The winners on the red carpet this year knew that personality trumps aloof glamour
The key to this year's red-carpet fashion was when Jennifer Lawrence fell over again. Because the smartest players, the ones who have the world at their feet – Lawrence, Lupita Nyong'o, Pharrell Williams – know that looking good on the red carpet is no longer enough. To win the red carpet in 2014, you need to upstage your outfit. After all, the photograph that these Oscars will be remembered for is not a red-carpet pose, but that mass selfie with Ellen, Bradley, Kevin and the gang. Aloof glamour just isn't box office.
Last year, Lawrence wore a grand, regal Dior gown, and everyone cooed a bit, and then she fell over in it and the J Law brand – the Gorgeous But Goofy Movie Star Who Could Be Your Real-life Bestie– was born. Lawrence has a contract with Dior, so she gets paid serious money to wear those pretty dresses, which is kind of lacking in charm. But she fell over, and her red-carpet story became adorable.
Then, she gets to the Oscars this year, and what's the first thing she does on the red carpet? Stumbles over. Now, I'm not saying she did it on purpose this time. She's a good actress, but I think that's really hard to fake. No, what I'm saying is that the girl is a natural-born modern movie star, and she has an instinct for how to win over an audience.
This year's red-carpet winners triumphed by making the story a personal one. When Nyong'o first appeared in her baby-blue Prada gown, I admit I was a tiny bit disappointed. I was hoping for a bit of fierce fashion action; something structured and bold by Alexander McQueen or Givenchy. Instead, here was this pale gown, which emphasised the fragility of her tiny frame, made her look young and vulnerable. But by the time the red-carpet interviews had finished, Nyong'o had done a neat job of communicating to the world's media how she had picked the colour she called "Nairobi blue" to remind her of that city, and how the tiny gold frog ring on her little finger was her family motif. Even before she stood up for her winning speech, she had sold Lupita Nyong'o The Hollywood Sweetheart to everyone watching.
And what was the best-dressed, most swooned-over man in the room wearing? A perfectly tailored, Bond-slick suit, as per usual? No. Pharrell Williams showed off his tattooed calves in a pair of shorts. Meanwhile, Emma Watson played down the va-va-voom and played up the cool young ingenue in a T-shirt neckline and subtle colours.
The rest of them? Well, they looked very glamorous. But those juiced-down glamazons – knees bent at the perfect angle, smouldering at the camera – look increasingly outdated. They have missed a crucial memo. Because the red carpet is less about the catwalk-ready pose and more about the photobomb (Anne Hathaway hijacking Jessica Biel's backstage selfie) or the cute gif (Lawrence falling, Williams and Nyong'o dancing). The days when the perfectly tailored dress could clinch the deal are over. A winning personal brand is what it takes to floor them. Even if you have to hit the deck to do it.