Fashion flair, fashion foibles on red carpet

Kate and Cate were elegant and graceful.
ORLANDO SENTINEL
Let's hear it for the good, the bad and the ugly on Oscar's red carpet. We like the good. But, in the snarky spirit of the true fashionista, we love the bad and the ugly.
Helen Mirren, add a best-dressed award to your best-actress Oscar nomination. You looked gorgeous in that silvery lace gown by Christian Lacroix. Perfect with your silvery hair. Loved the sexy neckline, the elbow-length sleeves, the sweeping skirt. For a woman of a "certain age," you did everything right.
Kate Winslet, the graceful drape of your mint green Valentino column gown did wonders for your curvy bod. Cate Blanchett was elegance personified in her one-shoulder gunmetal gown with ruby beading at the hem.
Big trend, that one-shoulder design. It looked especially good from Proenza Schouler on Maggie Gyllenhaal. Halter necklines were also popular. Loved Jodie Foster's, with its gracefully draped front in slate blue. And naturally, there were plenty of strapless gowns. Rachel Weisz wore the prettiest, a Vera Wang design detailed with a rhinestone bow at the neckline. (But why the distracting necklace, even if it was vintage Cartier?) And didn't you love the five strands of rhinestones decorating the wide neckline on J-Lo's Grecian gown from Marchesa?
Subtleties
Other trends: Lots of pale colors -- blush, nude, dove gray. Some muted greens and blues. Lots of orangey-reds. Lots of mermaid gowns, lots of trains. And lots of dressmaker details -- ruching, pleating, draping -- instead of beading and sequins. The entire torso of Gwyneth Paltrow's pale bronze Zac Posen gown was delicately pleated before exploding into a fishtail train.
Just awful
That's the good. Now for the bad and the ugly.
Faye Dunaway reminded us of a poodle in a clown suit. Jennifer Hudson was all set for takeoff in that silver winged shrug-thingy from Oscar de la Renta. (Girl, what were you thinking?) Nicole Kidman came gift-wrapped with an enormous red bow on one shoulder by Balenciaga. Meryl Streep was also all wrapped up in a strange Victorian/bohemian concoction. Penelope Cruz's Versace brought to mind a gigantic feather duster. And Jessica Biel's revealing hot pink gown from de la Renta was a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen.