crystal beading – showing up starlets half her age.
* Indie queen Maggie Gyllenhaal always tries to flaunt that boho spirit when it comes to style – but ends up a fashion victim. This time last year, we were shaking our heads over those colorless curtains. But Sunday night, on the arm of her brother Jake, she earned the right to preen in a sassy Prada gown that succinctly sent the message she’s no cookie-cutter starlet.
* At last year’s Oscars, “Spider-Man” star Kirsten Dunst looked like she’d gotten caught in a web of doilies. On Sunday night, Dunst upgraded her look by glamming up in a sexy, lace-bodiced black Chanel couture gown.
