The jousting between stylists and designers for the fashion spoils will be every bit as fierce as the fight for the statuettes
Oscar night glory is not the sole preserve of those who go home with a gold statuette. The names who triumph on the red carpet will also find themselves rewarded with a substantial boost in fame, prestige and earning potential.
Lincoln is currently the bookies' favourite to win the best picture nomination. And yet the odds on director Steven Spielberg or leading man Daniel Day-Lewis being splashed across the front pages of newsstands around the world are considerably longer. That honour is likely to go to whichever actress is deemed to have won the battle for the red carpet.
A fairytale turn on the red carpet can be the moment that turns an actress into a Hollywood player. An idealised image is etched onto the consciousness of a television audience of 39 million people, and a star is born. The huge reach of the Oscars is also an irresistible gamble for fashion designers. On the off-chance of seeing their brand triumph at what has become the world's premier fashion show, designers devote money and the workmanship of their finest seamstresses to producing one-off gowns which may, at the last minute, be left hanging unseen in a hotel room. Meanwhile, for the elite group of Hollywood stylists who advise the A-list, Oscar night represents the ultimate night of power play.
The variety and scope in this year's list of female nominees for best actress presents a challenge to the actresses, stylists and designers hoping to seize the limelight. With best actress hopefuls ranging in age from nine (Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild) to 85 (Emmanuelle Riva), diversity may be as much a talking point as glamour.
The best dressed field is wide open, with three of the five nominees on the best actress list having form as seriously fashionable red carpet contenders. Naomi Watts, nominated for The Impossible, has recently cast aside the safe, uncontroversially pretty looks for which she was known and begun experimenting with stronger styles. To last week's People's Choice awards she wore a dramatic Alexander McQueen gown that combined a gold sequinned halterneck top, a sheer back section and floor-length black skirt.
Jennifer Lawrence, nominated for Silver Linings Playbook and Jessica Chastain, nominated for Zero Dark Thirty, share the same stylist in Elizabeth Stewart, a former fashion editor for the New York Times magazine. If Stewart dresses both actors for the ceremony, she will be in a position to challenge the supremacy of Rachel Zoe, LA's foremost celebrity stylist, who is currently enjoying a fashion moment as a new Saint Laurent collection lends gold-plated Parisian endorsement to her signature 70s-groupie-luxe style of skinny tailoring and floppy hats. Zoe's client Anne Hathaway is nominated in the supporting actress category for Les Misérables.
Designer names tipped to score highly at this year's ceremony include McQueen and Christian Dior. Since the royal wedding dress rebooted brand image, McQueen has become a blue-chip name for actresses looking for modern glamour. Dior, looking to put the fresh look created by new designer Raf Simons on the all-important red carpet map, have dressed Lawrence for several recent events.
But in the high-stakes glamour game to be played between now and 24 February, nothing is for certain until the very last moment. Two years ago, Lawrence wore a simple red gown by Calvin Klein, which was inspired by a photograph of her in a swimsuit. In preparation for the night, Klein sent a cream muslin version of the dress to Lawrence along with five swatches of near-identical red fabrics for her to choose from. Meanwhile, two other designers – a major Milanese house and an up-and-coming American name – also created bespoke dresses, the Italian gown being a custom-made version of a catwalk dress. Only on the day of the ceremony did Lawrence decide which dress would make the cut.