Stars give the Oscars the one-shoulder treatment

Sunday, February 22, 2009 5:20:00 PM PT, Associated Press 11 comments

Brad Pitt and Angelina JolieAssociated Press

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt arrived at the Oscars on Sunday as Hollywood's golden couple, and they looked classically glamorous in black and white.

Jolie's dress was a black sweetheart-neck strapless gown, accessorized with green drop earrings. Pitt stuck to an old-school black bow tie with his tux.

Sean Penn also perfectly matched his wife, Robin Wright Penn -- they were both in all black. Kate Winslet also went with dark and sophisticated in a gray satin and black tulle dress by Atelier Yves Saint Laurent by Stefano Pilati. The asymmetric neckline would prove to be one of the night's biggest trends.

The other big look on the red carpet at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles was light colors -- even Mickey Rourke in his Jean Paul Gaultier suit without a tie.

Anne Hathaway sparkled in a strapless champagne-colored Armani Prive gown covered in crystals and circular pailettes with a jeweled dragon brooch on the back. Evan Rachel Wood was in a strapless flesh-tone number, and Jessica Biel was in a sleek Prada strapless column gown in shiny white satin with a bow detail on the front.

Marisa Tomei's one-shoulder, dove-gray gown was covered with dramatic fan pleats.

Taraji P. Henson made her big style statement with an oversized 19th-century diamond flower necklace by Fred Leighton, paired with a cream-colored strapless dress with uneven tiers of fabric and a train by Roberto Cavalli.

"Taraji looks great," said stylist Robert Verdi. "The color is a little washed out, but I love the contrasting bag and the statement necklace. Both work really well because she went with a very natural hair-and-makeup statement with a little drama in the eyes."

Amy Adams also went with a chunky Leighton necklace -- a colored gemstone and diamond bib from the 1950s -- complementing a crimson bustier dress with black spider web-piping by Carolina Herrera.

Heidi Klum also was in red, hers a more fashion-forward asymmetrical Roland Mouret gown with a high slit that showed off her model figure. She designed the ruby red-dress charm on one of her funky bracelets in a partnership with Diet Coke's Heart Truth campaign, which raises awareness about heart disease.

"I think red is never out. ... Red is a great color for everyone," she said in an interview with The Associated Press a few days before the awards. "It's a powerful color -- not like gray and blending in. It says, `Hey, I have something to say.'"

Fashion star Sarah Jessica Parker wore a light green strapless gown by Dior Couture with gold waves decorating the bodice, and Natalie Portman had flashes of gold on her bubble gum-pink dress.

Freida Pinto provided a pop of electricity in a beaded blue John Galliano gown with one bejeweled lace sleeve.

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