Color abounded on the red carpet at the 2012 Golden Globe Awards, with many actresses leaving behind the standard black, white, nude, pink, and metallic fare and instead opting for joyful gowns in shades of forest green, sapphire blue, plum purple, scarlet red, sunflower yellow, emerald green, deep magenta, and aquatic teal.
Mermaid tail dresses were plentiful, plunging necklines abounded, waists were often cinched with belts and ribbons, and quite a few headbands were propped atop these Hollywood starlets' manes, but as we explored the sea of organza, tulle, lace, satin, sequins, velvet, feathers, studs, and ruffles, we easily selected ten looks that swept us away into the dreamy fashion fairy tale staged at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Below, our picks for the top ten looks of the evening!
1. ANGELINA JOLIE
Pulling off a body-hugging satin dress in an ivory color with a pearly, almost metallic finish is quite the feat — and yet Angelina Jolie, who was nominated in the Best Foreign Film category for her directorial debut Land of Blood and Honey, did so gloriously with this Atelier Versace gown. The show stopper hugged Jolie's body in all the right places, sloping down her bust line, accentuating her hips with delicate pintucks, and revealing her slender legs with a sky-high slit. A foldover accent in a deep red along the neckline adds the right amount of vamp to the ensemble, while its geometric cut harmonizes with the angles and curves of the seams, pin tucks, and slits that form the gown's silhouette. Most remarkably, Jolie paired the dress with a luscious red pout and a satin red clutch without the look winding up being so matchy-matchy that it became a fashion faux-pas.
Her hair swept into a sleek updo, and her earlobes adorned by simple but glamorous 0.25 carat Lorraine Schwartz platinum diamond earrings, Jolie channeled a true ice queen — think the Evil Queen in Snow White — and yet she melted out hearts.
2. EVAN RACHEL WOOD
Nominated for her work in Mildred Pierce, Evan Rachel Wood looked like a cross between Ariel (aka The Little Mermaid) and an Indian peacock in a glistening Gucci dress featuring a semi-sheer, black tulle bodice with a plunging V-neckline and a halter construction, covered with forest green, emerald, and chartreuse sequins and paillettes that led to a gorgeous skirt with layers and layers of iridescent green feathers.
3. EMMA STONE
Fresh-faced Emma Stone looked divine in a custom-made, purple tulle Lanvin gown with fuchsia tulle panels along the sides, dainty cap sleeves featuring embroidered hemlines, a plunging neckline, and a black leather belt with a silver eagle motif. The Grecian-inspired gown made the Easy A star more than easy on the eyes.
4. SOFIA VERGARA
The Modern Family star had viewers roaring with laughter when she declared that she loved Vera Wang's gowns because they "zipped all the way up and closed." But this sapphire blue confection did more than accommodate the Colombian actress's curvaceous figure — it hugged every inch of her Mrs. Buttersworth-esque body, with a corset-like bodice featuring criss-crossing seams that streamlined her silhouette and accentuated her waistline and bosom, a slim fit along the thighs, and a voluminous mermaid-style skirt at the bottom, replete with layers of fabric that seemed to ripple like the waves of an ocean.
5. CHARLIZE THERON
Though the glistening headband adorning her head felt like overkill (we were reminded of Coco Chanel's famous quote about taking off the last thing you put on before leaving the house), the rest of Charlize Theron's look was glorious. Her blush pink Dior gown proved to be one of the most distinctive dresses of the evening, standing out among a plethora of mermaid-style gowns and simple column-style dresses. Though she showed quite a bit of skin in this piece, she managed to do so tastefully, revealing her sun-kissed stems with a dramatic thigh-high split and showing off her decolletage with a plunging neckline that extended down to her waist, which was adorned with a baned sash featuring a jeweled brooch above an oversize bow at the hip. The flowing train magnified the fluidity of the design, making Theron look all the more ethereal and goddess-like.
6. MORENA BACCARIN
Brazilian actress Morena Baccarin, who plays Damian Lewis' wife on Showtime's Homeland, channeled Sophia Loren in a black George Chakras gown with a rounded neckline, a banded vertical strip along the center of the bodice, and two triangular cut-outs on either side of the center strip revealing just a tad of cleavage. The column-like skirt, meanwhile, was adorned by shimmering black sequined panels along the sides for an understated but glamorous effect.
7. ROONEY MARA
The star of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo perfected the art of minimalism on the red carpet, wearing her raven strands in a simple ponytail with a severe side part, donning no earrings, necklaces, or bracelets, and opting for a simple Nina Ricci gown with a plunging neckline and tiny cut-outs demarcated by twisted fabric bits. A simple tulle overlay along the bodice softened the otherwise stark, almost gothic look, without sacrificing its edgy quality.
8. ZOOEY DESCHANEL
The New Girl star's custom Prada gown was a divisive point among viewers, but we think the retro-flavored sleeveless gown perfectly captured her quirky, nostalgia-driven aesthetic, with its slinky, fluid, figure-hugging black skirt, modest train, and intricately embellished bodice, adorned with emerald and lime green glass beads along the center and black glass beads along the sides for a slimming effect and an upscale, Mod-influenced, geometric flavor.
9. NICOLE KIDMAN
Presenter Nicole Kidman flaunted her great figure in an off-white, near taupe, Versace dress embellished with gold studs throughout its entirety, with a diamond-like pattern created inside a horizontal strip at the center of the skirt and diagonal bands and stripes along the hips and down the sides of the skirt, streamlining the silhouette of the body-conscious gown.
10. NICOLE RICHIE
Richie's high ponytail was among the most modern, chic 'dos of the evening, but the look worked particularly well given her choice of apparel: a silver Julien McDonald dress with a prismatic-like quality that looked like rays of light being reflected and refracted paired with Jimmy Choo heels and a vintage-looking House of Harlow minaudiere.
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instantly makes an impression on those who encounter her thanks to her gothic punk style. Sporting a raven cropped 'do with side-swept bangs covering one side of her face enigmatically, her eyes rimmed with black liner, her nose and earlobes pierced in multiple places, the motorcycle-riding renegade is mostly seen wearing all-black ensembles: black tees and hoodies paired with black skinny pants and studded black leather biker jackets, then accessorized with spiked metal necklaces that look like they double as instruments of torture, black skull caps, black fingerless gloves and, of course, gothic leather boots with chunky platforms and buckles galore.
