Red carpet fashion in 2008

Due to the writer's strike the 65th Golden Globe Awards ceremony was not held, with a press conference instead announcing that year's winners.[1][4] Almost all the celebrities who intended to attend promised to boycott the awards rather than cross threatened picket lines.[4] The cancellation of the Golden Globes was seen as disastrous for the fashion industry, as not only were established designers affected, but the opportunity for up-and-coming designers to achieve widespread recognition through red-carpet exposure of their designs had been severely limited, particularly with the Oscars also under threat.[2]

The writer's strike, which threatened the 80th Oscars ceremony, was lifted on February 12, enabling the event to go ahead.[5]

One-shouldered or strapless gowns and solid-coloured, predominantly red dresses were widely worn for the event, going against the trend for vibrant prints.[6] Although the "uniform timelessness" of the 2008 Oscar gowns was noted and appreciated, they were also criticised for being "safe" choices.[6] Hilary Alexander of The Daily Telegraph reported losing count of all the "fitted, strapless, fishtail hem gowns",[3] and Hal Rubenstein, fashion director at InStyle, also noticed a prevalence of timelessly classic solid-coloured strapless dresses.[6] Simon Doonan described the guests as looking like a "bunch of Republican drears on their way to a constipated night out at the local country club" in their "fussy bustier gowns", applauding Tilda Swinton's individualism in her unusual one-sleeved black toga gown by Alber Elbaz for Lanvin.[7] He said that the "lowbrow media", by criticising anything quirky or unusual dress-wise, had led to many celebrities dressing much more cautiously in order not to attract the "fashion fascism" of negative publicity.[7] Rubenstein also shared Doonan's admiration for Swinton's dress, saying "This unique dress may have received criticism, but taking a risk at the Oscars is a winning move that we applaud,"[8] and included it in 90th place in InStyle's list of the 100 Best Dresses of the Decade.[9] Hilary Alexander was less convinced, calling Swinton's gown a "shroud",[3] while others compared it to "trash bags".[10][11] Swinton later said that she asked for a comfortable dress that would attract minimal attention, and commented “Little did I know that the really simple, chic dress one might have worn in Paris or Berlin would stick out like a sore thumb in Los Angeles.”[12] Also standing out from the norm, but more universally approved, was Marion Cotillard's white and silver Jean Paul Gaultier mermaid gown with a fishscale pattern which both Alexander and Rubenstein admired.[3][6] Cotillard was also praised by The Times-Picayune for bucking the trend for red and wearing the "most inventive look of the evening",[11] whilst Pieta Woolley at The Georgia Straight said "the only truly Hollywood-worthy gown of the evening".[13] Rubenstein, listing Cotillard's dress as one of the decade's 100 best, declared it "a great introduction for Cotillard. No one is going to repeat this dress."[14]

Cosmopolitan magazine, listing the best dresses worn on the red carpet, singled out Katherine Heigl's relaxed, "sex bomb" appearance in her vermilion one-shouldered gown by Escada.[15] The dress was described as transforming Heigl from "daffy" into a "cinema diva" and was remembered by Heigl's stylist Nicole Chavez as a "game-changer".[16] The Rocky Mountain News said of Heigl, "Now, this is what a movie star should look like,"[17] and the reviewers at The Register-Mail all agreed that Heigl looked outstanding.[18] Also in shades of red were Anne Hathaway, Miley Cyrus, Helen Mirren, Ruby Dee, and Heidi Klum, whose extravagant Galliano gown was auctioned off for the charity The Heart Truth.[6] Alongside Heigl and Hathaway, one-shouldered designs were worn by Hilary Swank and Olivia Thirlby.[6]

Fashions on the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards continued the trend for bold colours and one-shoulder designs seen at the Oscars, with trends for metallic, lace and feature necklines (either plunging, sweetheart, or jewel-embellished) also observed by InStyle.[19] Whilst reported on at the time, few of the looks received in-depth coverage, and InStyle did not choose any dresses from the event for their Top 100 dresses of the decade.[20]

In Paris, in November 2008, Gwyneth Paltrow attended the film première of Two Lovers in a short, black-and-white trompe-l'œil corset dress by Antonio Berardi.[21] Paltrow's choice, which revealed her underwear through sheer black lace panels, led to her being named 4th worst-dressed celebrity of the year by Time.[22] However, it received international attention with one French publication praising its combination of modernity, boldness and minimalism.[23] Spanish language publications commented on how Paltrow successfully combined her "Laura Ingalls" sweetness with elements of "punk" edginess,[24] in her on-trend corset-and-lingerie-inspired dress, with ¡Hola! using it as an illustration of the new fashion.[25] The dress, which Paltrow described as "one of the absolute favourite dresses I have worn," was subsequently selected by Lucy Yeomans of Harper's Bazaar UK to be the 2009 Dress of the Year in the permanent collection of the Fashion Museum, Bath.[21]