I woke this morning at the bottom tip of Africa to a twitterverse abuzz with the red carpet fashions from the 2010 Primetime Emmy Awards show. What was immediately obvious was how consistent people were in their thumbs up. Almost everyone was waxing lyrical about the same people and dresses. That was until I got to a tweet from the mighty Diane von Furstenburg: @InsideDVF Watching the Emmys...everyone looks good after the summer but there are too many strapless dresses!!!
Her thoughts echoed something I said on Twitter after the Oscars in January this year, when I too complained about the prevelance of samey-same strapless frocks.
As I paged through all the many images that flood the wires after an event like this, it became apparent almost immediately that those that chose a more interesting neckline stood out for me. It wasn't colour, it wasn't age, it certainly wasn't the diamonds they all seemed to have — it was a simple design choice that made everything seem modern, fresh, exciting.
Let's just look at the evidence. Taking only the best looks of the night, the following wore strapless: Lea Michelle from Glee in midnight blue Oscar de la Renta, Claire Danes in sequin Armarni Prive, Dianna Agron in floral organza Carolina Herrera, Heidi Klum in short black Marchesa, January Jones in blue Atelier Versace, Eva Longoria Parker in black Robert Rodriguez, Jayma Mays (sadly usually a style fave), Toni Collette, Katrina Bowden, Mariska Hargitay, Julia Ormond, Sofia Vergara, Jenna Fisher, etc, etc, zzzzz.
No one is saying they looked baaaad as such. In fact it is a classic prom look that has lasted through the ages and when done by the haute couture houses, fits so beautifully that anyone can look exquisite. And many of them did.
But mixed in amoung these beautiful yet predictable looks was stand outs from some of my favourite women — Tina Fey in de la Renta with a neckline and cap sleeves, gasp, Christina Hendricks in lavender ice cream coloured Zac Posen with feathered sleeves, sigh, Susan Sarandon in black sequin in an off the shoulder number, sexy, and Julianna Margulies in simple scoop neck L'Wren Scot. Add to that some of the younger bunch like an awesome looking Kelly Osbourne, stunning-in-red Jenna Urshkowitz and her Glee co-star Heather Morris in a head-to-foot sequin sheath. And in the winners Jane Lynch in midnight blue one-shoulder and Archie Panjabi in 60s inspired black chiffon overlay and you get the rare few who, together with their designers, made the extra effort to delight our eyes and inspire our red carpet dreams.
While a strapless dress is classically beautiful, a clever neckline is a thing of joy. Over the years the most beautiful red carpet dresses are always ones with a twist worn by women of character and consequence.
I hope that this plethora of strapless dresses doesn't inspire matric dance designs as a real person who eats and doesn't have Dior on speed dial is just not going to look the same. I know I would rather be someone who takes the road less travelled like some of this year's red carpet stunners.
PS: The boys who really brought it need a name check too. Jon Hamm, Chris Colfer and the The Clooney. A humanitarian and metaphorical poster on my wall forever ever.